Fight for Fit

There is one thing above all else that really grinds my gears when it comes to the state of fitness in the world, America especially:

Childhood Obesity.

There is simply no excuse for this. While on one side of the world, city or even a culdesac, some children are not getting enough food which means malnutrition and the slew of problems associated with that, on the other side, there are many children who are being over fed to the point of serious health problems. Childhood obesity is fastly becoming a top contender for the number one killer of children in America....and I don't like it.

I blame things like "The Clean Plate Club," that southern tradition of eating everything on your plate before you're allowed to have dessert. What sense does this make? If your child is full, they're full. Don't force them to finish their food because "there's starving children in Africa." And certainly don't ingrain in them the notion that eating more than a decent portion size should be rewarded with MORE food. Yeah. That makes a world of sense. Teach them that even after they're stuffed, they should finish everything you've put on their plates in order to eat even more that will surely cause them to be so full they can hardly do anything but lie on the couch the rest of the night. Good idea!...

The other culprit is WHAT they are eating. What are we feeding our kids these days? Nevermind the dangers of processed foods and artificial ingredients (I mean, what kid doesn't eat (Processed) American cheese slices in their grilled cheese sandwiches or mechanically separated meat in their hot dogs and microwaveable chicken nuggets?).

The problem, I think, is that we're feeding our kids the foods that "kids love" like hot dogs and chicken nuggets and pizza and french fries, etc, but nothing else. They are living off of Totino's Pizza Rolls and Ore Ida waffle fries and Anytizers chicken nuggets, and nothing healthy is making it onto their full plates. The salt content in these foods alone is enough to make any kid full off of just a few bites.

Why are we fill our kids' plates with crap and then telling them to finish the whole thing off or we won't feed them even more (sugar filled) crap?

How does this make sense?

I have to rush off to work, but I promise I will finish this thought later, with ideas on how to change this growing, avalanching trend.