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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
ASU, I've been reading a number of articles on this matter recently, and it has been driving me bonkers.
I was on the underweight side of the spectrum as a child. It was never a concern. My sister's youngest child is petite - at 2 she is still wearing infant-sized clothing. But her body is in proportion, and even a bit chubby. Her underweight nature is a combination of genetics, being born premature, and food allergies. When this child was first born, she participated in the WIC program. During the associated medical checkups her daughter was always off-the-charts tiny. At one point, a nurse told her that if her daughter comes into an appointment underweight again they would get child protective services involved. At that point, they bowed out of the WIC program (taking food out of the mouth of the underweight child) and found another doctor who was interested in working with the family to sort out food allergies and help find a diet that would work.
The fact is - a child can be removed from a home for supposed undernourishment. So along that line of logic, it makes sense in some people's minds to remove children from their homes if they are over-nourished.
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Yes, I was undernourished as an infant and was put back in the hospital after two weeks because I had lost weight.
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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
Removing a child from loving parents is never a good idea. Child abuse situations centered around food are rare, but do exist. I'm talking about situations where parents beat their kids unless they over-eat... But most of the time childhood obesity results from over-worked well-intentioned parents who are uninformed about the health risks or social implications of their child being overweight/obese. They don't have the inclination to moderate their child's food intake, or they themselves are overweight and don't know how to live in moderation.
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I don't get this. I was 'removed' as a 11 and 12 year old to go to Summer Camp in Northern Michigan for 2 weeks each Summer. It was fun and some of the best of the few memories that I have of being that age.
We had somewhat of a pre-set agenda as to what activities we could do and when. I could imagine it being setup like a video game or a quest to try every activity, cook different meals, and meet certain goals.
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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
Physical education should be a requirement in every level of school, from preschool to graduate school. Healthy eating should be standard. Hot lunches at school are a waste - a cheese sandwich made of a half-slice of bread, an apple, and maybe some chips are all that a child requires to meet their nutritional requirements. That's what I had in my lunch through elementary school. When I got to high school I upgraded to two slices of bread and switched from juice to water. I even ran track on that kind of a lunch... What the heck are schools doing by offering greasy pizza, cookies, ice cream, etc. I realize that in many low-income urban areas, kids only eat what the school provides - but many of these schools also offer a huge breakfast with things like eggs, sausage, fried tater tots, french toast, and maybe canned fruit. Oh, and free dinner is now not unheard-of in a school setting, with even more high-calorie options than hot lunch. Since standardized tests don't gauge children on their physicality anymore (they had standard PE tests when I was a kid, what happened?) and recess times have been shortened, what we have is a situation where we're forcing our children to take on a sedentary lifestyle. They come home and don't feel safe running around their neighborhoods playing ball or riding their bikes/skateboards/scooters unsupervised, so instead they stay inside playing video games.
At this point I'm just ranting... There are some major problems. Parents need to take responsibility for their children's health. If they are unwilling to do so, they should be given incentives. Children should never be removed from loving homes. Parents should never feel a threat that the government could steal their children.
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You could have the Boy Scout/Girl Scouts, Religious, Gym/YMCA, Nature groups, school districts, charter schools, boarding school, or 4H type groups operate these places. The only thing is that they would be far away from fast food, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, fried food, soda, etc... The government 'steals' them for a few hours every day to go to school. These kids have or will have medical, emotional, and lifestyle problems, wouldn't the parents want the best for their kids and allow them to lose some weight over 8-12 weeks (and the parents could and should visit them). And if the parent is obese, they could probably benefit from being a participant in this type of camp as well. They could always call them, e-mail, text, or video call them.
And yes, school lunches and meals do need to be re-evaluated, but very few of them will make the difficult decisions and forgo the kick-backs from the big food distributors.
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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
Fat camps are worthless. Making kids interact with other obese kids, showing them that there are more out there like them? Preparing food for them? NO. That's the last thing they need. They'll realize they're not the fattest person around. Most of those kids will be coming from areas where overweight is the norm. They haven't ever seen a healthy child, or if they have, they've thought they were scrawny wimps.
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I wouldn't say they are worthless. I've seen the Biggest Loser enough to know that they can be themselves without fear of being judged, they can get some self-esteem and support from friends, and they can make new friends. All while learning how to cook their own food from raw ingredients, having planned exercise and active activities, and dealing with any emotional issues in their lives.
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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
Now, plunk one obese child in the midst of a group of incredibly well-fit, physically adept children and tell them that if they shed some pounds they'll be capable of the same stuff. Make it a cooking camp - feed them reasonable portions, teach them to COOK for themselves, and teach them that cooking can be fun. Teach them about counting calories, keeping a food journal, but mainly show them what healthy food and proper portions look like. In the process, have plenty of breaks with physically-engaging, fun games - teach them how to play sports effectively using their weight to their advantage - let them play with children who love sports so they learn that physical activity isn't a chore.
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The fit kids will run circles around them, or they won't pick them or let them play very much, if at all. They get this enough at PE class in school now, and it doesn't work.
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Originally Posted by genuinegirly
These children are carrying around an extra person-worth of poundage. If they work off that weight personally, they're going to be strong, and they're going to have an incredible self-worth to go along with it. If you teach them what it looks like to eat right, and instill in them an interest in sports in the process, it might just work. They'll leave feeling empowered, and will have the tools to change their family's way of life.
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Yes, their home lives and parents will have to change as well. That will be the hard part. But sometimes, people don't realize what they have until it is gone. If the families are giving the information and a plan to work together on weight loss, yet don't do it in a few months, this would be the option. And maintaining a healthy weight is easier than losing weight in real life. And fixing the problem is easier when they are younger in the vast majority of cases.