Obesity Can Be Healthy, Dammit!- Page 2

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:37pm

wow Rath, that is quite an accomplishment, congrats!! How long did it take you??

[chicolini]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:44pm

Borstal - In many cases, yeah, gym and recess are cut back beyond belief. There's too much at stake with all the testing requirements to waste time on silly things like "play" at school.

There has been a little bit of a backlash, so hopefully that trend will reverse.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:49pm

About a year of eating healthier and regular exercise, Rent.

[RobbO]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:51pm

hey, borstal, wanna play with my blackberries?

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:52pm

Borstalboy: I know it's shocking isn't it?
Last week they had "Field Week" at school -- all the kids did some sort of track and field or sporting competitions...

I was shocked at the fact that more kids that were out of shape and overweight than were in shape and fit. My kid has always been smaller than most of her classmates, but in previous years only slightly so; this year it looked like she was with the wrong grade level-- my God -- she was literally inches shorter and more slender than at least 95% of the other girls in 5th grade.

[chicolini]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:55pm

It's to the point where pediatricians aren't even noticing it anymore - so many overweight kids come through that they become sensitized to that as the new "normal". There was an article in the paper earlier this week about some testing that showed early signs of heart disease, etc. and the doctors were surprised because they didn't think these kids were that much at risk.

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:02pm

In many cases, yeah, gym and recess are cut back beyond belief. There's too much at stake with all the testing requirements to waste time on silly things like "play" at school.

I am all for some level of PE especially in the primary grade level....because yes - kids should be kids and playing is part of that but the problem isn't cutting back on PE, it's when those 40 minutes of physical education become the entire sum of physical activity for kids ... now most of them aren't doing much else besides that.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:09pm

I agree that Obesity is a horrible, unhealthy thing. But, people teasing fat people is not going to make it any better, and that is what makes me upset. I mean, some take the teasing as a jumping off point to healthy eating and losing weight . . . but others go the other way and eat, eat, eat from depression.

There are some that are chunky people because of medicine, too. I have asthma, but when I was little it was really bad and I almost died a few times. I was also sickly skinny and when they put me on some medication, I gained a lot of weight, really quickly. After that, it has been really hard for me to lose it again. When I was in elementary and middle school, I was VERY active with basketball, playing with other kids in the neighborhood, baseball, etc. All that time, I barely lost any weight, because I still used Asthma medication. Now, I am still more chunky than I need to be and I admit that I am less active I need to be, and yes that it too blame right now. But, my point is that some people are big because of other means besides food.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:09pm

"Because it's genetics. Some people are just genetically fat and there's nothing you nor they can do about it."

This is not exactly true, but if you want to believe it, then by all means stay obese-as long as you're happy that way!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:12pm

spidey, that's a whole other discussion.

Cruel makes it clear that he just wants to eat junk and sit on his ass and be left alone.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:14pm

I know it's a whole other discussion, but I just wanted to bring that point up!

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:15pm

Everybody, everybody, EVERYBODY needs to watch FAT: What No One Is Telling You on PBS. It is truly life changing. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/fat/index.html (you can watch it online).

Here is an excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ic8A79HKQ


There is soooooo much more to this epidemic than any of us understand. Seriously, watch it.

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 01:15 PM

[wexy]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:19pm

My gig is evaluating disability claims for Social Security,
The financial toll that obesity has on our country is enormous.
(no pun intended).

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:38pm

The obvious thing is either extreme is dangerous, focusing on healthy food and an active lifestyle should be the norm.

But here is the irony:
what we see is heroin chic on fashion magazines but the sizes of clothes have been sliding up for the past 20 years.

For example, I was out shopping with my Mom recently and she was appalled that I wear a size 1/2 in most shops -- and said I was "getting too skinny". I very upset about this because for over a decade now I have been very careful about my eating habits and maintaining my weight around 102-107 Now when I was in college, and for a brief period during the divorce I did struggle with 'anexoria' (although it was not exactly; according to the shrinks it was just self-punishment about some childhood traumas, I tend to agree because starvation was never about 'feeling fat' or 'looking a certain way')...anyway the point is preceding my mental breakdown I was of normal weight for my height and a size 6.

