Very alarming news...25% of teenagers are diabetic

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  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
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    Ugh that's such a depressing statistic! I think a lot of different things need to be done in order to change that issue. Education is key. Most of these kids are raised by parents that are just as unhealthy so they need to learn healthy eating habits from someone or somewhere else. Healthier meals options at school (and yes I'm such a fascist that I think fries/burgers/pizza/etc should be banned from school since most of them get enough at home). More gym time (LOL my 16 year old self would so strongly disagree with this but oh well).

    I do think some regulations would help. All of these unhealthy kids are raising my health insurance premiums. That isn't fair to me. However, I don't think regulation alone can solve this complex issue.

    I agree. My son comes home from school every days complaining of the unhealthy food chose that he is given for his school lunch. They also removed Physical Education from the program after 7th grade. He have chosen to stay in PE as an elective, but it is every other day not every day.

    But parents need to teach there kids the importance of eating right and working out. I see my friends just getting fast food for there kids and using the excuse, it just easier. I have friends that talk about losing weight, but always have an excuse why it just can't happen for them.

    American have become lazy and that is where we need to start if we are going to stop this from really happening.

    Could you possibly pack his lunch? Even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be healthier than the stuff I remember getting in school.

    In high school I moved to a charter school. It didn't have a cafeteria, gym, anything like that. It was in an office building. The food they served was mostly healthy - lots of fruit and veggies, protein bars, sandwiches, wraps etc. Our physical fitness program was taught my an instructor from the neighboring YMCA. We had access to the full gym. It was awesome.

    When your son gets a little older you could start looking into schools that will make it easier to live a healthy lifestyle. I know charter schools are becoming more and more popular and you can really find one suited for just about anybody.
  • SweetPickle007
    SweetPickle007 Posts: 76
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    You know I work at a juvenile detention center in food service..because of the school food initiative that was sign in by the president we have increased the amount of veggies and fruits kids get...which is a good thing. Also..we serve 1% white milk and fat free flavored milk.
  • SweetPickle007
    SweetPickle007 Posts: 76
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    Slapping the ignorance out of parents.
    [/quot


    Yeah..my co-worker was mad cause his kid can't buy soda at school now..My co-worker is at least 500 lbs...his son is over weight....
  • katejenkins1
    katejenkins1 Posts: 210 Member
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    73.6% Of All Statistics Are Made Up
  • stargazer008
    stargazer008 Posts: 531
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    That's a scary number! But what can you do, lots of teens don't eat healthy, they actually just eat crap. I'm one of the rare teens(18) who actually watches what she eats.
  • CindiBryce
    CindiBryce Posts: 438
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    73.6% Of All Statistics Are Made Up
    I am aware that statistics are often twisted to support claims, but I think we can come to a general consensus that an increasing amount of teens are becoming unhealthier in terms of dietary habits and weight.
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
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    Oh hell, so many kids eat like crap, junk food always in their hands, Educate the parents and they in turn educate their children. Just like their doing with the smoking ads. "Eat this kid and you'll die early, this what it looks like when you eat crap all day long and don't go outside to kick a ball around"
    My input anyway
  • Audddua
    Audddua Posts: 176 Member
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    Ugh that's such a depressing statistic! I think a lot of different things need to be done in order to change that issue. Education is key. Most of these kids are raised by parents that are just as unhealthy so they need to learn healthy eating habits from someone or somewhere else. Healthier meals options at school (and yes I'm such a fascist that I think fries/burgers/pizza/etc should be banned from school since most of them get enough at home). More gym time (LOL my 16 year old self would so strongly disagree with this but oh well).

    I do think some regulations would help. All of these unhealthy kids are raising my health insurance premiums. That isn't fair to me. However, I don't think regulation alone can solve this complex issue.

    There's a limit to how far you can go with requiring healthy food at schools before all that you're doing is encouraging a black market of chips and candy bars.

    There's also the issues Chicago's been running into with their healthy lunch program, where (last time I looked) they're forbidden to add ANY salt whatsoever, but processed food is still okay. One of the cooks was quoted as saying "I could make the vegetables taste good with 200mg of sodium, but I have to use 0, and they throw out the veggies and eat the chicken patty with 1100mg." This has to be sub-optimal.

    Please note that I'm NOT against healthier food in schools, especially food served BY the school. What I am for, though, is more moderate changes. IOW, doing healthier versions or smaller portions of foods that most kids eat rather than going for lentil salad will probably have better results. If you go too far for food to which they're unaccustomed, they'll just go hungry until they get home and then eat the same food there.

    Clearly the no salt rule is a prime example of bad regulations that make things unnecessarily harder. I don't think we need to feed them raw vegan organic all-natural low-sodium super foods. Basically take food they know, stuff it full of veggies and pair back the fatty meats, cheese and refined carbs. Please note I said pair back NOT remove 100%. Sigh. It's hard to say, "use common sense" because thats so different from person to person.

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