Protect Our Kids' Health - Fight the American Childhood Obesity Crisis

In the last 20 years, obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the U.S. More than 9 million American children are either obese or overweight and at risk of developing serious chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

With the start of a new school year, it's time to get serious about the obesity epidemic in American children. Let's get the junk food out of schools and insist that all kids have a chance to participate in physical activity during the school day.

Limited federal programs and attempts at "quick fixes" to the growing obesity epidemic aren't working. Federal funding for chronic disease programs, including those related to obesity is only about $3 per American per year – less than most fast food meals. But combating America's immense fast food culture will take much more investment than this.

The government needs to fully fund sound, long-term policies that will produce significant, sustainable reductions in obesity rates.

Sign this petition to call on President Bush to take action NOW to tackle the growing obesity crisis in America.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/434792629</FONT></FONT>

 

I think the fact that kids are allowed to spend most of their time watching television and play video games is the main reason behind childhood obesity. Not to be a hypocrite, I like TV and video games. Even the quote in my signature is from That 70s Show. I just think that while TV is fine for maybe an hour or two a day, too many people spend hours and hours and hours in front of the TV. I agree with taking out some of the junk food on the school lunch menu, but I think even if they didn't do that, if more people set a specific amount of time limit to how much time kids can spend watching TV or playing their X-box, whatever they lay around the house doing, and have them spend more time outside, we'd see a rapid decrease in childhood obesity.

 

^my thoughts exactily.
I mean yeah, life is apparently so rush rush today that no one has 'the time' to cook a proper meal. Yesh, did it ever occur that it takes the same amount of time to drive to McGag and Pukes as it does to cook a half decent meal!?
Again, laziness.
And yeah, more parents are buying their kids play stations, x-boxes, computers and TVs as gifts, when they could (this is probably going to sound lame as hell to most kids out there) be buying them something like dancing lessons, some kind of musical insturment, voice lessons, hockey stuff......you get the point. Basically anything that involves using your head and being creative.
Yeah, i like TV and I'm on the internet a lot, but I also love to go out and enjoy the outdoors. I'm crafty and creative. I remember when times were tough for us, my mom scrimmped and scrapped and gave me voice lessons as a chirstmas present, and I couldn't have been happier.
That, and most parents think that it's just easier to throw their kids infront of the TV or something and let that raise them. It's sad, really.
I agree that the junk food should be taken out of schools. I remember back in high school going to the cafeteria and basically everything being deep fried this or that. there was a sandwich area, but it was so small hardly anyone noticed it.
You'd think that with all this new technology that people would be able to be more efficient and have more time to do things like cook real meals and do active things with their kids but somehow, everything has become even more supposedly hectic.
We're moving in a couple days and starting college next week. We decided to move into a smaller apartment and give up a few "frills" so that we could buy a family membership to the leisure (sp?) center here and take Leane there whenever we want to do something as a family. No renting movies, no watching TV, no video games. We're going to go there. When she's old enough, she will be getting a bike and rollerblades, will be taken on camping trips in a tent and will go hiking. She's going to live an active life, not a mindless-drone life who's only opinions come from what so and so said on the latest popular show.
Our nation just needs to open it's fat eyelids and see what's going on.