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Generating Child Obesity

By Frederick Corrigan

The term "Child" refers to a person under the age of 18 years.

The Federal child abuse prevention and treatment act, (CAPTA) provides minimum standards that States must incorporate in their statutory definitions of child abuse and negelect. The CAPTA defination of "child abuse and negelect," at a minimum, refers to: "any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caregiver, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitations, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm".

From the halls of the "White House" to the halls of the "School House", we're hearing phrases like: body mass index, proper exercise, healthy diets, and child obesity. This is a good thing and a step in the right direction, but let's face the facts.

Most children don't get to the "White House".

Children spend approximately 30 hours per week, for 44 weeks per year in the "School House". If you do the math, that's 1320 hours per year from age 5 through age 18. The average child is in public school for 13 years, from grade K through grade 12. This means that they will have spent 17,190 hours of their lives in the school house. Realize also, that by the time the child has completed 18 years of their lives, they have lived 157,248 hours.

Who has the greater responsibility for the welfare of this child?

You're right!!! Their parents or caregivers!!!

Who goes to the grocery store and brings home soda, prepared foods, pizza, ice cream, pastries, and junk food snacks?

Who takes the children to eat at the fast food joints?

Who allows the children to set in front of the TV for hours every day?

Who never has the time to take their children for a walk every other day?

Who thinks that the WII and other video games are great for the health and well being of their children?

Who needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are a healthy example for their children?

If we look at the law, "any act or failure to act which presents an imminant risk or serious harm," is classified as child abuse or neglect.

Well, "What in sam hill is Child Obesity"?

In most cases, it is a reflection on the parents or caregivers and their actions toward their children.

As was reported in the September 10, 2010 issue of the Patroit Ledger, a child who is overweight or obese is considered to be at a greater risk to develop serious health problems.

In the same story, they reported that recent surveys in the state of Massachusetts revealed that state wide, 34% of the 110,000 students surveyed were overweight or obese. The city of Boston had almost 44%, the city of Lawrence had 47% and the city of Brockton had 40%.

The "White House" and the "School House" can't cure our child obesity problem. Parents and caregivers need to be held responsible.

We have laws on second hand smoke and it's harmful effects on our children. Maybe we need laws on child neglect that leads to child obesity.

If you think that this can't happen, then you forget that 20 years ago, we didn't have laws that prohibited smoking in your own car, with your children present.

Parents and caregivers are generating CHILD OBESITY!!!

Contributor's Note

Our National Health cost increase with the added weight that people are putting on our children, and they inturn, place on their children. Responsibile doesn't mean skinny, just healthy.

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So right Frederick, but the parents of these children always look for someone else to blame. The schools should provide healthy meals, the government should ban McDonlads, etc. Fat kids almaost always have Fat parents so they are the example the kids follow. Put the blame fairly and squarely where it belongs, on the parents or guardians.

Thank you for your visit and for your comments, Adrian.
Our children do less physical work today,yet parents feed them more.
I guess I failed math!!
Best wishes.
Frederick

Hello Frederick:
I couldn't agree more. Too many parents abdicate their responsibilities and over indulge their children, simply because it's the easy way.
Good job, friend.
John

Thank you for stopping by and adding your support, John.
The easy way,usually means requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection. In this case, reflection is that of fat lazy parents, which is a national tragedy!!
Best wishes.
Frederick

While I agree 100% that it's the parents who are ultimately to blame for Childhood Obesity, the matrix is far more complex than that.

There's Parent Obesity, 2-income households where the kids get the quickest meal possible, Corporate Vandalism by food giants, obscene farming subsidies, the Medical Profession tut-tutting while earning more from Obese kids, the Pharmaceutical Industry gleefully awaiting new generations of addicts etc.

You are so right, Andrew. It's unfortunate for the children, but it appears that we have a fox guarding the hen house!!
Thanks for your support and your comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Hi Frederick. I agree that parents should take more responsibility for their children's health. Too many parents rely on manufactured and fast foods instead of taking the time to prepare good healthy meals.

Some of the manufactured foods contain so much sugar, saturated fats and salt that they should be banned.

I'm with you , Keith, they should be banned. Why can't people use common sense and teach their children to cook and set down to a proper dinner, with quality time together?
Thank you for your visit and your comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Good piece Frederick - parents need to start taking more responsibility for their children, and stop blaming everyone else.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Barb.
Parents also need to set better examples. We look at smoking as bad, why can't we look at bad eating habits as being dangerous to our health?
Best wishes.
Frederick

A five star Intel! Whether it is a city or a small rural town, if you sit and watch the people walking by, you will see that at least half are overweight or obese. Nearly every family with overweight parents has overweight children. Yesterday, I had to take my dogs to the vet to get their teeth cleaned. While I was waiting, I sat in the food court in a small city mall. At a nearby table was a HUGE teenage girl eating a large order of fries (chips) and drinking a LARGE soda beverage. She was using two hands to push the fried potatoes into her mouth. It was so revolting to watch this 250 pound person suffing food into her mouth as fast as she could pick it up that I started to feel ill and had to get up and leave the mall.

