Fighting Obesity Starts at Home
If Mrs. Obama is serious about her war on childhood obesity she should start by targeting the parents who feed their kids too much junk.
As part of Michelle Obama’s childhood anti-obesity campaign, the White House issued a 120-page report detailing ways to help America’s kids shed the pounds. Curiously, most of the blame and responsibility for this weighty task fell squarely on the shoulders of food manufacturers. The White House has decided American kids are fat because manufacturers are advertising too many Twinkies, happy meals and sugary sodas to children not because their parents are feeding them too much junk.
One in three American kids aged 2-19 is overweight or obese and these kids grow into overweight adults who cost the healthcare system over $100 billion in obesity related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. If the White House and First Lady are serious about reducing childhood obesity, they will stop passing the buck off of individual responsibility and put pressure on parents to take charge of feeding their children healthy food. A 2000 Harvard Medical School study found that boys and girls aged 9 to 14 who ate frequent meals with their families consumed more fruits and vegetables and less fried food. Another 2004 University of Minnesota survey published in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine also found frequent family meals result in better nutritional intake, and a decreased risk for obesity and substance abuse.
When I was growing up as a child, my mom made us have something nutritious before rushing off to school and cooked a healthy meal every night and we ate dinner together as a family. Sure, like most kids once we got that first taste of McDonald’s we begged for more but my parents rarely allowed us to eat it. As a result, when I went off to college I craved fruits and vegetables and didn’t want to eat pizza every night. It’s a no brainer, kids who learn good eating habits as children grow up into adults with good eating habits.
Interesting, this big White House report admits that 2006 marketing changes made by some large companies to advertise only healthy products to children yielded little to no change in childhood obesity rates. If Mrs. Obama is serious about her war on childhood obesity she should start with the basics and push lawmakers to bring back physical education class in the public school system. The White House also should encourage U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin to live a healthier lifestyle and lose some weight because her new video message on obesity isn’t credible.
Instead of placing taxes on sodas, Happy Meals, or Blow Pops and shaming companies “who aren’t doing enough,” as the FTC Chairman warned, Mrs. Obama and her White House brethren should be shaming parents who feed Dick and Jane too much junk.