apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm not going to argue that people, including children, don't weigh more today (it's empirically obvious that they do), but those beginning statistics are misleading. For one thing, what were the average heights of the college-age men and women in 1900 vs. 2000? Also, I daresay that the ethnic makeup of those college-age populations has changed radically in 100 years.

And, no, I don't think it will be easy to get Americans back into shape. Our lives have changed too radically. In the past, people ate better and got more exercise because that was the food that was available, and because people did more walking and more manual labor. Now we have to make an effort to eat better, and have to make an effort to fit in exercise. And many people are just too lazy to do that.

A. We are taller. Those statistics do not take that into account. We are also more vitamined.

B. In 1998 the BMI normal weight limit was dropped by 2.8 points so that over 30 million folks in the US went from normal weight to overweight and from overweight to obese.

The BMI is not a great way to measure body fat for health purposes. It does not take into account muscle mass or cardiovascular health. The index became popular in the 60s because we noticed that people were getting fatter and developing more health problems related to obesity.

But please! Let's admit that obesity is a HUGE problem. I'm not trying to be funny; this is both serious and sad.

You can make all the excuses you want, but look at yourself in the mirror or time yourself running a mile. Maybe we should focus more on health than weight. I just can't see this problem getting any better when it is acceptable to say to a thin person "you look too skinny" and a social taboo to say to a heavy person "you look too fat." Even doctors are afraid to tell people to shape up.

The 150 pound 9 year old down the street is definitely not a result of humans becoming taller over a decade. Could it possibly be the Taco Bells and Pizza Huts they put in schools? The parents that allow their children to live off of fast food and pre-packaged meals? The kids that drink nothing but sugary sodas and have never drank a glass of PLAIN water? The government and companies shoving high-fructose corn syrup into every possible food and drink they can??? Hmm....

Another step in the right direction would be installing sidewalks in the suburbs.

Seriously. In many areas the lawn meets the curb - and there is no safe way for kids to walk or ride their bikes to school.
Suburban layouts are a huge contributor to @ss-on-the-couch-itis. In older neighborhoods, schools were just blocks away. It was safe for an 8 year old to walk there and back alone.
The family could walk a few blocks to a local icecream shop for a treat after dinner. An ACTUAL serving of ice cream is no threat when you are walking to the store and back - it's better than sitting on couch emptying the carton from the freezer.

Also- the size of a back yard in a suburban neighborhood is equivalent to a postage stamp. Kids can't even play tag if there's not enough room... and parents won't let them run down the sandlot to play ball for the afternoon because they fear for their safety.

Let's get urban and suburban developers to emulate the neighborhoods of the 50s and 60s. Where there was a main street every few blocks - and you didn't have to hop in the car to accomplish the simplist of tasks.
It's called New Urbanism... get behind the movement!

Then maybe we can have the sort of neighborhoods we remember when we were kids. When if you did something you couldn't be proud of two blocks away - your parents already knew about it and had agreed on your punishment by the time you got home.

Hillary did not coin the phrase - she just repeated it - It takes a village! We've spread the village out and disconnected it over the last 30 years.
Safety, obesity and common sense have all suffered because of it.

Stepping off soapbox now.

part of the problem is that good, healthy, fresh food is often much more expensive than processed junk is, especially as food prices rise. our food system is messed up, the way we grow it, the way we distribute it and the way we process it.

Another huge problem is that kids aren't outside playing all day anymore. They're inside watching TV or playing video games.

Surely the 2-3 hours I spent every day running around are what kept me skinny. But do parents ever throw their kids out of the house with nothing more than a "GO PLAY!" anymore? Goodness no. Why? Honestly, I have no idea.

Parents are thoroughly paranoid, though it's not like the world has gotten more dangerous. Kids only play under supervision at "play dates" and have very little self-directed, independent (as in, with no parents around) playtime with other kids. It hurts them socially, and physically, too.

Thank goodness there is a field, playground and a basketball court near our house where kids still go (alone! without parental supervision! just like we did!) to play. I think it is rare, anymore.

I find it rather pathetic that there are new PSAs on TV that are trying to encourage kids to go outside and play for an hour a day. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

http://video.hhs.gov/?fr_story=FRdamp275067&rf=sitemap

I am a healthy, in-shape stay-at-home mom of 2 (soon to be 3) children that are the same. I think a large part of the problem is that families don't eat together at home any more, and when they do it's often processed, pre-packaged foods. Also, if the parents don't get out and do the activities with their children, then what motivation do they have? Not too much. I think a great start toward fixing this problem would be for families to eat healthy dinners at home and be active together.

High fructose corn syrup in everything - lack of exercise - over sized portions - bad school lunches - lack of funding for physical education - fast food - the list goes on. Parents are fighting an uphill battle with no help. Its really sad to see obese 4,5,6, yearolds.