The latest news flash in Canada included a move by the medical establishment to have obesity declared an illness and to have any weight reduction methods paid for out of public funds, because these obese people couldn't help being obese. So now I have to pay for my fat neighbour who drinks beer by the case and eats fast food to go on a diet or go to a gym? It's time to make people accountable, not to continue to mollycoddle them.

Thank you for stopping by and for your valued comments, Gilbert. This is a tough subject to write and comment about, because we are FREE to be irresponsible. We arrest people for carrying an open container of alcohol in public or while driving their car. Yet we let people stuff themselves into bad health and added insurance cost for the rest of us.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Parents have the final responsibility?
Really?
As long as parents have all the child welfare(sic) organisations on their backs, they cannot exercise any control over their children.
To deny a child a weekly meal at McDonalds is probably actionable at law as is smacking a badly behaved child.
With the much vaunted 'peer pressure' being seen as an important aspect of a child's growth, parents are being forced ever deeper into servitude in order to provide their off-spring with what all their peers have.
As schools continue to dumb down educational levels and erode all the facets of their teachers that would once have earned respect, they have become no more than compulsory attendance social clubs.
With a Childrens Charter that empowers children to be idle, recalcitrant and anti-social (let's not forget disrespectful) while requiring nothing of the children, we are now reaping the whirlwind - having sowed the wind.

Yes. Parents are to blame - but only because they have accepted the blandishments of childless social engineers and theorists despite their own basic instincts as to what is best for their own children.

Thank you for your visit and your great comments, Arthur.
I remember that my 4th grade teacher had a paddle,(A piece of plywood With canvas glued to each side), which she would have the child hit his own hand several times when he dispupted the class. Would the social engineers and parents have a field day with this today???
Too bad, discipline is part of growing up and learning respect.
Best to you.
Frederick

Eating the right foods along with proper exercise are normally the biggest contributors to not being overweight. There are a number of factors involved, as you point out Frederick. More parents going out to work to make ends meet, the overuse of quick meals rather than home cooking, and of course the babysitter in the corner, otherwise known as the TV (and nowadays add to that the computer). I also think that more and more parents aren't letting their kids go out to run about and play games because of the real, and sometimes, perceived fear of the danger that children can face while out there. All in all, poor eating habits, insufficient exercise = a recipe for obesity.

Thank you for stopping by and for your supportive comments, Geoff. I really believe that each generation is going to make this situation worse. Add to the computer, the hand held electronics and we have fatter kids!!
Best wishes.
Frederick

You hit those nails right on the head. I like your title as "generating" is just what we do. Obesity doesn't just happen, at least not in the overwhelming majority of cases.

Thank you for you visit and your comments of support, Janet. I'm sure that the intel is offensive to some, but it's past time to face the facts of our ways.
Best to you.
Frederick

It is so difficult for parents today to know what to feed their kids. Years ago there was only a choice of healthy food - now - because these less healthy foods are available in shops parents understandably presume they are ok for their kids to eat.There is a lot of ignorance around, partly due to poor parenting but also due to a lack of good education, and responsibility by our governments for allowing these unhealthy foods to be available to the unsuspecting public. For years we were told that margarine was healthier than butter - but now - even though they know that it is not, they still allow it to be sold in the shops. Blame the parents by all means but I think we need to dig a little deeper to discover the real culprits in this unbelievable cover up

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Janet. It's amazing how many companies are now trying to tell us that their products are "Now Improved." 25% less fat, calories,sodium, or whatever!! They don't tell how bad they still are, you have to read the small print on the package.
Best wishes.
Frederick
PS: Sorry it took so long to reply, Thanks again!!

I agree that parents are to blame. But we cannot control what children eat when we are not with them.

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, Sandy. Kids will be kids, but if we as parents and grandparents set a good example,maybe we can effect some of the kid's habits.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Children don't come with an instruction manual, but it's still the responsibility of the parents to assembly them correctly.
Thanks for the visit and the comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

I'm sorry, but But parents cannot control what children eat when they are not with them.

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, Constantine.
If the parent gets involved with the school lunch program and doesn't allow their children to buy junk from the vending machines or the convience store on the way home from school, they can effect whst the child eats.
The biggest influence, can come from parents setting the right examples at home.
I appreciate your input.
Best to you.
Frederick

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