creeping obesity
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It's easy to see why US kids are becoming fat. Instead of playing outside like they used to (sometimes locked outside by harried Moms) many are videogame addicts and hooked on other indoor electronics. Instead of walking, biking or taking the bus to school and activities, they rely on Mom's trusty taxi. (The New York Times says both adults and children who hoof it are less obese.) And instead of the occasional Tootsie Roll Pop, a tsunami of high fructose corn syrup foods are huckstered to them.
Worse, many kids live in food deserts where the only "oases" are golden arches and Colonel Sanders. Ninth graders whose schools are close to fast food franchises are more likely to be obese says a 2010 study by the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University. And school lunch programs are often dumping grounds for cheese, milk and meat thanks to USDA support of the dairy and meat industries.
Food is also cheaper than it was -- especially bad food -- with super-size prices at fast food restaurants and drive-thru restaurants. And, snacks are just plain more available, hawked in places that used to be food free like retail stores.
The demise of the sit down family meal is also a factor in obesity says the Star-Tribune. Structured family meals give a sense of safety and security to children at the same time they teach "healthful eating habits." In addition to being fed with food, at sit down family meals, children are "fed" with parental attention, Leave it to Beaver style. Leave a person alone with a TV as a dinner partner, and they can easily polish off a entire pizza, especially because no one is watching.
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