We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
And ... WHY are we fat, again?
rml_16
Posts: 16,414 Member
Inspired by the anti-sugar thread:
When I was young, obesity was not the issue it is these days, especially among children. With my daughter's generation, it's gotten out of control. What is the difference? Well, when I was a kid, we had recess and gym class in school and when we weren't in school, we were outside riding bikes, playing tag, playing on (FUN) playgrounds and just being all-around active. We would get up in the morning, eat breakfast and run outside to see who was around to play. We might run in for lunch. Sometimes we just didn't bother. And then we were outside (no matter the season) until we heard our parents yelling for us to come inside or the street lights came on.
But when my daughter was growing up (she's 18 now), parents were so paralyzed with the fear that some stranger was going to grab their children (even though stranger kidnapping stats are no higher now than they were when I was a child) that they didn't allow them outside without constant adult supervision. Since adults have things to do like housework and errands, free play time outside became extremely limited. Kids became overscheduled with "lessons." Schools got rid of PE and recess in favor of more class time (yet test scores continue heading south). Playgrounds that were fun were deemed unsafe and fantastic equipment was replaced with boring plastic crap that no one wants to play on.
And we all got fat.
But let's blame carbs and sugar instead. Because those things are clearly the culprit. It's all those bananas and apples we eat and nothing to do with sitting our rear ends in front of computers, video games and televisions while refusing to allow our children the freedom to just run and climb trees and be, well, children.
When I was young, obesity was not the issue it is these days, especially among children. With my daughter's generation, it's gotten out of control. What is the difference? Well, when I was a kid, we had recess and gym class in school and when we weren't in school, we were outside riding bikes, playing tag, playing on (FUN) playgrounds and just being all-around active. We would get up in the morning, eat breakfast and run outside to see who was around to play. We might run in for lunch. Sometimes we just didn't bother. And then we were outside (no matter the season) until we heard our parents yelling for us to come inside or the street lights came on.
But when my daughter was growing up (she's 18 now), parents were so paralyzed with the fear that some stranger was going to grab their children (even though stranger kidnapping stats are no higher now than they were when I was a child) that they didn't allow them outside without constant adult supervision. Since adults have things to do like housework and errands, free play time outside became extremely limited. Kids became overscheduled with "lessons." Schools got rid of PE and recess in favor of more class time (yet test scores continue heading south). Playgrounds that were fun were deemed unsafe and fantastic equipment was replaced with boring plastic crap that no one wants to play on.
And we all got fat.
But let's blame carbs and sugar instead. Because those things are clearly the culprit. It's all those bananas and apples we eat and nothing to do with sitting our rear ends in front of computers, video games and televisions while refusing to allow our children the freedom to just run and climb trees and be, well, children.
0
Replies
-
I agree completely. The alarmists have stolen the fun of childhood. I am grateful I grew up when I did, we had loads of fun.0
-
My daughter has gym class and recess everyday. I did not know that some schools have no gym class, that is crazy.
I agree kids should be outside playing more. My town has 400 people so I let my 8 year old go out whenever but maybe people in big cities are freaked about that, the news sure does not help with scaring parents.0 -
totally agree with you.. there are obviously tons of reasons why ppl are overweight but the lack of activity in the new generations isnt going to make it any better. My son def is a kid that loves to play! On top of that we eat meals as a family (90% of the time its home cooked) and he also sees me staying active. I've always wanted to give my kid the kind of childhood I had. It was FUN!0
-
We still try to let our seven year old run around like that, but it's hard to find friends who can do this with her. We live where it is warm, so there's a lot to do outside. There's a pool, so when it isn't cold, she's out there swimming. Result: she's 46 pounds soaking wet. Some parents ask why she's so "skinny," but she isn't skinny. She's pure ripped muscle, and her pediatrician has said he wished all kids were her size.
Parents need to turn off televisions, avoid video games, and get outside and watch their kids play if they're so afraid of bad things happening.0 -
My daughter has gym class and recess everyday. I did not know that some schools have no gym class, that is crazy.
