Deck stacked in obesity fight
Excerpts from the Parents Council blog this week:
Should schools help fight obesity? “We are all so shocked that our nation’s children are obese? Then we close our free neighborhood pools, open $5 water parks, build suburbia without sidewalks, send out a constant alarm that children will be snatched off the streets if they are playing with their friends so they must be in supervised activities at all times … On top of it, we’re trading recess for optimal scores on standardized tests, even though SpokAnimal would be investigating a dog trainer who was refusing to let puppies play so that they could perform better in agility trials …
“How about instead of running around like Chicken Little we go back to some good old common sense and make activities affordable for everyone? Stop sending the message that a group of kids playing outside is in danger when they are more likely to die from obesity related problems than from the boogie man? Make PE as mandatory as math and reading? Include health clubs in insurance plans since prevention is cheaper than treatment? We’re always on some bandwagon or another. Right now it’s obesity so we’re spending billions of dollars studying it instead of just using some common sense.” – Posted by Jennine
TV Turnoff Week: “The commercials are really out of control. My husband watches sports or has the game on in the background with the sound down. I swear the only sponsors ESPN has are beer, beer, beer and cars and AXE spray and they all have sexed up commercials on (at any time of day). And don’t get me started on the ads for ‘Erectile Dysfunction’ meds …. that’s even more repulsive than the toenail fungus ads.” – Posted by Debbie G.
On youth sports: “My husband and I coached a T-ball team of 4 year olds. He was the coach, but was out of town for half of the time, so I filled in. I never pictured myself being a coach, but it sure was fun to watch the young kids having a great time.
“As coach, don’t worry if you hear a parent complaining. You are the one volunteering and doing the best you can. If someone doesn’t like it, they can try coaching.” – Posted by Lisa P.
“Mean Girls”: “Because you can’t ever control the ‘other kids’ in life, the best defense is to shore up your own kids’ ability to cope when faced with these situations. There are always going to be ‘exclusive’ groups and ‘outsiders’ no matter what, I think it is part of human nature to crave some sort of hierarchy.” – Posted by Debbie G.
“Do mean girls grow up to become mean women? I’ve often wondered.” – Posted by Cindy H.