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Obesity can be caused by being poor. Healthy foods are too expensive for many people. Potatos and pasta go farther and are much cheaper than salads and lean meat. You can put a plate of mac and cheese in front of a child for less than $1 and it could cost $4-$5 for a plate of lean beef and a salad. For many children, especially in the inner city, it is not safe for them to be out and about near dark, so they get less exercise. Many schools have cut recess time or done away with them completely. Many schools also send children, even in elementary school, home with 2-3 hours of homework. It is dark and bedtime by the time it is done. School lunches are unhealthy and nasty and many schools frown on students bringing lunches. I have gone in to eat with my grandchildren on grandparents day, and the food is barely edible and mostly high fat.
It's not so much the food as it is lack of exercise and pure laziness. Everyone I went to school with ate the same stuff. School lunches, mac and cheese, mcdonalds, etc. There was NO obesity issue because we were active and NEVER sat inside the house. BTW, we had 2-3 hours of homework also, that's no excuse. What you mentioned about lack of recess and even doing away with Phys Ed in many schools is also to blame. They are creating lazy blobs.
Exactly! I have often made the point that the 'lifestyle' chronic diseases have contributed mightily to our high health care costs. Further, that the focus on and prioritization of health insurance is the wrong focus. Only to be attacked as being heartless, for being a detestable creature, ad nauseum. I rather suspect the attackers are Jabba the Hutts sitting at their keyboards, bag of potato chips in hand, a big gulp at the ready.
Now, I have to finish my oats, raisins, dried apricots, slivered almonds, nonfat Greek yogurt and unsweetened almond milk, before going out to do gardening chores the rest of the day.
Those attacks? Don't bother me one bit.
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Originally Posted by Skezo
Insurance companies should be able to discriminate based directly on weight (Obese people consume far more healthcare). Would hopefully drive down obesity and help lower health care cost, and if not well at least those that make healthy choices wouldn't have to subsidize them as much. Shouldn't be a partisan issue imo.
That's true, but not necessarily for the reasons you believe. Take a look at the obesity rates of the poor on food stamps compared to the poor who aren't on food stamps, and compared to the rest of the population:
Income-eligible children on food stamps: 24%
Income-eligible children NOT on food stamps: 20% Non-poor children who of course don't even qualify for food stamps: 13%
Income-eligible adults on food stamps: 44% obese
Income-eligible adults NOT on food stamps: 33% obese Non-poor adults who of course don't even qualify for food stamps: 32% obese
It certainly does appear that the children of poor and low-income families who receive free school breakfast, lunch, etc., program meals, regardless of whether they get food stamps, are being overfed.
Additionally, the USDA OIG (Office of the Inspector General) has found that a full 59% of families on Food Stamps also double-dip and triple-dip, or more, free food benefits from major Federal means-tested free food programs for the exact same daily meals:
Let that sink in... A full 59% of families on Food Stamps also double-dip and triple-dip, or more, free food benefits from major Federal means-tested free food programs for the exact same daily meals.
Are we really doing the poor any favors by causing their obesity by letting them double-dip and sometimes even triple-dip or more government free food program benefits, thereby enabling their overeating and ruining their health? They are disproportionately obese, and cost us a lot more tax money to pay for their obesity-related health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Michelle Obama was a hypocrite. She preached healthy eating then couldn't pass up any fried food known to man. Classic liberal do as I say not as I do. Her mandates for school lunches were also a failure, as kids wouldn't eat a lot of that crap.
We have an obesity problem due to peoples CHOICES. Also we are bombarded with unhealthy food by the media constantly.
How do you know what she liked to eat and how often? Do you work in the White House kitchen?
In any case, she wasn't a hypocrite because she was a healthy weight and she exercised. The entire family is thin. Healthy eating doesn't mean you never eat a burger and fries. It means that overall you eat nutritious food and not too much.
I'd like to see pictures of everyone complaining about Michelle and her attempts to fight childhood obesity. I bet they wouldn't be pretty.
I disagree that healthy foods are more expensive. Processed foods are more expensive and in general less healthy.
I feed my family on 30 to 40% of what I hear is the average. Always have. I do it while working multiple jobs, having an active hobby, and going out socially. It takes some planning and effort, but nothing strenuous!
People often seem to lack the skills to prepare simple meals and the sense to figure out what a balanced diet is!? Very odd.
Obesity among the poor has skyrocketed and yet we insist on having several overlapping "food programs" for the poor.
do you not get, it's the type of food, not the amount? It's not like poor people on assistance are sitting down to an unlimited surf and turf buffet nightly.
agree- which is why it's a good idea if they are offered in public schools, but somehow the Sarah Palin crowd sees this as a threat to liberty.
Most school cafeterias don't have kitchens anymore to cook healthy food, just microwaves.
It's contracted out to companies that provide the ready to eat meals.
3 multinationals dominate the school lunch program which generated $43 billion for them (last reported in 2009 with no new updates by the government).
Social welfare programs, like school lunches, are "business operations" now since the USG contracted the work out and pays these companies.
And yet, there were people who had horrible things to say about Michelle Obama, who tried to get kids to consider healthier eating. Diabetes is on the rise, as are heart problems, and we keep feeding our kids a steady diet of Big Macs.
IMO Michelle would have done better to also encourage that children and their parents get more physical exercise. And... also directed more of her message to the black (and Hispanic) communities. When I look at my fellow co-workers (and it's an extremely diverse group racially), the blacks (Americans and Haitians) are particularly addicted to the soda fountain drinks, such as orange flavoured soda. And the same goes for Hispanics from South America. Meanwhile, the Asians are drinking tea and water. The few white people on staff drink water, ice tea, and skim milk.
I think that one of the biggest problems with childhood obesity is the high consumption of soda and other sugary drinks. As to blaming McDonalds, the problem is less what the kids are eating in school, but that their parents are too lazy to cook a healthy meal for their family, and instead take the easy way out by feeding them fast food such as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even at work, the blacks will joke how much they love fried chicken. Anytime we have it available for our employee meal, they all rush towards the frying station. And I don't see them very often making and eating a healthy salad.
Just trying to feed school children a healthy lunch (and breakfast) at school is not the answer. It's has to be about fixing the substandard parenting that these obese kids are getting. It's not the school's job to fix all these problems. It's the parents that are teaching their kids bad eating habits.
BTW I am not saying that obese children is not a white or Asian race problem, but Michelle being black makes her a better spokesperson for her black community.
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