What could the US do to help with child obesity?

Question

Many children are overweight and the US HAS to do something about it.

Answer 1

Make it a felony to visit local McDonald's restaurants

Answer 2

If by the US you mean the Federal Government the US has to do nothing about it, it isn't their job to solve the problem of over eating/bad eating habits, lack of exercise, and/or overall bad health practices by individual citizens. If someone has an obesity problem that is something they need to tackle on their own free will. If they decide to do nothing about it, then that is their decision, if they want to do something about it, guess what, they will.

As for the youth of the nation, do they not have parents or at the very least responsible guardians? Why can't people take responsibility for themselves and their own family, and quit relying on others to solve their problems. I agree that if a child becomes a ward of the state, that it is now within the state government's responsibilities to take care of the health of the child, but much beyond that, parents just need to teach their kids better habits and better will power with health and exercise. Parents are the problem there, not the government.

Answer 3

1. People think I am crazy for saying this, but I think we should actually put a luxury tax on junk food. First of all, food is still the cheapest form of entertainment. It hasn't inflated to the degree everything else has (including gasoline, cigarettes, beer). Since most people get fat, not from their 3 daily meals, but from the 10 million snacks they "reward" themselves with... Second of all considering the rest of the tax payers are burdoned by the Obesity Epidemic (to the tune of 70+ BILLION a year), why not just tax the food? Their eating is taxing US!

2. Keep in mind, no matter how many laws and restrictions the government makes to help childhood obesity (limiting sugar drinks in schools, etc), nothing will work until PARENTS take charge. Where do you think most kids are learning these poor eating habits?

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD...

I grew up in a home without sugar in any form...cereal, snack foods, soda. We did not have a tv in the home (by my mom's choice), and most of the food we ate came from my dad's garden and from our cattle stock. Being so young, of COURSE I crammed in as much sugar and "junk" food for you as I could while at school or on school trips cause I knew I wouldn't get it at home. What I ate at school was not enough to counter balance the healthy life I had at home. It never caused me to gain weight. The healthy eating habits I grew up with are the ones I still have today. There is NO WAY the 200 days worth of school food (most of the times just lunch) is to blame for an obese child...Not if they are getting 365 days worth of healthy dinners at home!

Answer 4

Beef up town recreation departments, so they can offer FREE activities for kids -- soccer, dodgeball, basketball, volleyball, jump rope, etc.

Also, offer tax credits to parents who put their kids in organized sports, like karate, tae-kwan do, hockey, soccer. Right now, these are priced out of a lot of parents' income.

And finally, take a look at what it costs to provide good, healthy food. There is something wrong in the world when a large bottle of pop and a big bag of chips costs far less than a bag of apples.

Perhaps farmers need to be susidized, or vacant city land needs to be given to citizens to start growing their own food. Either way, the cost of healthy food has got to go down.

The implications of a society that is sick, fat, unhealthy, and in constant need of medical attention will not affect industry and production but will overwhelm the medical system.

Answer 5

There was a time when the fattest foods were actually expensive and only the rich could afford to be "well fed".

All that should be done is a reversal. Make the real healthy stuff even cheaper in price, make the junk food luxurious items for the taste buds,
and place Cheetos and Cool Ranch Doritos in security boxes to be used in emergencies only.

Answer 6

Well, that depends on whether the PARENTS help....I mean some of us are overweight and some are underweight...But I would never tell a parent what to feed their child..It is entirely up to them!!! Unless you are brazen enough to say something about their food habits...be ready for a pitbull to attack..You know what I mean??? I am sure you do!!!

Answer 7

It's not what the US do, it's what the parents do. Feed the children right at an early age. Create a healthy eating habit for them.

Answer 8

What needs to happen is that people need to take responsibility for themselves. That's something that is lacking today. Everyone immediately thinks "it's not my fault" and "what can the government do for me". From now on ask yourself this question: "What can I do to make my life better"

If we start from THAT point of view, then we can help others. We need to be responsible for ourselves first.

Answer 9

The restaraunts could stop serving those vastly oversized food portions. That would help quite a bit.

Answer 10

Shoot them...just kidding. Take away tv.video games,and computers. Give them bikes,baseballs and bats, and tickets to the the Y. Only buy healthy food. When they ask for a cookie give them a piece of fruit. When they ask for chips give them popcorn.
Take walks with them. Play with them.