Childhood Obesity- Join the fight

balance9

Sorry this is a little long...but I think we can make a difference here...

Many of you already know the scary statistics. We are the first generation of parents to raise children who are predicted to die younger than we are. According to the US Surgeon General, the number of overweight adolescents has tripled, since 1980, with one in three children overweight. Adult-onset diabetes was renamed type II diabetes in 1995 when children were diagnosed with increased frequency and fatty liver disease, once unheard of in children, is now thought to affect one in ten adolescents.

Fingers are pointed in many directions, ranging from increased fast food to decreased activity levels, but here's the good news. There's people like us -- parents like us -- who are going to turn the corner on this. Jim Henson has an inspiring quote, "Kids don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember who you are". And everyone on this site has an interest in being healthy, and in so doing, will inspire their children -- one of whom may be the catalyst for change in the next generation. And on and on.

In addition to setting the example, here's a great way to help make a difference. Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) recently won the 2010 TED awards for his work on childhood obesity (an MFP member originally posted his inspiring speech, which I have re-posted below). He is asking for our help by showing our support for healthier school lunches, and promoting simple healthy cooking schools to parents by signing his Food Revolution Petition.

So far he has just over 17,000 signatures, but I think we can do better than that. If you'd like to add your name to the list and help make a difference, here's the link:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

A link to Jamie's TED award acceptance speech:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

Lastly...I've searched the Internet for a charity that would help teach parents healthier cooking skills and provide nutrition information (maybe even an online family-friendly healthy cookbook for 15 minute meals??), and help kids through some type of marketing campaign that promotes healthy foods and playing outdoors again as 'cool'. I'd be interested in supporting something like this. If anyone has any info, please let me know!

tasha30

I myself have an overweight child and since I've joined this site and lost my own weight I have also implemented a change in the foods that I cook for her and allow her to eat. She has lost 7lbs and counting. I really dont want my daughter growing up obese knowing I could have done something. So NO more making excuses, I want my child to LIVE! PERIOD!!! Thanks for the info... going to sign the petition....

tasha30

DONE!! I also like to add that my daughters school has programs for parent, nutrition classes for students, etc. Its really great that they are making an effort as well!

LatLon

Signed the petition. Great video. I'm in for the fight! Maybe we can get some ideas going out there.

confuseacat

I agree that the school lunch programs in the US need to be totally reeavaluated. They IMHO ,as a mother and former school lunch worker, are junk. Couple that with the decreased time kids spend in physical activity per day and you get what we have today. My daughter is "chubby" wasn't that way until after starting kindergarten where she was to sit almost 7 hrs a day and have P.E. only 2 days a week! She walks with me and enjoys playing basketball, cheerleading , trampoline , swimming and roller skating. I just don't think it is enough.
Kids need that everyday P.E. that the schools say they don't have time for. When I was a kid in the '70's we had P.E, everyday and recess in the afternoon. My child doen't know what recess is.
It is only part of the equation. Healthier food choices are too.
Also, I don't think people focus much on the skinny kids who eat crap and are still skinny. Just because you are overweight does not necessarily mean you eat twinkies everyday and being slim does not mean you have healthy eating habits. Everyone no matter size needs the tools to be as healthy as possible.

sorry for the rant .. this is just a peeve of mine with the schools in my area that say they are focusing on health and fitness but don't offer enough activity.

LatLon

I myself have an overweight child and since I've joined this site and lost my own weight I have also implemented a change in the foods that I cook for her and allow her to eat. She has lost 7lbs and counting. I really dont want my daughter growing up obese knowing I could have done something. So NO more making excuses, I want my child to LIVE! PERIOD!!! Thanks for the info... going to sign the petition....

You're an inspiration! It's so good to hear a mom say that you have certain foods that you allow her to eat...So many moms I know think that 'kids are kids' and should be able to eat whatever they want. One of my son's friends just told me yesterday that his 5-year-old cousin is in the hospital -- the HOSPITAL -- for bowel impaction and the doc told his mom it was because he was eating too much junk food and not enough veggies/fruits/fiber etc. Yikes.

ka_42

I signed the petition! I was sad to see that there aren't many supporters in Kansas, though I'm not too surprised. I'll be sharing this with my friends!

balance9

I agree that the school lunch programs in the US need to be totally reeavaluated. They IMHO ,as a mother and former school lunch worker, are junk. Couple that with the decreased time kids spend in physical activity per day and you get what we have today. My daughter is "chubby" wasn't that way until after starting kindergarten where she was to sit almost 7 hrs a day and have P.E. only 2 days a week! She walks with me and enjoys playing basketball, cheerleading , trampoline , swimming and roller skating. I just don't think it is enough.
Kids need that everyday P.E. that the schools say they don't have time for. When I was a kid in the '70's we had P.E, everyday and recess in the afternoon. My child doen't know what recess is.
It is only part of the equation. Healthier food choices are too.
Also, I don't think people focus much on the skinny kids who eat crap and are still skinny. Just because you are overweight does not necessarily mean you eat twinkies everyday and being slim does not mean you have healthy eating habits. Everyone no matter size needs the tools to be as healthy as possible.