So we did an experiment -- she had to make me a dress just before college indeed, I just turned 18 for my grandparents 50th -- she still has the pattern and all the notes and sizes so we measured again and they are exactly the same as they were 20 years ago. Now that I am almost 38 I am a size 1 however, according to the tape measure I am not the one who has changed.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:00pm

Spider, you're absolutely right about the side effects of medication. I gained almost 30 pounds when I was 16 and it was partly due to a certain med I started at the time. My cousin, who is the same age as me, also gained a large amount of weight due to similar circumstances at the time. That's not to say I wasn't eating like a hog at the time either, but still, you are right that its not always due simply to bad habit.

I have also volunteered at a children's hospital for many years, and young adults particularly are prone to weight gain depending on what meds they are on, and also due to the fact that many of them can't maintain active lifestyles due to illness or handicap.

The fact that PE and recess has been cut back so much in schools is appalling to me. Also the foods that are available to children (although they have been slowly reforming them) are horrendous in terms of sugar and trans fat content. I babysit for two children ages 6 and 9 and I can't believe how much sugar they consume over the afternoon. Granted they are on the smaller size, since both their parents are petite, slim people, but you can see why other children who are more prone to weight gain suffer from obesity at such a young age.

I know many obese people. I am one of them. All of them are completely healthy. No blood problems, no cholesterol problems.

I have a question, though: are you actually considered "obese" or are you just a few pounds overweight? Because there is a difference, and the fact that you don't have any health problems does not mean that your body should carry around a large amount of extra weight for the rest of your life.

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 02:00 PM

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:14pm

i agree that p.e. and recess are things kids need, especially in the elementary school level. younger kids need to go outside and run around to get their energy out and have a break durring the day.

as for high school, i think p.e. should be accomadated to your level. at my old school, if you weren't a varsity athlete you wouldn't be able to keep up and ended up being left out of p.e. class.
in middle and elementary school, p.e. was fun... in high school it was like boot camp. beacuse it was so hard, alot of kids would just sit out and not get any physical activity that day.

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:31pm

Abba...the problem is that people want it all...(whenever this comes up I hear "Gimme,Gimme" running through my head)
Parents want PE and art classes at school, but they don't want to pay the higher property taxes it requires to fund those programs.
People want their kids to get the best education possible, but they continue to fight the idea that to get better teachers requires better pay. It's that simple. And most of them don't understand that part of "being smart" is being healthy and they put all the emphasis on good marks.

I'm really popular at PTO meetings- -- can't you tell?

The schools suffer from being stymied in some very serious bureaucratic red tape -- but if I really had to point a finger it anyone --it would be at parents.

Parents, quite simply, have stopped raising their kids. And then they blame the schools, they blame the media, they blame fast food, and fast lifestyles -- for the obesity, violence, drugs, sex...

however, they never look into the mirror and blame themselves.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:45pm

I completely agree with you - I dont think its only the fault of the schools at all. Kids come home at night and are overburdened with so much work, too that they dont even have time to play outside when they got OUT of school

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:49pm

RE: PE at school. Perhaps things have changed, but I worked in the Jersey City School System for 25 years, and the status of PE classes at that time was that it cannot be cut. It was required by the federal govt. as part of every student's curriculum.

Of course, the first to go when they have budget cuts is art, music, home ec, etc. but never PE.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:52pm

If there was no PE in school when I was a kid, what would I have spent all my time trying to get out of?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:54pm

I think there's also kind of a stigma related to gyms and working out; that they're only for people who are already thin.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard of obese people getting laughed at and heckled while struggling with a treadmill or using a really light weight.

Now THAT is sick.

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:56pm

Well you know that is a bit weird. All of my kids had a lot of homework on a daily basis in 5th and 6th grade but then, something odd happens, in junior high it levels off...which looking at my oldest who is now in high school troubles me. Instead of consistent amounts of homework every night he will be inundated with many hours of homework every few weeks, at this rate college is going to be a brutal awakening.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:58pm

HOWEVER...

Though the work level definitely is upped in college, you also have more time to do it. Plus, with syllabi in hand, you can get started on things before the project is even assigned.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 3:00pm

"If there was no PE in school when I was a kid, what would I have spent all my time trying to get out of?"

I hear you! I used to go to summer camp, and would try to hide when they called swim time!

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 3:04pm

"I hear you! I used to go to summer camp, and would try to hide when they called swim time!"

lol.. me too. and not because i didn't like to swim, but beacuse swimming lessons were in a nasty part of the lake.