Childhood Obesity -- Should it be a crime?

What is the penalty? Jail the parents and put the kids into foster care?

Exactly. What's the point of jailing the parents? What if the imprisonment causes them to lose their jobs, be less marketable to prospective employers, etc.? Surely those unintended collateral effects will not have a good impact on the kids. Taken to an extreme, removing the children from parents' custody likely wouldn't do the kids much good.

To answer the question of the thread, no, it shouldn't be a crime. But it's a shame to see how fat American's have become. I spent most of the last 9 years in the south (Gainesville, Fl), and it's even worse down there because of all the sweet tea and fried crap.

I know a lot of people have disorders, disabilities, or genetic predispositions that cause them to be overweight or obese, and for those people I feel sorry.

But a lot of America's weight problem is just laziness. It's much easier to swing through the McDonald's drive through than it is to go to the grocery store, buy food, and make yourself a sensible meal. My two best friends struggle with weight issues, and they often use the excuse of "it's so cheap to hit up a fast food joint," or "it's just easier to eat out." But I call BS. If you go the grocery store once a week, it's much easier to buy healthy food, and your average cost per meal will go WAY down. Sure it may take you an hour or two on Saturday or Sunday, but then you can prepare every meal at home throughout the week and eat much healthier. But you have to want to.

Children pattern themselves after their parents. If mom and dad are fat and lazy, so often the children are too. It's starts with the 'rents. Step it up.

My girlfriend is Operations Manager and a personal trainer at Bethesda Sport & Health here in the DC area, and she has been helping my friends plan smart meals and workouts. It's much, much easier than people think to eat and live healthy. People just have to want to. Too many Americans just don't care.

And Quake, if you can run a mile in 7:58 then I can eat 10 Big Mac's in 10 minutes. I'm no body builder or tri-athlete, but I spend about 9-12 hours a week in the gym, both lifting and running, and I can barely hit an 8 minute mile. I'm 6'3 220 and only 7% body fat. But hey, if you're for real then maybe should head over to the Swamp and try out for the mighty Gator football team!

I heard a lot of people asking if they are overweight-
Here a few links to Body-Mass Index (BMI) info. The first is a BMI calculator, the second is some Wikipedia info.

Advanced bmi calculator of Body Mass Index (http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm)
Body mass index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index)

It's pretty cool, but you have to take into account muscle mass, too.

Also, glycemic index (GI) is very important in your diet as well. Eating foods low on the GI help keep you trim. I'm no expert on this, but I've learned a lot from my girlfriend. Just trying to pass along info.

The Glycemic Index (http://www.glycemicindex.com/)

So to me the issue is, is eating eating healthy more expensive?

Schneed says yes but GMScud says no. Personally I would've thought it is it is more expensive, but honestly I have no idea.

Does anyone have any links to reports or articles confirming either or?

So to me the issue is, is eating eating healthy more expensive?

Schneed says yes but GMScud says no. Personally I would've thought it is it is more expensive, but honestly I have no idea.

Does anyone have any links to reports or articles confirming either or?

I can only say from experience that eating out every meal is expensive and unhealthy. Going to the grocery store and buying fresh veggies, fruit, and lean meats is much cheaper than going the other route.

I can only say from experience that eating out every meal is expensive and unhealthy. Going to the grocery store and buying fresh veggies, fruit, and lean meats is much cheaper than going the other route.

Depends where you're eating out. If you're hitting up a take-out joint and spending $10 every meal, then yeah, you can cook healthy for cheaper. But $10 take-out meals aren't even an option for those with tight cash flows.

If you're going to McDonalds and getting a double cheeseburger, fries, and soda for 99 cents each (dollar menu) like so many poor people do, then you're spending $3 for a meal. If you go to the grocery store, you will be hard-pressed to put together a healthy meal for $3, even if breaking portions down on a per-unit basis.

To me, the definition of "eating healthy" is doing what the FDA food pyramid tells you. 6 servings grains (whole), 3 servings dairy (mostly milk or yogurt, less on the cheese), 4 servings of fruit and veggies (preferably fresh), and 3 servings protein (preferably lean meats), and use fats & sugars sparingly.

So looking at those FDA guidelines, you can eliminate ground beef (unless it's very lean, in which case $$$), fatty steaks, chicken pieces with the skin on, pork ribs (unless they're babyback), whole milk, white bread, white pasta, and white rice. Not to mention sodas, cakes, cookies, crackers, candy, mac & cheese. The food pyramid, if you read it right, effectively eliminates a ton of the inexpensive ingredients available at the grocery store.

Some of the most expensive? Lean beef, fish, skinless chicken breast, lean pork, fresh produce, skim milk (more expensive than whole), fruit juices. Even whole grain breads and cereals are more expensive than their white-flour counterparts.

And the other piece we're not considering, time. For many poor folks, they need to work overtime, and sometimes two jobs, to support the young'ns. That's just to have enough money to house them, clothe them, and feed them SOMETHING. They're not left with scads of time to spend in the kitchen preparing healthy meals.

A single person who makes $40K a year has enough money and all the time they need to cook and eat healthy. But the poor are much worse off. It's not as simple as making blanket statements that everyone can do it. Until you walk a mile in their shoes, you can't tell what it feels like to stroll in after a 16 hour shift and be asked to cook a nutritious meal for less than $3 per person.

My wife orders our meals ready-to-cook from someplace. They are balanced meals with sides, and it's just about the same cost as going to the store, but infinitely easier. We just dump it in the oven or in a pan, and it cooks. It's actually easier than getting fast food, and it tastes a lot better.

Actually, this whole argument is further reason why it's important to stay in school, don't do drugs, don't get pregnant, don't start smoking, graduate, get a good job that pays you well, and marry somebody (and stay married) before having kids.

It puts you in a better position to have the money you need and the spousal support you need to provide kids with even basic nutrition. For some families the constraint is money. For others it's time.

If you get your ass through school, you'll make more money. If you have someone to raise kids with, between the two of you the time can be managed.

Family values. It affects everything, even kids' nutrition.

So to me the issue is, is eating eating healthy more expensive?

Schneed says yes but GMScud says no. Personally I would've thought it is it is more expensive, but honestly I have no idea.

Does anyone have any links to reports or articles confirming either or?

Eating healthy definitely adds up but if it really matters to you the cost isn't a major issue. I'd rather spend my money on fresh fruits and veggies than loading up on junk food to save a few bucks.

Eating healthy definitely adds up but if it really matters to you the cost isn't a major issue. I'd rather spend my money on fresh fruits and veggies than loading up on junk food to save a few bucks.

As would I. But we graduated college, and we have jobs, and we own computers. We can hack it.

So for us to make the choice to feed our kids McD's all the time would be disgraceful. But I can't fault the single mom working two jobs for stopping at McDs.

I would, however, ask her how she got herself into the "single mom" mess in the first place.

As would I. But we graduated college, and we have jobs, and we own computers. We can hack it.

So for us to make the choice to feed our kids McD's all the time would be disgraceful. But I can't fault the single mom working two jobs for stopping at McDs.

I would, however, ask her how she got herself into the "single mom" mess in the first place.

True there are reasons for everything.