Send As SMS
<-- HitTail.com code -->

Blogger News Network

BNN provides English-language US and world news, analysis and opinion from all over the Internet. We strive for high standards, ethical behavior, and the presentation of multiple responsible points of view.

Visiting our advertisers directly supports this site. Thanks!
Get More Traffic For Your Blog!

Blog Explosion brings hundreds of interested visitors to your blog - without costing you a cent.
BNN News Archive Page
       Thursday, September 14, 2006

Imagine Your Byline Here - Click Here To Write For BNN




It's 2006, do you know how fat your kid is?

The Institute of Medicine issued a status report on childhood obesity yesterday. Its findings are, not surprisingly, pretty bleak. Rates of childhood obesity in the US continue to rise, and although there are many programs trying to combat it on the federal, state, and local level, there's no consistency, no standards for performance, and no good methodology in place for evaluating programs to determine which ones work and which don't. The report finds that things are improving at least in terms of awareness of the problem and sheer number of programs in place to address it. But more programs doesn't necessarily mean more progress. And the panel laments the fact that the Bush administration's budget cuts killed one promising initiative, a campaign aimed at convincing kids that physical activity/exercise is cool.

Of course, government -- national or regional -- can't be held entirely or even mostly to blame for childhood obesity. The food industry, which aggressively markets crappy food to kids; the schools, which keep cutting down on physical activities while increasing the amount of junk food available; and the parents, all have to take responsibility as well. Notice how I listed the parents last on the list? So do most of the news articles on this subject -- if they even mention the parents at all. Sure, this report provides a great opportunity for government-bashing, but the fact is, the government doesn't have an immediate, observable, omnipresent impact on kids' daily lives. Who does? That's right -- the parents. No matter how much a kid hears in school about the importance of exercise and eating vegetables, etc., if that kid goes home and mom says "Here, sit on the couch and eat this cookie while I whip up your mac-n-cheese for dinner," the kid is going to be fat.

Yes, it's important to get good effective government programs in place, with good leadership and a unified message across the board, and to clean up the advertising and make sure kids get enough exercise in school -- but educating the parents on the importance of healthy eating and exercise should be the first line of defense. Because if the parents aren't on board, you've already lost the kids before they even get out the door.

Institute of Medicine's Progress In Preventing Childhood Obesity website

Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat!

posted by MamaJoan at 9:32 AM  

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

Add this story to Digg     Reddit     Newsvine     Del.icio.us     Ma.gnolia     Spurl
      
Sign up for Blog Soldiers and get 50 free credits!
Subscribe to BNN and get a daily bulletin of all our news postings.
Enter your Email


Powered by FeedBlitz
Interested in writing for BNN? Want information on our news service?

Contact The Editor
Writing for BNN
BNN Editorial Policies

Previous Posts