Mother Says DSS Threatening To Take Her Son Because Of Weight Problem

[Tonington]

I've seen a lot of the major points here in this thread. My personal opinion is a combination of all those points. If parents had more time to spend with their kids instead of trying to get ahead so much in the go-go competitive job markets, they could spend more time being active with their kids and showing them how to lead a fun active life, they could spend more time cooking quality meals instead of the packaged junk which is the fastest growing sector of the agri-food industry.

People can still be healthy and active while eating crappy foods, I have many friends who ate chips and drank pop constantly when they were kids. They kept healthy while eating that crap by being active. Kids can also get overweight and unhealthy by eating only the foods found on the pyramid provided by nutritionists, in this case a severe lack of moderation and phsical activity.

Ask any nutritionist, you can't rely on one over the other, being overweight is only one factor among many others which negatively impact our overall health.

Honestly, to focus so much on society because it is a cross societal problem, is a cop-out. It starts at home with good parents, I ask where these parents today have their priorities focussed. I don't need to become a CEO or anything to be happy. Spending more quality time with my familly is worth more than the raise which buys me a bigger car, or an extra vacation.

 

[kashmyre]

We now live in a "drive-thru" society. We drive thru to get our food, do our banking, get our gas, hell, in the GTA they even have drive thru pharmacies! People don't even have have to get out their car to do the basics anymore. It is an oxymoron if you think about it. The faster life gets, the lazier we get.

The difference between now and the 50's & 60's has a lot to do with (yep, here it comes) TV! Let's face it, not too many kids were sitting around watching the 2 or 3 channels that were available. There wasn't cable or satellite, there weren't any video games, and unless you were a reader there was not much else to do but GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY. As a kid I can remember going out when we got up in the morning, maybe coming home to eat (if some other mom didn't feed you) and not coming in until the street light came on. And as stated by someone earlier, money was an issue so treats were actually treats; not staples.

I also think one of the problems with our society now is that kids are no longer allowed to be just kids. There is way too much pressure in the school system these days (at least in ON). There is no reason for a child in Grade 1 to have homework. I remember when my daughter was in Grade 2 and coming home with hours (yes, hours) of homework. As far as I am concerned at 7 the only thing on a child's mind should be to play, and dream of Christmas. NOT worry because next year is the Grade 3 test and it might look bad on the teachers (DO YOUR JOB!). This is the reason that I pulled her out and homeschooled. Sports, lessons, and free time give her all the socializing she needs. After school time, rather than sitting in the house doing homework, she can go out to play. (It can be considered gym)

As for eating healthy, as anyone who has ever done the grocery shopping knows, it costs more to buy healthy. It is no wonder that there are so many in today's society that eat the crap they do. It's what they can afford. (Back to the oxymoron). There needs to be shift to make healthy lifestyles more accessible both in terms of time management and financial.

 

[tracy]

So you advocate skinniness, looking fit, over actually BEING fit?.

I think this is a big problem in our society. Thin has come to be synonymous with healthy, when that isn't the case at all. Thin people can be very unhealthy, but because we don't see their fat we don't judge them the same way.

Personally I don't know why we have to judge any people for their health anyways. I concentrate on my own life and my own health. None of us are perfect. I'm a healthy weight, but definitely need to work on avoiding junk food. I rely on the vending machines at work at all to often... I had a lovely meal of beef jerky and diet coke at 4 am today. Is that better than someone who carries around an extra 20 lbs but eats well all the time? I don't know.

 

[csanopal]

abetes, arterial hardening, high blood pressure. these are caused LARGELY by poor diet. obesity is just an other symptom, not the exclusive cause.

Your are being so PC! People are fat because they eat too much, and no way is being fat healthy, no way.

 

[karrie]

Your are being so PC! People are fat because they eat too much, and no way is being fat healthy, no way.

? you just quoted me as saying that being fat is a symptom of overeating.

I never said being fat was healthy. I said that skinny people can be just as unhealthy, sometimes moreso, due to the other effects that bad diet causes. Even if you can eliminate the obesity symptom of a bad diet, it's rare you can eliminate all of the other symptoms I listed.

 

[TenPenny]

Your are being so PC! People are fat because they eat too much, and no way is being fat healthy, no way.

Indeed. If the calories injested is greater than the calories burned by excercise, the person will gain weight.

So the solution is, burn more calories than you consume, and you will lose weight. Unless, of course, you are one of those human beings who can turn sunlight into matter.

Even if you are taking drugs, or have mental issues, or whatever, if you burn more calories than you ingest, you will lose weight.

 

[Tonington]

So the solution is, burn more calories than you consume, and you will lose weight. Unless, of course, you are one of those human beings who can turn sunlight into matter.

I'd love to have green skin. Being an ambulatory facultative autotroph would be wicked.