I had to chime in. I was an obese child and am still one now..only now I'm an adult
. I don't blame my parents at all. My mom tried everything, she kept asking the doctor why I was so large, and they kept telling her that "it's just baby fat, she'll grow out of it". I was a 100lb 7 year old. I was always a sedentary person, I liked to sit and observe people. We lived out in the country and I only had my cousin to play with on the occasions when he would visit. My younger sister didn't come along until later and we never played well anyway. So my mom enrolled me in basketball and volleyball, and I played those throughout elementary school, then I got into tennis and marching band (insert nerd emoticon here) through junior and high school. I was always large. I never ate school lunches- my mom always packed me healthy foods. While some of my friends would get like a half of a box of girl scout cookies for dessert, I would have a pudding cup or yogurt, or maybe a single cookie. I also never had money for the snack machines.
Back then, I'm 26 so we're talking 90s/00s here, there was a lot of hype about low fat or reduced fat foods that really turned out to be way worse for you. I ate a ton of them. My mom thought she was doing me a favor in purchasing them, and so did I. Is that the consumer's fault, or the fault of the manufacturer- I'm a little torn on that issue. Regardless, I ate pretty well. I was a big fan of fruit, and cereal, and oatmeal. Still am.
I'm a much changed person today. The more that I learn about food, and consuming things in general, the more angry I get at the way our society has turned. I've recently lost 40ish pounds simply by keeping track of what I eat. To the point of ridiculousness-I have a google spreadsheet with calories, fat, protein, fiber, carbs, sodium and keep track of all the things I put in my mouth. I have learned SO much about the value of good food this way. I rarely, rarely eat processed foods anymore and try to make as much as I can from scratch at home. We as a society have completely lost sense of value. Yes, that chicken breast cost 2.49/lb- because it used to be alive. Those bananas are .99/lb because they came from 2000 miles away. They idea of value has translated into all of the other things that we buy. You know that I can't buy a shovel that's made in the USA? I can't find a PILLOW that's made in the USA. I saw jarred fruit on a grocery shelf that was "Made in China". We as a society do not see a value in things. We want everything for cheap. Well guess what, cheap is not good for. Disposable take up space on this shrinking earth. It has no nutritional value to nourish your body, you'll eat more in an attempt to get nutrients, but you can keep eating and eating and eating that junk and you'll never feel satiated because it's not designed to satisfy, and it's not designed to last.
The buy local idea is catchy, and you know what? It's healthy for you, for the economy, and for your neighbors. I have vowed to not buy things in China, and if that means going without something, well that's what I've been doing. I have nothing against China, mind you, I do have a problem with sending our jobs somewhere else, with using up amazing amounts of fossil fuels to get crap pieces of plastic that are supposed to just be thrown in some landfill over here, and I do have a problem with people not getting paid for their work. I understand the value of things now. I don't buy something unless I need it. I have my first real garden this year, and it's a LOT of hard work! I'm more willing to pay money for that food now because I know how much work goes into it. I have chickens now. CHICKENS!? People think I'm crazy, but really, they're the crazy ones!
I know this seems like I've gone off on a tangent, but really my point is about seeing value in things, including food. If we as consumers educated ourselves, researched the facts, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic. You'd know that you can't eat a bag of doritos a day, you'd know that grain-fed red meat IS terrible for you, you'd value those set of dishes that you bought because you had to pay your hard earned money for them- but they're going to be something that you pass down to your kids. So in conclusion, I don't think that these kids should be taken from their parents, I think the parents should be given information about health and nutrition, or at least internet access. If you have internet access, you have no excuse to not be able to find resources about food. There's so much out there, and it's all free.
Okay, I'm going to go play DDR for an hour.
Back then, I'm 26 so we're talking 90s/00s here, there was a lot of hype about low fat or reduced fat foods that really turned out to be way worse for you. I ate a ton of them. My mom thought she was doing me a favor in purchasing them, and so did I. Is that the consumer's fault, or the fault of the manufacturer- I'm a little torn on that issue. Regardless, I ate pretty well. I was a big fan of fruit, and cereal, and oatmeal. Still am.
I'm a much changed person today. The more that I learn about food, and consuming things in general, the more angry I get at the way our society has turned. I've recently lost 40ish pounds simply by keeping track of what I eat. To the point of ridiculousness-I have a google spreadsheet with calories, fat, protein, fiber, carbs, sodium and keep track of all the things I put in my mouth. I have learned SO much about the value of good food this way. I rarely, rarely eat processed foods anymore and try to make as much as I can from scratch at home. We as a society have completely lost sense of value. Yes, that chicken breast cost 2.49/lb- because it used to be alive. Those bananas are .99/lb because they came from 2000 miles away. They idea of value has translated into all of the other things that we buy. You know that I can't buy a shovel that's made in the USA? I can't find a PILLOW that's made in the USA. I saw jarred fruit on a grocery shelf that was "Made in China". We as a society do not see a value in things. We want everything for cheap. Well guess what, cheap is not good for. Disposable take up space on this shrinking earth. It has no nutritional value to nourish your body, you'll eat more in an attempt to get nutrients, but you can keep eating and eating and eating that junk and you'll never feel satiated because it's not designed to satisfy, and it's not designed to last.
The buy local idea is catchy, and you know what? It's healthy for you, for the economy, and for your neighbors. I have vowed to not buy things in China, and if that means going without something, well that's what I've been doing. I have nothing against China, mind you, I do have a problem with sending our jobs somewhere else, with using up amazing amounts of fossil fuels to get crap pieces of plastic that are supposed to just be thrown in some landfill over here, and I do have a problem with people not getting paid for their work. I understand the value of things now. I don't buy something unless I need it. I have my first real garden this year, and it's a LOT of hard work! I'm more willing to pay money for that food now because I know how much work goes into it. I have chickens now. CHICKENS!? People think I'm crazy, but really, they're the crazy ones!
I know this seems like I've gone off on a tangent, but really my point is about seeing value in things, including food. If we as consumers educated ourselves, researched the facts, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic. You'd know that you can't eat a bag of doritos a day, you'd know that grain-fed red meat IS terrible for you, you'd value those set of dishes that you bought because you had to pay your hard earned money for them- but they're going to be something that you pass down to your kids. So in conclusion, I don't think that these kids should be taken from their parents, I think the parents should be given information about health and nutrition, or at least internet access. If you have internet access, you have no excuse to not be able to find resources about food. There's so much out there, and it's all free.
Okay, I'm going to go play DDR for an hour.
