Ian WhiteA Fridge too Far
December 23rd 2010 21:33
Category: No Category
Sarah Palin recently continued milking the big government cash cow by furthering her quest to somehow make our children even fatter. Michelle Obama has started an anti-obesity campaign with the goal of encouraging healthier choices and more exercise. On Sunday's episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska," Palin took the clan camping to perpetuate the nature whisperer gimmick and commented that she planned to make her family S'mores "in honor of Michelle Obama, who said the other day we should not have dessert." Don't you just love how our nations discourse works? There is an actual spin room for journalists to slap on a rectum based analysis to produce provocative narratives. Politicians do it to people they don't agree with all the time. So for instance, "I believe we need a smarter defense budget" translates to "I love terrorism." And "I think our children should make healthier choices," means "I want dessert to be illegal."
I don't think it's recognized just how serious the fat problem is here in America. According to the CDC, Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.
The issue here is that we're a culture of overeater's. People aren't just eating until they're full, they're eating until they're bored or nauseas. Then food is thrown away. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that landfills account for 34 percent of all methane emissions in America. That's an unfinished sandwich tossed in the garbage, left to fester. Meanwhile there are people both domestic and foreign that are dying of starvation. Restaurants put leftover food in the dumpster, with no regard to those who could use it. We have so much food in this country that we turn eating into Olympic-like contests.
The head to head competition:
Feats of endurance:
Totally oblivious:
When I went to school, the healthiest thing you could eat was plain cheese pizza. If you're out and want something, you're choices usually go like "McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Arby's." In the grocery stores, it's always cheaper to buy candy in bulk than vegetables. We've allowed junk food to monopolize the market. For every subway, there are 10 greasy fast food pits. The prices incentivize you, the commercials egg you on, all while physical activity is being shunned. We need a total revamping of the way we look at food. Eating isn't a sport, it isn't a means for you to passive aggressively cope with your unhappiness, it's a basic survival need. Just because you can supersize, doesn't mean you need to. I don't get how the threat of disease and death can't motivate people to give up these vices. Medical science can't bail you out.
Part of what contributes to overeating is not having a meal plan. I have an overweight friend who sometimes only eats twice, but when he does he'll splurge on McDonald's, getting a full meal with dessert, and then later a pile of whatever he can find at home. Eating infrequently won't make you lose weight, it'll just kill your metabolism, especially when you're eating junk, resulting in weight gain. You should actually eat at least 4-5 balanced meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with 2 snacks.
The global hunger problem isn't scarcity of food, it's the hording of resources. If people weren't so wasteful and greedy, the suffering in this world would only come from senseless violence, white collar crime, and drug dependency. Hey, it's a start.
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Comment by nightlydvdreview
Nightly DVD Review
Cinema Voyage
Green and Healthy
The Writer's Nook
The main reason is:
Back in 1980 most kids did not have video games, except for the lucky kid with an Atari, or even a vcr. Cartoons only came on for about 1 hour after school and Saturday mornings. Parents spent more time going places with their children and doing things. Now, we have more "nuclear" families that have more money per-capita, home computers, internet, video games that look like you are THERE, (3D video games have just arrived). DVD players. Interactive movies.
When I was little, there was not much to do inside, so, I was always outside running around and playing with my friends.
This is not something that can be blamed on the fast food industry. The government should not have any more control over them than they already do. What needs to happen is parents should learn to tell their children "No" and get the children involved in activities like baseball, football, martial arts, or any number of physical activities. The problem is, parents are usually more concerned with their own lives than the lives of their children.
There is another correlation between the lack of parental involvement and the drop in academics.
When I was young, if I came home with "no homework," my mother or father would sit down and create some based on what I told them we were doing in class. After a few times of getting more homework from my parents than my teacher, I started asking the teacher for extra work so I did not have to work as hard.
When children get home, many are so concerned with the video game that they're going to play they will tell their parent or guardian that they have nothing to do. The parent, like an idiot, believes them, or simply does not want to interrupt Monday Night Football to help their child succeed.
So, as far as the overweightness goes, although that goofy looking clown holds some (but not much) of the blame, the primary blame still falls where the child is supposed to learn values. At HOME.
The global hunger problem is a huge issue that not enough people deal with. Unfortunately, our own government does, (and has done for the past 25-30 years) subsidized farmers for NOT farming land because it would drive the price of goods down too low for transport to be profitable. Why don't we allow these farmers to farm that land and donate the food as a tax deduction to charities around the world. Seems like an easy fix to me.
Comment by Ian White
A Cynic's-Eye-View
Amuse I
Collective Wit
Daily Wit
Comment by Janice H.
Exploring the Paranormal
This actually makes sense since staying physically fit nowadays requires money, money for the health club membership, money for those running shoes, money for that exercise equipment, money for health insurance and don't forget money for those anti-stress meetings and pills. While eating or I should say overeating costs a lot less than staying healthy.