BBC: Child Obesity Plan

[Labarum]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7055735.stm

[LuckyD]

Kids need exersize and they are not getting nearly enough. Public schools short on funding cut PE out right after art. Video games make it hard for kids to 'want' to go outside and play and parents are reluctant (with good reason for the most part) to let kids just go outside and explore unsupervised, or walk to and from school. I read an article today that said that less and less families are going camping and that kids see no 'reason' to go out into nature because it is boring. They would rather stay at home and play video games or go to the mall. Sad, very sad. The inertia coupled with fast food and sugar is a recipe for out of control obesity in our youth. How do we turn this around?

[Labarum]

Same problems as UK. Here we have had a lot of publicity about kids being killed in knife attacks by other kids. A great tragedy for those concerned, but it does make both parents and youngsters think hard about being out and about.

[LishJustLish]

It's sad, but in this day and age, we can't let our children play outside unsupervised. In fact, my husband and I pay to provide our child with exercise. She goes to three dance classes and two taekwondo classes a week. That's 6 hours of exercise. On top of that, we walk to school every day and we take family walks on the weekend.

My daughter is 7, and she knows what I'm doing with regards to my weight, but my husband and I agree that we don't focus on food issues with her, rather we just provide her with all the exercise she needs.

[LuckyD]

I agree you do have to be pro-active in regards to children and exersize. Thats great that she has those activites to go to. My kids do karate and soccer and we have a huge trampoline in our back yard. My kids do walk to school, one school is a half a block away and the other is about 1/4 mile. I am lucky my kids love being active. I would imagine in winter time in the colder climates it becomes a real challenge to get everyone motivated. But there are many winter activites for kids such as martial arts, dance, indoor soccer, basketball, etc. And I agree with you not talking to your child about weight. They get enough of that from the media and it just confuses them and derails their self esteem.

[Miss Phode]

LuckyD & Lish, it's good to hear that you both make an active effort to keep your kids active. When I was growing up in the suburbs near Detroit, my overly concerned mother kept my sister and I cooped up in the house after school until she came home from work because one of my dads employees threatened to kidnap my sister and I, and she never gotten over the fear of that happening. I can't really blame her given the circumstances, but I wish her and dad had been more inclined to get us involved with after school activities. Instead we sat in the house in front of the TV, or chatting on the phone with our friends instead of getting exercise and staying healthy. We were never overweight kids, but the bad habits were hard to break and being so inactive later in life obviously helped me to pile on the weight.