I agree kids should be outside playing more. My town has 400 people so I let my 8 year old go out whenever but maybe people in big cities are freaked about that, the news sure does not help with scaring parents.
I've lived in small towns and big cities and it's been the same everywhere. And teenagers are seriously overscheduled, too.
I know some schools still have PE and recess, but a lot have done away with them. We were required to have gym class every other day when I was in high school. My daughter had PE one semester her freshman year and never had to take another gym class.0 -
I was shocked when my son went into high school that they didn't have some type of required physical activity every day. They only need two quarters total of PE to graduate. He was put in a weightlifting class because they couldn't get him into a lit class he wanted. He didn't want to take it, but I talked him into keeping it. Both of my kids are pretty active, and neither has weight issues. For now, anyway.0
-
Hopefully the habit will stick.I was shocked when my son went into high school that they didn't have some type of required physical activity every day. They only need two quarters total of PE to graduate. He was put in a weightlifting class because they couldn't get him into a lit class he wanted. He didn't want to take it, but I talked him into keeping it. Both of my kids are pretty active, and neither has weight issues. For now, anyway.0 -
I agree with your description of a healthy childhood; however, I think the line up at the fast food drive through has more to do with childhood obesity than the lack of physical education in schools. Go into any elementary school (those without lunch programmes) and see what's lined up on the counter at lunch time. Add to that the families who are so busy with activities that they cannot find the time for a sit down dinner at home, and cue the line up at the fast food joints at dinner time.
Btw...was kind of getting a kick out of the sugar thread!0 -
I know I can not believe that PE is being eliminated. In high school it is only an elective that I have told my children to take. For kids to play sports today it costs so much money, I have done the best I could as a single mom to pay for it somehow or apply for scholarships when available and drive them around. But they have had friends that the parents wouldn't/couldn't do this. I don't know the answer because if you throw more money to the schools they will just spend it on something else. :huh:0
-
Wrong it is carbs that make you fat
0 -
We ate ice cream, pizza and Little Debbie snack-type food every lunch time and then went out for Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's or pizza after school every single day. We were still size 3s.I agree with your description of a healthy childhood; however, I think the line up at the fast food drive through has more to do with childhood obesity than the lack of physical education in schools. Go into any elementary school (those without lunch programmes) and see what's lined up on the counter at lunch time. Add to that the families who are so busy with activities that they cannot find the time for a sit down dinner at home, and cue the line up at the fast food joints at dinner time.
Btw...was kind of getting a kick out of the sugar thread!
I'm not saying there were no overweight kids in my school, but there were very few of them. Now you see more overweight kids than normal weight kids. The ONLY difference I have seen in my daughter's friend's vs. mine is activity. They eat the same things we ate.0 -
No gym or recess. She gets home with about an hour of daylight in the winter. A little veal.0
-
I played 3 active sports as a kid, and 5 from 7-12th grade in school. I still got fat.
Even morbidly obese my favorite sport to play was (still is) full court 5x5 basketball. Luckily I'm very strong through prior and current weightlifting (even in periods where I didn't lift), so I could overcome my weight.
But to the title, I'm fat because I ate too much, period. Luckily, besides having the propensity to overeat, I also have the ability to be awesome.0 -
Wrong it is carbs that make you fat
I'm not sure if you're serious, but I was born in 1976.0 -
But when my daughter was growing up (she's 18 now), parents were so paralyzed with the fear that some stranger was going to grab their children (even though stranger kidnapping stats are no higher now than they were when I was a child)
what if you are a child kidnapper and you wrote this clever ploy to kidnap my children when i let them out to play!0 -
But when my daughter was growing up (she's 18 now), parents were so paralyzed with the fear that some stranger was going to grab their children (even though stranger kidnapping stats are no higher now than they were when I was a child)
what if you are a child kidnapper and you wrote this clever ploy to kidnap my children when i let them out to play!
