Take obese children from parent's custody?

[mulewagon]

Take them away and do what with them? There aren't enough good foster homes for all the kids who need them now. And I bet emotional trauma is just great for weight loss and general health!

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
This is true. I was looking for a gallon of orange juice a few weeks back and thought "Wow - that's not bad, only $1.99!" Then I looked closer and it was some kind of orange DRINK, but not oj. The oj was about $4, while that sweet, high calorie orange drink was half that. For folks with limited funds, I figure most would grab the orange drink. Grabbed a bag of grapes - cost $10 (I thought the sign said $4 a bag, but it was $4 a pound). For snacking, a bag of chips is MUCH cheaper, especially the off brand ones. Sad that the convenience and high calorie foods seem to be the cheapest.

This is another reason that I was against attempts to allow welfare/foodstamp usage in fast food restaurants...

WHAT

in Canada we have something called the "Cheap food Policay" so stores have to sell things at a good price. Around here a bag of grapes is slightly above or below 4.00

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Obesity just seems like a common sense result of how we have our culture set up. There are many factors. Some include lack of outdoor time let alone outdoor exercise (hence why we are seeing large increases in Vit D deficiency and it also ties to an increase in short-sightedness in children). Some include how we have skewed what foods are available to us and at what price. My husband and I don't spend money on much other than our pets and food, and it is absolutely killer to see what trying to eat veggies, fruits, nuts, etc cost compared to eating crud. Some of the kinds of processed foods we have, or additives, are shown by peer-reviewed studies as packing on the pounds (or cause imbalances such as thyroid imbalances that can add pounds). You can also see maps of how obesity correlates heavily with economic income, so that should tell us some things too (no, not that poor people are lazy...).
I think the overreaction of certain parents or even entire microcultures to possible threats to their children was covered by someone else, the irony being that obesity is a much, much more common killer. I think that because we tend to view obesity as a cosmetic issue rather than a serious health issue can also help shut down conversation on the topic (hello permanent heart scarring for one). In general, we make our roads and pathways vehicle friendly, not bike or pedestrian friendly. I would love to ride my bike, but I am scared to death to do it around here. We have a very high rate of peds and bikers being killed, and the drivers in this state are some of the worst I've seen. Sidewalks are sporadic at best, and you aren't allowed to bike on them regardless. We also have the poorest air quality, so bad that during red alert days you are warned to stay inside, yet we keep increasing road traffic and decreasing foot traffic. In England, we used to walk along public footpaths, but in America, it can be all about private property in some states. Certain states make it pretty darn impossible to walk around freely. I know my husband and I both packed on pounds (lost them immediately after moving) while in an area of Virginia where anywhere we tried to walk either had someone with a gun coming after us...not exaggerating unfortunately, or we had cops tell us to get off (including completely unoccupied tracts of land around the high school, because...'private property'). We joined a gym and had some success, but we were also having quite the struggle financially in that area, and the kinds of foods that were available to us kept us pretty beefy.
Add to that how we gear our lives (increased car travel time, sit-down jobs, etc), and yup, no surprise to me that obesity is on the rise.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
This is true. I was looking for a gallon of orange juice a few weeks back and thought "Wow - that's not bad, only $1.99!" Then I looked closer and it was some kind of orange DRINK, but not oj. The oj was about $4, while that sweet, high calorie orange drink was half that. For folks with limited funds, I figure most would grab the orange drink. Grabbed a bag of grapes - cost $10 (I thought the sign said $4 a bag, but it was $4 a pound). For snacking, a bag of chips is MUCH cheaper, especially the off brand ones. Sad that the convenience and high calorie foods seem to be the cheapest.

This is another reason that I was against attempts to allow welfare/foodstamp usage in fast food restaurants...

WHAT

in Canada we have something called the "Cheap food Policay" so stores have to sell things at a good price. Around here a bag of grapes is slightly above or below 4.00

I guess it depends on where you are.. grapes go for $1.99 - $3.99 a lb here

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
WHAT

in Canada we have something called the "Cheap food Policay" so stores have to sell things at a good price. Around here a bag of grapes is slightly above or below 4.00

I guess it depends on where you are.. grapes go for $1.99 - $3.99 a lb here

Yup good point. It verys with store/chain also. Bag weights can also be different as well.

