The Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis

The Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis

2012, Health  -   25 Comments
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The Weight of the Nation: Children in CrisisChildhood obesity is much more than a cosmetic concern. The health consequences of childhood obesity include greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and other serious illnesses.

The combination of these health effects and the dramatic increase in childhood obesity rates over the past three decades causes some experts to fear this may be the first generation of American children who will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

Strategies like cutting out TV and sugar-sweetened drinks may help reduce a child's weight or prevent future weight gain, but not always for the reasons we expect. There is a link between TV watching and overweight and obesity among children.

While the act of watching TV - being sedentary and possibly eating snacks while taking in a favorite show - is part of the problem, experts are now looking at what kids watch as well. There is a growing debate over the effects of food marketing on the childhood obesity epidemic and what should be done about it.

Other episodes: 1. Consequences, 2. Choices, and 4. Challenges.

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Tito
Tito
3 years ago

Lots of highly uneducated comments lacking in wisdom, compassion, and insight. The self centered thinking by those who reason that the circumstances of their own life should become the measuring stick for all is no less false than thinking the earth is the center of the universe and that it’s flat. Thankfully, we are all free to say what we think. Also I’m thankful that most of the people here aren’t in any position to make choices that will impact the community , society or nation. True heroes are those that are working to educate the masses on this situation and are working to help people to heal and live better quality lives.

kyle
kyle
8 years ago

Honestly it is the parents fualt not the child, not the food its really annoying to hear or see people complain that their obese and do nothing about it except blame the food production lmao but seriously parents need to keep their kids active and have them be outside and if ur a obese kid with a parent that buys u bad food and dosnt make u go outside then thats the parents fault. Im 16 and bike everyday i made my own choice and my father dosnt have to tell me what to eat anymore beacuse i can eat anything and bike it off. so if ur kid that doesn't like soccer or baseball or a normal school sport then have them do bmx racing or skatboarding something more active and way more funner. Step up and make ur kid do something in his or her life dont blame food or the kid.

James Mckoy
James Mckoy
11 years ago

I'M sitting here 28 minutes in listening to 2 parents talk about how they are worried about their daughter being obese when they are clearly overweight themselves! They learn what to eat from their parents. Send them to school with a decent lunch but not enough money to buy junk food at school or on the way home. Do some parenting!
And w
hile congress is controlled by special interest groups corporations will continue to exploit children through the marketing of junk food

Patsy
Patsy
11 years ago

I can't get my son to eat a decent meal when it comes to his school. I will fill the fridge with good food for him to pack and yet he will leave for school with his pocket money and buy chocolates, flavoured milk drinks, ice creams, and orange cordial that is masquerading as orange juice, hot greasy chips etc etc in the canteen. I am constantly getting letters home because he can't sit still and can't listen, he's jittery,shakey and becomes a smart mouth which inevitably leads to more trouble for him. He seems to do a sugar high and then the sugar low.
I don't understand how they want me to deal with his behaviour and yet I can't change what is actually triggering and causing his behaviour. Until someone wakes up, then my son is going to slip through the cracks and theres not a damned thing I can do about it aside from refusing to buy processed foods at home. As for these energy drinks, this is the sort of thing that should only be sold in liquor stores. How can they not see why this generation is horrible little energised sugar ferals.

Alien
Alien
11 years ago

It's nice someone it trying to do something, but this obese epidemic is not going to stop while corporations are profiting from poisoning children with sugary junk food. The government won't do much because the corporations practically own them. We are all doomed to fatness...

manfruss
manfruss
11 years ago

The single biggest solution is to end the love affair with the dollar (money). All these problems, almost every single one we can find relates back to someones profit. Advertisers and manufactures don't care about the "Weight of the nation." They're making money! Weapon's industries don't care about who their bombs hurt, they're makin' money! Until that material romance ends, this world will never heal. Our solutions are not manifest of this world, but spiritual in nature. In the way we deal with each other, and the way a corporate CEO is going to say "No" to something that harms people, and still makes a dollar. Under today's law, it is illegal for the Corporation to not harm someone, as their mandate is to make money at all costs. Well it looks like we're the cost. A price many are willing to pay. Sickening.

manfruss
manfruss
11 years ago

Our love of money is causing more trouble than people are willing to admit. Advertising, advertising, advertising..... to get people to buy **** that is awful for them. The corporate drive for $ will lead them to destroy the world. Capitalism, unrestrained, is as bad as any other economic system it advocates against. Love the mighty $. Screw the rest.

T KO
T KO
11 years ago

So the lady who said her kid eats at school and the school is responsible for feeding it good healthy food... She thinks that is their job.
I would have to say that YOU are responsible for your kid. Either demand at the PTA meetings that the school get better food choices, or send lunch with your children from home. The school's job is to educate your child.

angelclaw
angelclaw
11 years ago

8 grams of whole grains vs. 10 grams of sugar, and they call that healthy?? When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to have cereal with ANY sugar, not even plain Cheerios. Nor was I allowed to have any preservatives or artificial flavors or colors, and no soda unless it was a special occasion. If I wanted a snack, I was given a carrot or a piece of fruit. Processed foods never even entered our kitchen and I was only allowed to watch two hours of TV a day. Oh yeah, and I didn't get a car until I was 18, so if I wanted to go somewhere I had to walk or ride my bike. Now I'm in my 30's and I've never been overweight in my life. Thanks, Mom!

Kristi Carter Gibson
Kristi Carter Gibson
11 years ago

Here's a thought...don't allow your children to eat junk. See, problem solved. If the TV is the problem, get rid of that. There really is no excuse. Parents need to take ownership of their responsibility to care of their kids.

Renee Amber Mellor
Renee Amber Mellor
11 years ago

I do this thing with my kids...I feed them at only meal times and then make them go play outside! I know, it's unheard of, but it works for us. TV and video game time are limited to an hour or so a day.
It also helps that we mostly eat this stuff called "real food", we get it from the garden and from the chickens out back.

aurinko
aurinko
11 years ago

Oh my God... this was so sad to watch. This made me so angry for those parents! They r killing their children! How can someone plame the children about obesity?

Who has the money? Who buys the food from the stores? Who makes the food? Who should take their children to some sport? Parents off course. How can any mother or father do this to their children? Im so pissed off by this.

And that school "food"??? Or u cant call that food, its rubbish. Are u crazy or what? Why u parents allow that? Im from Finland and here our kids get everyday free lunch from school and its healthy. Vegetables, salads, (boiled) potatos, meats jne. And it does NOT cost very much to the city. Think about how much it would cost if half of those children would be obese in their adulthood?

Edgar Hans Peusken
Edgar Hans Peusken
11 years ago

It's mainly a problem of minorities like African Americans and Latin American people because they have a different genetic set up. White people are used to eat very fat food like pork meat or fatty cold water fish for thousands of years while people on other continents did that way less (where fruits grows on trees whole year long)

Jane Doe
Jane Doe
11 years ago

it's not the kids' fault, it's their parents

BetsMcGee
BetsMcGee
11 years ago

the childhood obesity epidemic by some estimates affect as many as 1 in 3. did you know if they were all to jump up and down and the same time they might lose some bloody weight. really though it's not the kids fault they just have slow metabolisms and very fast chip eating hands.