The biggest problem in America today is...

DavidS

Anti-Tea Party Member
Sep 7, 2008
9,811
770
48
New York, NY
Your child.

Earlier this year in California, a law was made official that banned smoking with a minor in the car. If someone did it, they could get a fine of up to $100. Second hand smoke is shown that after an extended period of time of exposure to cause lung cancer and other respiratory problems in some individuals.

Not currently on the law books in any state, nor is it being proposed in any state, are laws forbidding parents to feed their children fast food.

Why is that?

Because fast food joints employ tens of thousands of people, donate millions of dollars to charity, and are multi-billion dollar corporations... meaning that they are one of the best customers to the federal government.

My friends, there is a conflict of interest going on.

The other day I had an opportunity to visit a school cafeteria. Do you know what kind of food was served in this cafeteria? Pizza. Chocolate milk. Cookies. Cakes. Mac & Cheese. There were no vegetables, the fruit couldn't have been less fresh... there were more brownish apples than reddish or greenish apples and they looked dull.

The number one problem in America today is obesity. I should know - I suffer from it myself. My parents are morbidly obese and I'm getting on my way up there. But the decisions in food choice that I make today were not just the result of living in a home with massive portions and no vegetables. When I was growing up in school, we had Pizza Hut cater to our school, which meant fresh pan pizza every day and not the junk that our school made. The school cafeteria carried soda, chocolate milk or whole milk, mac & cheese, sloppy joe, tacos, burgers, hot dogs... you name it. It all came from food corporations that had contracts with the school for the lowest possible budget because states slash budgets of schools all the time. The food was prepared in the plants by the manufacturer, then frozen and shipped to the schools to be served sometime that month. THAT MONTH! Our kids are eating months-old food that was frozen and then just randomly heated up!

Yes, our teachers can teach us all they want about health and nutrition and making the right choices as required by the federal government. But when a kid exits that class and heads over for lunch is presented with a chocolate milk and a slice of pizza for $2.50 -- what is the kid going to do????

It is my sincere hope that with the health reform, we eliminate, not reduce, ELIMINATE this kind of garbage in schools. It's the ultimate do as I say not as I do... a school teaches you about good health and nutrition, but then they can't afford to actually give it to you! Education is not learned by sitting in a 20 x 20 class room in a 2 foot desk with a book in hand. Education is learned by ACTION, by DOING. And if a child is presented with fresh, organic produce that's prepared for them in a tasty way, they'll choose that ONLY if they don't have to compete with pizza and burgers every lunch.

A child grows up with high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavoring and coloring in almost every breakfast cereal they eat. Frosted flakes? Cinnamon Toast Crunch? "Apple" Jacks? Then they go to a school and eat pizza and chocolate milk for lunch. Then they come home and are served with overwhelming portion sizes of foods prepared with butter and salt that have probably been deep fried or cooked in oil and we wonder why obesity is such a problem in this country!

We cannot rely on people who have been, in a way, brainwashed on what to serve their children for breakfast and dinner, because 2 out of 3 choices are completely unhealthy for a kid. The education and the ACTION must start at the school and our school budgets must be overhauled IMMEDIATELY so that they contract with corporations to serve lunch to our students that is actually HEALTHY!
 
It's a problem.

And it's not a "victimless crime."

We all end up paying the health care costs of the obese.

The obese mar the landscape with their manatee selves.

We even pay more for jet fuel because it takes so much more of the stuff to pull the fatties!

It really pisses me off, personally.

When I go to the airport and see all these people riding around on scooters BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO FAT TO WALK, I want to scream.

I think before we start talking about socialized medicine, the government ought to check into forcible slimming by the government.

I'm serious.

The "healthcare problem" in America might even disappear!

Give people a year to get down to a normal weight. Or even 10-20 pounds overweight. Hell, I'll give people 30 pounds overweight. But these people who are 50 to 100 pounds overweight need to be pulled off the streets and put into fat camps. Deny them more than a normal calorie intake. Make them pick up the litter on the highways. Then let them go. If they blimp up again, take harsher measures.