Curses! Foiled again!0 -
Wrong it is carbs that make you fat
Veganism is making people fat.0 -
My response was going to be that I blame it mostly on HFCS. It's pumped into all the cheap crap foods that parents fed their kids and didn't realize the ramifications...
I was a chubby kid in the 80s and 90s. I played outside all the time, had PE, and recess.
Also edit ** to note I played softball and soccer each season, without choice. My parents always signed me up.0 -
i don't disagree with you, but i think you might be oversimplifying it. there are a number of issues that, together, create your concern. ONE of them is the whole "stranger danger" phenomena (specifically when there's more danger to be had by random "uncles" who clearly are not strangers).
another is the way food is produced and packaged today compared to when we were kids. when we were kids, only a few things were packaged. most things were made at home, in general and fast food was sparse.
i'm sure people have mentioned these two scenarios already, and there are plenty more! our dependency on oil, comfort and desire to be entertained; our general laziness; our gluttony... if i believed in "end times", i'd say these were it.0 -
I was a chubby kid in the 80s and 90s. I played outside all the time, had PE, and recess.
There are always exceptions to the rule. I'm talking about the overall trend.0 -
another is the way food is produced and packaged today compared to when we were kids. when we were kids, only a few things were packaged. most things were made at home, in general and fast food was sparse.
Yeah ... if you saw the way I ate, you wouldn't say this. From about seventh grade on, I ate at home maybe one night a week. The rest of the time, it was fast food and that was pretty common among my friends. We didn't want to be with our parents and spent as little time at home as possible. So fast food was the norm, not the exception.0 -
I absolutely agree lack of activity is a factor. I'm not sure by your comment that you also think carbs and sugar is or isn't a factor or less to blame?
I grew up with homemade food. Rarely a takeaway in sight. When we did get takeaway it was fish and chips by the sea after a walk at sunset. It was wonderful. I only remember having mcdonalds once as a kid. I still remember my first taste of coke..in a glass bottle in the backseat of my parents' car while we all watched a drive-in movie. Even when mum worked we ate homecooked food. Softdrinks and chips were for special occasions and never in my lunch box. We had pizza once or twice a year. The only junk we ate regularly week to week was a block of chocolate on a Friday night while watching a movie - that was divided up between two kids and two adults. We ate every meal at the table - together.
Lack of activity definitely a factor but so too is our change of attitude towards convenient food and the increase of refined carb and sugar therein.0 -
i don't disagree with you, but i think you might be oversimplifying it. there are a number of issues that, together, create your concern. ONE of them is the whole "stranger danger" phenomena (specifically when there's more danger to be had by random "uncles" who clearly are not strangers).
another is the way food is produced and packaged today compared to when we were kids. when we were kids, only a few things were packaged. most things were made at home, in general and fast food was sparse.
i'm sure people have mentioned these two scenarios already, and there are plenty more! our dependency on oil, comfort and desire to be entertained; our general laziness; our gluttony... if i believed in "end times", i'd say these were it.
I am 46 and food really has not changed that much I had twinkies and tang and my mother fried everything and I was a twig. We had recess and PE classes I played outside daily even in the rain and walk to and fro school and played sports. I see school buses stop just blocks from the school kids don't have to move anymore.0 -
I absolutely agree lack of activity is a factor. I'm not sure by your comment that you also think carbs and sugar is or isn't a factor or less to blame?
I grew up with homemade food. Rarely a takeaway in sight. When we did get takeaway it was fish and chips by the sea after a walk at sunset. It was wonderful. I only remember having mcdonalds once as a kid. I still remember my first taste of coke..in a glass bottle in the backseat of my parents' car while we all watched a drive-in movie. Even when mum worked we ate homecooked food. Softdrinks and chips were for special occasions and never in my lunch box. We had pizza once or twice a year. The only junk we ate regularly week to week was a block of chocolate on a Friday night while watching a movie - that was divided up between two kids and two adults. We ate every meal at the table - together.
Lack of activity definitely a factor but so too is our change of attitude towards convenient food and the increase of refined carb and sugar therein.