 

[SEMCNABB]

I have a 9 year old that is 5'3" and 180lbs. Yes he is big, we have been doc all over and the last one said " let him grow". He is always out doing stuff, live on a big farm and have a pool, so it is not from sitting around playing V Games. It gets so old having ppl tell me how to feed my kid! The Doc said he will be about 6'6" and well over 200lbs when he is grown. He is so much bigger then kids his age everyone thinks he is about 12 or 13. We do have PE and he runs to lapes everyday. I had a lady at church as him when he was 6 if we ate at McDonales allot, realy!!! We eat what we grow, veg,beef, pork, eggs, and chickens! Sorry for going on but it gets old!

 

[suzettex5]

I agree, its not the schools fault all the time, BUT, at my childrens schools (2 different schools/grade levels) they reward the kids CONSTANTLY with candy and sugar. If they arent teaching a real class on nutrition, they are sure teaching to reward themselves with crap food subliminally.

Every B-day party is cupcakes and cookies and soda, every friday is 'YOU BEEN A GOOD KID' reward day for certain kids (who get 2 big ropes of licorice), lunches at their schools are a joke of pizza, nachos, chicken nuggets and cheese roll ups. Every holiday is an excuse to LOAD up on candy and treats (our schools have BANNED any and all home made foods, plus any allergy trigger foods). Kids who do well or improve a skill are givin a 'free meal ticket' at one of several fast food joints- another crap food reward. BIG ice-cream parties are held for the class with the most 'box-tops' brought in, or the most book orders, or who walked/ran the most laps. Rewards of crap and sugar for darn near EVERY accoplishment.

And lets not forget the candy and soda machines at all the schools (at least at the middle schools and high schools in my area). At our schools, the kids get a card that the parents pre-load with money so they can buy their lunch at school, and the machines are hooked up to the cards!! Before you say "Dont give your kids the cards!", the school has a policy that says if you are paying cash, you go to the end of the line for lunch and get whatever is left over from all the other kids (usually the stale nachos no other kids wanted). Yes, our kids can brown-bag it, BUT WHERE are they supposed to keep their lunch??????? They dont have lockers at our schools at all, and they make the kids carry ALL their books to every class. Have you seen the books? My DD has HUGE backpack and it is barely able to zip shut due to books, notebooks, and supplies for all her classes, let alone a lunch. Just how much stuff is she supposed to carry? Her backpack weighs 20 pounds or more already! AND there have been days she had to carry books in her hands as well as her backpack. God forbid she trip and fall.


In my opinion, the schools ARE teaching kids about food- but the WRONG stuff! They are teaching our (my) kids to reward themselves with sugar and food that isnt healthy. They are at school starting at a young, impressionable age, and stay in it a looooong time, getting these same food messages. We as parents can do our bets, but those messages are still there, everyday the kids are in school. Its like they cant possibly think of any other reward for kids these days other than sugar and food.

As far as Im concerned, schools DO bear the weight of responsibility when it comes to the obesity epidemic of our children. NOT all the weight, as it is up to us as parents to start kids off right in life and keep trying to teach our kids right, but surely, the schools and our Govt system should be more responsible and pro-active and take far more action towards prevention and education. NOT punishment once the deed is done.

 

[KenK]

Just happen to have the sale flyer from our weekly paper in front of me. Bone in chicken breast .98c/lb. 4 pounds of dried pinto beans for $3, 2 pounds of rice for $1.28. Peaches for .97c/lb.

Flip the page and here we have two dozen cookies for $5.

What's better five pounds of chicken or two boxes of cookies?

It's all about making good choices instead of bad choices. Easier said than done, I know.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
chicken thighs bone in $2.99lb

ruffles or doritos 3.00 a bag.

I know the food prices flex with the seasons too.. in the summer we can pay 99 cents lb for apples.. in the winter and spring that price can jump to $2.99lb

 

[Chickangel79]

Quote:
No its not but they don't help by putting vending machines in our corridors full of shyte, fizzy drinks etc, even our sports equipment is sponsored by McDonalds, what a joke! We can do our best at home but when the schools take irresponsible sponsors over our children's health it blows it all out of the window.