Obesity in the US

[hermione]

Obesity in the United States is becoming a giant problem. I think habits learned early are what is causing obesity. Electronics in the home are keeping the children from going and playing outside. Parents also should control what is eaten for snacks, and should sit down for meals 3 times a day, but I understand many families don't have the time. Any other opinions?

[Jenny34]

I agree. I saw a commercial advertising some new video game and the motto of the commercial was "why go outside when the fun is inside". I think that it's stuff like that causes children to have the mentality to stay indoors instead of going outside. I went outside just to get away from my parents.

[sonic99]

I completely agree with you. Obesity is also due to the larger portion sizes at fast food restaurants and sit down restaurants. Thirty years ago portion sizes were half the size they are today and everything was not centered around food. Even in the media today half the commercials advertize unhealthy, fattening foods in a glorifying light. There are more overweight kids and adults in the United States than ever before. In turn, this creates more health problems and diseases. We need to teach kids at a young age how to maintain a healthy diet in order to prevent problems down the road.

[dr-no]

Kids need exercise to keep healthy. They need to do outside sports or swimming. Too much TV and video games are not good for them. It will cause obesity along with all the candy they eat while playing the games and watching TV. Parents are getting lazy and not encouraging enough physical activity for thier child. The parent needs to dictate what they do all day and not let the child pick out the daily activities. A good thing is to join your local recreation center and go thier with the kids and let them play basketball or other sports and maybe you could go walking or do aerobics if they offer it. That way the kids are keeping in shape and so are you. That's what my kids and I do here and they aren't obese.