I think too many calories and not enough movement are factors. I don't think carbs and sugar, on their own, are to blame.
Also, there were about two years of my childhood where we ate dinner in a restaurant literally every single night. EVERY NIGHT. And I always got dessert. I was a twig. I was also outside all the time.
I did have a pretty awesome metabolism to boot, but the activity level was a lot different then for children than it is now.0 -
I agree with what you said. BUT we also had healthy food in school....no junk or soda. At home we ate healthy and treats were just that ...a TREAT. I think I can count on ONE hand how many times I was in a McDonalds from the time I was born till I was 18. Same thing with any restaurant....we couldn't afford to eat out.
Its a combination of BOTH food and inactivity that has put our society at such a health risk. People say we shouldn't go back. Well, in this regard, I think we should.0 -
I agree - its got to be a combination of lack of activity and portions. I can't get over how many kids sit in front of the TV or video games today and I'm pretty sure my father's generation was more active than mine (I'm 40 he's in his late 70s). Honestly, looking back at what people ate in the 1950s and 1960s it is clear that it isn't the quality of fast food that is making people fat. Read the cookbooks from that time (start with the Joy of Cooking) and you will get ill reading how much sugar and fat are used in most recipes. I mean seriously, how much lard do you use every day in your kitchen? I'll argue the same thing if you look at places like Japan. Everyone talks about how healthy the Japanese eat but at least for Tokyo its bull *kitten*. The meats are so fatty I can't eat some of them, they drink like crazy, sushi rice is full of sugar, eat an incredible amount of white rice, and I used to watch 91 pound women walk away from buffets with 6 desserts at a time, etc. They do walk everywhere and (most of the time) they eat smaller portions. We really need to stop demonizing this food or that and start demonizing our own behavior.0
-
Also lunch is rushed for kids today. I have visited mine during lunch and they had only a few minutes by the time they got their food to the time they had to leave the table for the next group of kids. The janitor would stand over children to make them eat faster so he could wipe the table down.0
-
Inspired by the anti-sugar thread:
When I was young, obesity was not the issue it is these days, especially among children. With my daughter's generation, it's gotten out of control. What is the difference? Well, when I was a kid, we had recess and gym class in school and when we weren't in school, we were outside riding bikes, playing tag, playing on (FUN) playgrounds and just being all-around active. We would get up in the morning, eat breakfast and run outside to see who was around to play. We might run in for lunch. Sometimes we just didn't bother. And then we were outside (no matter the season) until we heard our parents yelling for us to come inside or the street lights came on.
But when my daughter was growing up (she's 18 now), parents were so paralyzed with the fear that some stranger was going to grab their children (even though stranger kidnapping stats are no higher now than they were when I was a child) that they didn't allow them outside without constant adult supervision. Since adults have things to do like housework and errands, free play time outside became extremely limited. Kids became overscheduled with "lessons." Schools got rid of PE and recess in favor of more class time (yet test scores continue heading south). Playgrounds that were fun were deemed unsafe and fantastic equipment was replaced with boring plastic crap that no one wants to play on.
And we all got fat.
But let's blame carbs and sugar instead. Because those things are clearly the culprit. It's all those bananas and apples we eat and nothing to do with sitting our rear ends in front of computers, video games and televisions while refusing to allow our children the freedom to just run and climb trees and be, well, children.
I grew up in the country my first...13 years. I road my bike or walked to my grandmas house. Took walks in the woods. Played cops and robbers with my dad on our bikes. Or just played on my swing. Now, sometimes I walked to grandmas house for food
And I was chubby at that age, but very active!
Then we moved to a trailer court while our new house was being built. I loved living there!! lots of kids my age. It was so hot because it was in the summer and even though we had 2 acs in the trailer it was warm in my room. So I spent lots of time outside, riding my bike or playing with my new friends.
Then we moved into our new home and there was nowhere for me to ride my bike. In the trailer court I had a big parking lot. Mom wouldn't let me ride it on the road since this one is busier so I started gaining more weight...0 -
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.5K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 934 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions