Child Obesity - Should Parents Be Blamed?

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wibble

Corpse
Who's to blame for childhood obesity?

Should governments be doing more to tackle the growing rate of obesity around the world or does the buck stop with parents?

From today all adverts for processed snacks and fast food in France will have to carry a health message encouraging people to stay healthy and take regular exercise.

The move affects advertisements on television, radio and billboards and the Internet for processed, sweetened or salted food and drinks. Advertisers who refuse to run the message face a fine of 1.5 percent of the cost of the ad.

Will these messages have an effect? What can be done to stop the rise in childhood obesity? Are parents doing enough to stop their child becoming overweight? Should your government be taking the issue more seriously?
 
I come from a family of obesce people. The parents, schools, and peer pressure are to blame. The companys have nothing to do with it. They are only doing their jobs. Parents control what their kids eat at home and their friends houses. Schools control what they have in vending machines (which i think should be banned from all schools), and what they feed them at lunch. If the kids dont like it, bring a sack lunch to school. For the exercise, i think most kids are just worried about having fun. They arent worried about their weight until they reach middle school. Peer pressure should push the overweight kids to do something about it. They shouldnt like being bullied or pushed around all the time. The should do something. I think all gym classes should be strict on exercises for the overweigh rather than building up the already strong ones. I think this should get something started in this thread. Thank you and your welcome!!
 
My entire family has a history of obesity like Forensics_annie said, heck my mom even told me I'm never going to be stick-skinny: "We're just big-boned." :p My grandma says we're 'big people'. I like 'big-boned' better :lol: :p

I don't believe the parents are to blame, it's a combination of things. Peer pressure, anxiety, depression (all of which I have first-hand experience with), hormones, genes.

In California here we have commercials that disturb me. They show a little boy eating ice cream and there's a voice that says, "Everyday a little here, a little there. Before I know it I'm grown-up and have type-two diabetes." That, personally, disturbs me and would scare the crap out of me if I was a parent or a child. Basically it says 'don't let your kid be a kid'. I don't like that.

There's a difference between just the right amount of foods and too much, but if your child wants some ice cream can you deny them that? You have to let them be a kid. Mix exercise into your schedule. And as a little kid, from what I've seen in my family with baby cousins and from what I remember, there's almost not one minute in your early childhood where you're not running out wreaking havoc :p
 
In my opinion, children should be blamed for childhood obesity. It's kind of like blaming the parents when a kid breaks into a house. (Granted, it's not the same situation) :p

I know that my parents could do everything in the world to prevent me from becoming obese, but I'd just do what I wanted anyway. I think it's more or less the kid's choice.

Then again, like quoth said, there could also be other factors that contribute to childhood obesity such as depression, hormones, genes, etc. And also, like she said, a balance is needed to prevent it. (Mixing exercise with some sugar)

But no, I really don't think the parents are to be blamed for it. They only have a certain percentage of influence on their kids. Everything else is dependant on the child him/herself and other environmental factors.
 
there are a whole bunch of contributing factors. first off its been bred into us over tens of thousands of years to crave fat, sugar, and high calorie food but with no internal limits. then if they flood the market with shit food of course there are going to be problems. the w.h.o just released a study that rates of diabetes worldwide are climbing dramatically faster than they had anticipated. especially since i have family history of it its scary to me.
the companies absolutely share some of the blame. why does a can of soup need to contain half a days worth of salt when i could make it myself with almost no salt? why do drinks need to have so much sugar in them they have to add phosphoric acid to cut the sweetness? why do fast food companies need to use the poorist quality meat and process it beyond recognition? theres no reason for all this crappy food to be out there, but we still eat it because its cheap and easy. but it can be just as cheap and easy to go without it.
ultimately the parents do have the final say with what their kids put in their mouths. if you never let your child have mcdonalds they cant exactly whine and say they want it.
it actually makes me sick to know that ive eaten hotdogs, and processed cheese or lunchmeat now that i know whats in them. theres no need for so much poor quality food to be on the market.
but the kids have some responsibility too. they arent active anymore. they are choosing for themselves to stay inside on the couch instead of going out to play. i dont know why this is happening, but all the studies are showing that it is.
 
wibble said:
Who's to blame for childhood obesity?
Click to expand...
Anthony Zuiker, Dick Wolf, Gene Roddenberry, Mark Goodson, Bill Todman...

Colonel Harlen Sanders, Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, Glen Bell, Harold Butler...

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, William Hewlett, David Packard, Minoru Arakawa...
 
Dynamo1 said:
wibble said:
Who's to blame for childhood obesity?
Click to expand...
Anthony Zuiker, Dick Wolf, Gene Roddenberry, Mark Goodson, Bill Todman...

Colonel Harlen Sanders, Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, Glen Bell, Harold Butler...

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, William Hewlett, David Packard, Minoru Arakawa...
Click to expand...

There is a inside joke in that comment, I'm sure, but I'm not quite getting it. :lol:
 
Parents are part of the problem, yeah. But there is other factories as well.

I have always been skinny. And yes, big boned. I wasn't so tall when I went to school but I goddamn weight 30kg when two my friends weight lik... 16kg :rolleyes:
My sister is two times bigger than me. She's always been like that. She's always been fat. Yes, she eats alot but she also eats healthier. She eats different kind of foods, she eats salad. And I am so goddamn picky. If I eat and sauce gets mixed with salad, I'm done with the salad. No WAY I'm touching it.