Wow-everything you said is so true. Budget cuts in education have left schools with little or no physical education program, which is so sad considering all of the studies that show how physical activity benefits learning. And you're right about the 'skinny' kids who eat crap and are still skinny. I have a friend with a young child who is so thin, so she says she can eat anything she wants. Well, she doesn't want anything healthy...only TONS of sugar. I don't think she sees that it takes nutrition to build bones and muscles, not just calories.

balance9

I signed the petition! I was sad to see that there aren't many supporters in Kansas, though I'm not too surprised. I'll be sharing this with my friends!

Thank you Thank you!!!:drinker:

Cathyvil

Signed! Thank you so much for posting this :flowerforyou:

karenjoy

I work as part of a school nursing team and we weigh and measure all school entrant children in our area, usually rising 5. We see children who are obese frequently, and almost always their parents are defensive, and in denial, we saw a child just yesterday who is grossly overweight, I weighed and measured her and plotted it on the chart and the weight was OVER the top of the centile lines, so in excess of the 98th percentile, I took the child back to the classroom with a sticker and lots of praise and my colleague was left to talk to Mum, who immediately the chart was shown her got cross, whipped out her red book (from birth to preschool age weight and height) and said *** was a big baby! *** has always been big, the nurse explained that the child's weight was increasing disproportionately to height, asked about what the child ate etc and how much exercise was taken, portion size etc etc. all in a VERY diplomatic and sympathetic way. Mum was having NONE of it, child is fine, eats little, does loads, always been big, no don't want any advice, no don't want you to monitor weight, no problem at all. bye......

We both shook our heads in dismay and also in some sadness, that child is looking at a very unhealthy life through no fault of it's own.

FireMonkey

Weight and parenting are two very sensitive issues. Hopefully you have planted the seed in this mom's brain - it may take some time to germinate. :flowerforyou:

mromnek

I am just turning on the show. I wasn't sure what to expect, and WOW. I have watched about 20 minutes so far, and the thing that he is saying over and over again matches precisely what I have discovered for myself in the past few months... processed food is crap. Use fresh ingredients to make healthy food.

I had to sign his petition, because I think this is way too important.

lisawest

Bump! I'll have to check this out after I get kids down for naps!

lisawest

Wow! What a great website! I signed the petition, and have been trolling the recipes. Several in there that my kiddos will love.

HealthyChanges2010

Sorry this is a little long...but I think we can make a difference here...

Many of you already know the scary statistics. We are the first generation of parents to raise children who are predicted to die younger than we are. According to the US Surgeon General, the number of overweight adolescents has tripled, since 1980, with one in three children overweight. Adult-onset diabetes was renamed type II diabetes in 1995 when children were diagnosed with increased frequency and fatty liver disease, once unheard of in children, is now thought to affect one in ten adolescents.

Fingers are pointed in many directions, ranging from increased fast food to decreased activity levels, but here's the good news. There's people like us -- parents like us -- who are going to turn the corner on this. Jim Henson has an inspiring quote, "Kids don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember who you are". And everyone on this site has an interest in being healthy, and in so doing, will inspire their children -- one of whom may be the catalyst for change in the next generation. And on and on.

In addition to setting the example, here's a great way to help make a difference. Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) recently won the 2010 TED awards for his work on childhood obesity (an MFP member originally posted his inspiring speech, which I have re-posted below). He is asking for our help by showing our support for healthier school lunches, and promoting simple healthy cooking schools to parents by signing his Food Revolution Petition.

So far he has just over 17,000 signatures, but I think we can do better than that. If you'd like to add your name to the list and help make a difference, here's the link:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

A link to Jamie's TED award acceptance speech:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

Lastly...I've searched the Internet for a charity that would help teach parents healthier cooking skills and provide nutrition information (maybe even an online family-friendly healthy cookbook for 15 minute meals??), and help kids through some type of marketing campaign that promotes healthy foods and playing outdoors again as 'cool'. I'd be interested in supporting something like this. If anyone has any info, please let me know!

Thanks for taking time to post this for us all to read about!
You ROCK!:flowerforyou: :drinker:

bstamps12

I signed the petition too! I'll post this link on my facebook too since I saw that only 1426 people in my state of AR have signed it. I watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on TV when I can...it puts me in awe to see how many of those kids don't even recognize fresh foods vs. highly processed foods! The community of Huntington, WV finally got behind him though, which I was so happy to see! My daughter is 2 1/2 and I already know I will be packing her a fresh, nutritious lunch every night for school.

balance9

When we started this post, Jamie's petition had just over 17k signatures. I just checked in, and there are over 350,000! Thanks to everyone who has passed this on.

HealthyChanges2010

bump

HealthyChanges2010

another bump to help this get out to more ppl and hopefully more sigs for Jamie's Petition!