patentcad

We must remain focused, this bicycling stuff is a distraction.

https://www.bicycling.com/news/advoca...hnny_cant_ride

https://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...lts/54791430/1

jrobe

The countries pedophiles would love this plan.

K&K_Dad

tl:dr

MajorMantra

On average, which shortens a child's life more - paedophiles or being obese?

z90

Fear of kids getting abducted from while riding bikes, or walking to school, or playing in the neighborhood is way out of proportion to the chance of it happening. Juvenile diabetes, obesity, and lack of independence should be much greater cause for concern. The Saratoga Springs kid was riding with his mom, anyway.

gsteinb

The obesity epidemic is related to more than exercise. Our portion sizes and reliance on processed corn syrup laden foods has gone off the charts over the last few decades. Our food system is utterly broken.

Essex

A lot of school systems don't have mandated PE* anymore and as a result kids opt to do things less physical, but gratifying - like eating crap. In urban schools you'll find a lot of the kids coming to school with Arizona Ice tea etc for breakfast. Then they ditch a balanced school lunch, or bring nothing nutritious to eat other than a bag of chips. Then they head off to some fast food place/local store to binge on crap after they leave school. They complete the cycle by coming home, eating a processed meal in front of the TV, computer or frittering away time on a social network using their cellular device which mommy and daddy have bought them to pacify/occupy them. Naturally, academics, social behaviors like manners suffer in this urban setting. During this cycle - no physical activity.

If we use a different demographic the odds of obesity drop drastically. Riding a bike, walking to school, mandated PE (not just some stupid throwing hoops), doing physical chores and having dinner with the family at one setting (non-take out food) changes the dynamic of getting fat. Kids are taught by their parents to exercise, make healthy choices with regards to food* and enjoy being outside and doing things other than sitting in front of some electronic pacifier. Naturally, academics and social behaviors are average, to above average.

* PE classes have been skeletonized to near nothing because of the fear of litigation, and because test-related standards are what count in public ed.

veloboy971

Also thanks to budget cuts here in FL too!

gsteinb

Shrug. There's a bit too much idealism and blame in your post. Ever try and cook a genuinely healthy meal? It's pretty expensive. Both parents work these days because it's hard to make ends meet. It's also kinda ironic to dump on social networks via a social network. The truth is in many ways modern technologies bring us in closer, more consistent communication with one another. You take a good point, trip, and tumble down the slippery slope.

Essex

Thanks. A lot of school funding goes into CORE subject matter instruction. PE, the arts get the short shrift. Little wonder that kids in urban / disadvantaged settings become humongous. You will not find the same phenomenon in locales where parental cultivation is the norm. This means households where parents supervise what kids eat, arrange physical activities and push their kids to excel.

Essex

Sorry you're wrong. I study the demographics. If I am using strong language it's because obesity is constant issue plaguing certain demographics and it bites. I don't think you spend anytime in the field examining the factors involved. Since you live in NJ - go to Newark, or Trenton and spend time in a public school. Any of em' and see / track they cycle of the average student.

BTW - one huge difference in social and academic success can be tracked to the family sitting down each evening and having a common meal. They do this is France, far more than the US.

gsteinb

I'm wrong? On what exactly? That parents have less time and money to cook healthy (expensive) meals? Or that social networks have value? When I was a kid middle school and high school kids talked on the phone all night. Kids had their own phone lines because of it. You're blaming parents solely for a food delivery system that's broken, that makes healthy foods unaffordable, and you're telling me I'm wrong. Uh, ok.

DropDeadFred

We need some good old fashioned PE and parents need to learn how to cook. I biked to school all the way up until the day some goon decided to steal my bike (I found him riding it almost a year later and beat the tar out of him). I hope to be raising children in Germany where I grew up and I hope they can bike to school. Here it's just not safe and that's our fault.

Essex

I'll give you some bits. That said - I made the recommendation of examining the complementary cycle of economics, academics and obesity in targeted high density urban areas. You will not find the same phenomenon in say Princeton, or high real estate neighborhoods in NJ. Additionally, it's these demographics which keep NJ's statewide academic ratings high.

Poverty = harder to get quality protein/food. This means make up the difference with carbohydrates. You will see this in the various poorer areas of the US. Is it harder to cook a meal? Probably, because many of the families in the obese demographics are sometimes one parent households. The phone/internet/television are part and parcel of most homes. Often, they take the role of surrogate pacifier, or parent. Do a quick survey if you take public transportation - how many people do you see frittering away on a mobile device vs. reading a book, newspaper or perhaps just thinking?

DropDeadFred

IMO people shouldn't be having kids if they can't afford it monetarily and with quality time. Eugenics people...eugenics

gsteinb

But here's my issue....you're not saying anything different than I have. I've just said the problem is more multi-faceted than your initial post indicated. There's a corporate and governmental impetus to maintain and even grow the status quo.

Essex

I agree with corporate and governmental impetus. The part we may disagree about is my "idealistic" perspective. It's honed over years of anecdotal research. Some may have even quantified it. That said - for most people it is common sense to eat well and healthy, but developing the mechanisms in a constrained household isn't an easy task. That takes hard work, and some foresight.

In some ways the phenomenon of obesity is reflective of a culture that values instant gratification over hard work (like physical activity/cooking a balanced meal/reflection/true research) to one that is basically passive, uninventive and rapidly becoming devoid of real human contact.

Cheers,

Essex

ahsposo 

Gosh. I think you're on to something here. Imagine a world with no ugly, stupid, poor people! Imagine a world full of beautiful, intelligent rich people! Wow! Let's just make sure they are good Christian, Aryan and conservative, too!

Spoonrobot 

Healthy food is expensive? Compared to what?



I think the proper phrasing should be; investing in one's health through proper diet is not attractive to most people. Thus they budget much less than they should with the inevitable results.

roadrider63

My wife does most of the grocery shopping, but I'm pretty sure we can feed our family of 4 healthy meals alot cheaper than eating out or buying a bunch of processed foods. In the correct portions I'm would imagine putting a protein, carb and healthy fat on your plate and sitting together to eat it is much cheaper than driving to some restaurant and dropping 20+ dollars on *****. These are just my opinions though.

DropDeadFred

woah woah woah...I didn't say anything about making more mindless drones that believe in fairytale stories from the middle east...calm down there soldier.

I do think poor people have no business having children...

echotraveler

Someday education will outphase regulation. IMO society always reaches a limit were people react... Hopefully our planet can withstand our experience till we change transportation and alimentary behaviors. This last 2 are basic foundation blocks of culture, thus difficult to break. In not making sense here...

djb

heysus murphy buddy, just a wee bit theatrical there.

gsteinb

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/1...-healthy-food/

Healthy eating really does cost more.

That’s what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation. The findings, reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, may help explain why the highest rates of obesity are seen among people in lower-income groups.

<snip>


https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/op...pagewanted=all

THE “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli ...” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”

<snip>


https://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy...rocessed-foods

<snip>

Current policies ensure that ultra-processed foods stay cheap, and it’s no accident that the relative cost of fruits and vegetables has gone up by 40 percent since the 1980s, while the relative price of sodas and fast food has declined.

Read more: https://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy...#ixzz1uHiod43J



https://www.foodpolitics.com/2011/08/...-healthy-food/

The Commerce department tracks the indexed price of foods. Its data show that the indexed price of fresh produce increased by 40% ince 1980 whereas the price of sodas and processed foods has declined by 10-30%.

<snip>


https://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.c...e-vs-the-cost/

DropDeadFred

its not expensive to grow your own produce....but work is involved...and boy people don't like work....