Stop the Belly-aching!
Britain is taking the next step in ensuring that their population of youngsters will grow into healthy adults. Britain’s officials are cracking down on childhood obesity, and even going as far as to ban television commercials for “junk” food that is aimed at children.
I haven’t really taken the time to pick out my thoughts and ideas on childhood obesity, but recently I have had to face the fact that my 11-year old step-son is overweight. It’s quite frustrating knowing that I can’t do much to help him, especially since he doesn’t live with his father and I full-time. My situation is no where near the severity level of the mother of 8-year old Connor McCreaddie though!
The news article can be found at CNN.com.
Connor McCreaddie weighs approximately 196 pounds. Believe it or not, this is 21 pounds lighter than he was before Christmas in 2006! To put that in perspective, my 6′3″ husband doesn’t weigh much more that! My 9-year old son weighs 64 pounds!
Social workers in Britain actually considered taking the young boy away from his single mother on a charge of neglect. She came to her senses though, and consulted a dietician, and is working toward getting her son healthy. So the social workers allowed Connor to stay at home.
Wow! What would we do here in America if obesity was considered neglect? Actually, I wish our government would take some drastic measures in eliminating childhood obesity! My only problem is the cost? We would have to employ professionals to figure out what factors, both genetically and environmentally were contributing in each case, then create a lifestyle plan around that. I imagine that the cost of doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, trainers and whatever else you might need would be completely out of range for many Americans!
We need better nutrition education in schools! Healthy foods shouldn’t be so darn expensive! Gym memberships should be tax-deductible! There should be greater incentives for healthy living! You can’t tell us that the double-cheeseburger that costs $1 has 800 calories and is going clog our arteries, and then charge $9 for the turkey burger! What kind of hellish torture is that!?
Okay, I’ll stop my belly-aching, but I have to say that a lot of it really does come down to cost. The fact that Connor’s mother is single definitely plays a role in the type of food she was able to buy. In turn, he develops a taste for the wrong things, and now here he is. I can’t imagine that it’s much different in Britain. Money makes all the difference.
February 28th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
The worst part is that nowadays the poorest people are the most overweight because of the advent of processed foods. The cheapest food contains the most calories, fats, and bizarre polycarbomonosaturated whateverthehells.
Soon we’ll have to abandon the archetype of the skin-and-bones beggar. The homeless are getting fatter while the rich make themselves vomit their fillet mignon
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
That’s completely right, the cheaper the food, the worse it is for you… unfortunately it’s also the tastiest!
We in Britain are starting to do something about it, trying to instill sensible eating in kids at a young age. It seems that’s something America haven’t taken on board and tackled yet.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I agree with everyone else here. All we hear about is how overweight and unhealthy Americans are, and yet, when we go to the grocery store, the most affordable foods are the most unhealthy! Why don’t some of the brains approach this problem by taking steps to lower the prices on healthy foods?
March 14th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I wrote about this on my personal blog, and was abhored at the parents contending that they couldn’t deprive him of snacks because “he would just go on and on about it”. Yes. That whining would TRULY suck. More than the hypertension and diabetes you’re handing your son? Hmmmm.