Obesity Can Be Healthy, Dammit! — Page 2

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

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

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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.

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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.

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"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!

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

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

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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.

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

"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.

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