From Kevin

R e t a r d e d - N e w s - F i l e:
12-2-07 From USA Today 'Long overdue' guidelines set for childhood obesity

'Obese Children' is getting to be a consistent media headline. Why? Fatter kids. Now...is it easy to take pot-shots at this and get on a soap-box about kids...
- watching TV (4-hours average per day),
- eating too much (that's what they do when they watch TV),
- not exercising enough (cause they are watching TV),
- eating junk food (what TV entices them with in ads, and parents for some odd reason actually BUY!),
- also playing video games and spending time on computers in addition to the TV watching.

...it's too easy. So I'm not going to spend a lot of time there. Instead, I'll hit on the real culprit: us parents. Here are some highlights from the article I linked to above:

"...weight checks at least yearly, counseling about weight even if children aren't overweight, Do we need weight checks? Years ago, people just used to look in the mirror...it's pretty obvious. And if the kid isn't fat, save your time and money and a four-stage treatment plan that could end in medication or surgery for the most persistently obese children."
Holy smacks - who wrote this? The 'American Doctors Trying To Buy New Ferrari's Counsel?' What happened to the good ole' docs who used to say, "Mr. & Mrs. Brown, kick little Tommie's oversized butt out the door and throw out the LIttle Debbies"?.

"Lots of parents and doctors are frustrated because there are no specific guidelines for treating overweight children."
Major News Alert To All Parents: Don't be upset at the government for not spending a zillion dollars to tell you common sense. If your kid eats 2,500 calories and only burns 1,500, he or she will become obese.

"About 17% of U.S. kids are obese, more than triple the rate in 1970, the report says"
A quick visit to the mall would have saved the effort of this report

"Children need an hour of physical activity a day, along with limits on sweetened beverages, computer and TV time, and fast-food meals. There we have it. Just post this headline every week as a reminder and forget the studies, reports and programs "Also, doctors should gather a family history of obesity, diabetes and heart disease." No they shouldn't! If every person in my ancestry is obese, while I may have some literal poor health in my genetic code, I can eat less and exercise more and stop the cycle!

"Prevention, emphasized in the guidelines, was hardly mentioned in the far vaguer 1998 recommendations they replace, says Reginald Washington, an author of the new report and chief medical officer at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver." Reg...that's because people used to expect folks to understand basic laws of life. Are we soon going to need a new report that mentions gravity is still in effect if more and more kids start doing free-dives off the jungle gym, because past reports were 'vague' on this subject? Probably so, seeing as our coffee cups now have to say 'Caution, contents hot.'

"Treatment of childhood obesity must be a family affair, adds William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Parents must be involved "because overweight is linked to lifestyle, not just genes, and parents make the decisions here."" It's 'linked to?' Not just 'genes?' How about HARDLY EVER GENES.

Seriously folks. As a parent, how many obese kids were in your school? I had zero. Heck, I was often the fattest. I didn't really watch an overabundance of TV, and I was always riding my bike. But...I failed in the eating category. Even with good food, I was a chronic overeater. Guess what, it wasn't any medical issue. I just liked to stuff my face! More than the average. I didn't need medication, I just needed to be told 'Quit overeating fatty.' I didn't quit overeating till I was in my 20s. It was a bad habit, nothing more. I have five kids now. My oldest, Caleb, could care less about food. HE IS THE ODDITY who probably needs medical help. The other four will stuff themselves to oblivion on M&Ms if given the chance. We teach them about moderation, but we also prepare whole foods that they can basically eat as much of as they want and not be overweight in the least.

We just make the effort. Teri's folks bought us a huge trampoline a couple years ago. That thing has probably consumed a million calories from my kids. Confine a couple kids to a trampoline and it's nearly impossible not to jump. Nix the TV, computer and video games, and DON'T BUY JUNK FOOD! Why is all that so hard? Because we let media brainwash us. Kill it.

So how about you? What do you think about what I've written here? Too harsh, unfair, or right on? I really want to know what you think. The comment link is up at the top of this entry. Let me and others know your thoughts and we'll discuss it here.