We are fat nation (we come right after USA :p )even we have free schoolfood. And it's normal food. It's not burgers and pizza. There's tunapasta, normal pasta, there's potatoes and meatsauce, potatoes and liversauce, fishsoup, meatsoup, peasoup, spinachsoup (eeeeeeeeeew!), rice and chicken, potatoes and chicken, porridges and stuff and stuff and then there's 1-2 different salads and most of kids still drink milk (well I don't know about today's kids, because it's 'in to drink water' ) Some schools have vending machines, some don't. In 9th grade we created kiosk (on 7th and 8th we had break when we could go to the store to buy a 'snack' but it created so much trouble) where we sold candy and coffee and some juice. But the schoolfood... it was sooo amazing on grades 7-9. It was so great. Totally great. Then at least first two years in Upper Secondary School, when they had the old chef it was great but the new one... just didn't have the same touch :rolleyes:

I guess it's hard...there's those who eat so much junkfood and get fat and then there is those, who don't eat anythng and have anorexia. I remeber in Upper Secondary School when we watched these from 7th to 9th grade (esp 7th and 8th grade) girls eating... they had a glass of water and two crispbreads! FFS! You really have energy to be in the school 6h with that?

So yeah, if we have healthy schoolfood and foodstuff is taught well, why we have fat people anyways?

But yes, parents take care of the fact what's in the fridge at home and what kids eat at home. And teach kids to eat healthy, or even eat those damn vegetables.
 
vegaslights said:
Dynamo1 said:
wibble said:
Who's to blame for childhood obesity?
Click to expand...
Anthony Zuiker, Dick Wolf, Gene Roddenberry, Mark Goodson, Bill Todman...

Colonel Harlen Sanders, Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, Glen Bell, Harold Butler...

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, William Hewlett, David Packard, Minoru Arakawa...
Click to expand...

There is a inside joke in that comment, I'm sure, but I'm not quite getting it. :lol:
Click to expand...
Producers of popular television shows for couch potatoes.
Founders of fast food restaurants.
Founders of computer/video game companies.

All contributing to making me fat.
 
I agree with every one of you. In my opinion though it is mainly the copmpanys AND parents who are to blame. The doctors do what they can to keep everyone healthy. The parents should push their kids to exercise. Sign up for the Y and bring the emtire family along :), go camping, go hicking, go for a mile or more bike ride, do something as a family that will get you outside and having funn ;)while you exercise. My family always do things like this. Its fun and invigurating to exercise with the family and burn fat you all indulged together :p. We also go for 10 laps plus in our pool when its nice and warm. We go to friends houses and play football, socer, volleyball and everything in their feilds. SO i do exercise its just my motabilism slowing it down!
 
Parents have a lot to do with it - what kids eat as children contribute to what they eat as adults. Someone taken to McDo's for lunch once or twice a week will, generally, choose that chain over a different one as an adult. Similarly, if they're rarely taken to fast food chains and fed good, healthy food, that's what they'll prefer as adults.

I don't agree with blaming the companies. Of course they want you to buy their product, but they're not forcing you into it.
 
I think everyone is to blame for the obesity problem. The companies for making the food look appealing to the children, the parents for giving in and buying the food and yes the children for wanting the food.

I've been heavy all my life. I was the heaviest of the 4 children my parents have. I may not be the heaviest now I think my brother has taken that role. I know I don't eat the healthiest but I'm me. I think we should be taught what to eat from early on. Instead of saying you shouldn't eat that how about try an apple instead. Since I was told early on that I shouldn't eat this or that these are some of the things I eat today. I know I'm in part to blame for my weight because I'm a couch potato. Thank you TV producers. I have signed up for a 10 week session for yoga starting the end of March. It's a start :)

I also agree that gentics have a large part to play in obesity. I find that there are times when I need food. My dad is the same way. My mom would always say what until dinner even if dinner was a hour away. That would not do so I would sneak something to eat. To this day my mom still has difficulties with my dad's I need food. They've been married over 50 years :)
 
Jacquie have you seen people who are skinny :confused:, and then meet their parents? 8 times out of 10 at least one if not both of their parents are "big". Then if you go farther down the line to there grandparents, at least on i not both are big. For saying that, if one gparent and one parent are big most likely their kids or kid will be big. For me my moms side is big, my older brother and my younger sister are bigger than me. Im no where near skinny though. Im at least 200lbs my brother close to 300 and my sister in between. my dad would have to be the smallest 190lbs. My mom is somewhere around 240lbs. But on our part its our matabilism that hurts us. We eat healthy every day and night. We dont eat school junck food, we pack our healthy lunches. So for my family i dont know what to blame. Maybe genetics or someother theory that no one has came up with yet. Who knows. :rolleyes:
 
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/26/obese.child.reut/index.html

This is an article about an 8 year old boy who is over 200 pounds. He refuses to eat healthy food so his mother allows him to eat two full pizzas a day and a wide assortment of other unhealthy foods. At 8 years old he is wider than some kids his age are tall. While it is bad of the child to not eat his vegitables, the blame rests with the mother who instilled these behaviours and eating habits.
 
I say get him into an exercise class pronto! I'm sorry but unless we convince kids to change their lifestyles away from excess TV and too much junk food, I fear we may have no choice but to have overweight kids required to take exercise classes or have them play sports. We can pay them to play sports to convince them to exercise. I've never been a couch potato and am glad to not be one. In fact, I often get severe cabin fever when confined to the house for long periods of time during the winter. I never could understand why kids stay inside even when it's in the 60s or 70s and sunny outside. Never could understand it. Never.

For the first time in generations, a generation of children will have a shorter lifespan than their parents'. What a waste. It's not too late though. Exercise and sports programs can mitigate this epidemic and reduce it to a nuisance. If only we could start more sports programs, we could be a far healthier society than is the case right now. Besides keeping weight at bay, it also provides an excellent way to channel out feelings both positive and negative.
 
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