Ancient Germanics apparently really fucked hard with fat men, because they were essentially letting down the whole tribe by gobbling up food and rendering themselves incapable of fighting enemies. I kind of feel the same way. Besideswhich, it's just fucking GROSS.
 
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Oh goody just waht the world needs - another health Nazi.

Actually, he's got a point.. The shit they're serving in schools now, compared to when I went is just that. Shit.

When I went, Friday's menu was whole milk, pizza (4"x4" slice), salad, some vegetable, a piece of garlic bread (maybe 2"x3"), and something like jello for dessert. That was your meal - there were no options, no substitutions, and certainly no junk food machines tucked into the corner.

Just as an example.

Now, from what I hear, you can practically get a big mac in school for lunch.
 
2 health Nazi's and counting...

Why don't you smarten up just a little bit, huh?

If you want to feed your kid lasagna for dinner when he gets home,followed by fried ice cream, with fried cheesecake on top, that's on you.

But if they're eating school lunch, they should be eating crap that will help them focus, and that's at least somewhat well balanced, and will not put them into a freaking coma within 15 minutes
 
Yeah and as son as we could get off campus for lunch we went and for me that was more than forty years ago. Why does stuff that is supposedly good for you always have to taste like crap?

And the problem with McDonalds is serving size. Same is true any other fast food place you go and why these collosal serving sizes? Because that is what the consumer wants. McDonalds has tried off and on for years to sell salads. They gave up. Why? Because no one ever bought one.

The problem isn't the fast food industry on this one, the problem is we the people are getting exactly what the hell we want and the freaking health and food Nazis aren't happy.

If you die of myocardial infarction at forty because you just had to have your daily 6000 calory intake you didn't cost the government money, over the long term you saved them money.
 
I'll admit I'm carrying a few extra pounds - about 20 lbs overweight, give or take 2-3. It used to be more after having the kids, but I've been really watching what the kids (and by extension myself) eat and basically banning junk food in the house. To this point they've been in daycare with cheap, salty fried food every single day (or else balogna sandwiches - is that stuff really food?). They start KG tomorrow and the school lunch menu actually looks much healthier than the junk they've been having, with the daily option of a chef salad (which my kids will actually eat) instead of the regular offering. I for one am pleased about the improvements with them entering school compared to what they've had.
 
Yeah and as son as we could get off campus for lunch we went and for me that was more than forty years ago. Why does stuff that is supposedly good for you always have to taste like crap?

And the problem with McDonalds is serving size. Same is true any other fast food place you go and why these collosal serving sizes? Because that is what the consumer wants. McDonalds has tried off and on for years to sell salads. They gave up. Why? Because no one ever bought one.

The problem isn't the fast food industry on this one, the problem is we the people are getting exactly what the hell we want and the freaking health and food Nazis aren't happy.

If you die of myocardial infarction at forty because you just had to have your daily 6000 calory intake you didn't cost the government money, over the long term you saved them money.

Likely because you can't cook. :eusa_eh:
 
Until you can afford to pay yours and your familiy's own medical bills WITHOUT health insurance, the full fees, the government should have SOME right to regulate your diet. The pizza, and burgers and hot dogs and cakes and snacks that we all eat cause us to get overweight and to have problems such as diabetes and heart disease and then health insurance companies have to pay the doctors fees and hospital fees and this fee and that fee and that causes premiums to go up which cause less people to be able to afford health insurance or makes using health insurance more difficult to obtain or keep or maintain which leads to trillions of dollars spent to reform health care all because people are making the wrong nutrition choices.

And if you don't think 90% of medical related illnesses are due to poor nutrition, then you need to smarten up.
 
Until you can afford to pay yours and your familiy's own medical bills WITHOUT health insurance, the full fees, the government should have SOME right to regulate your diet. The pizza, and burgers and hot dogs and cakes and snacks that we all eat cause us to get overweight and to have problems such as diabetes and heart disease and then health insurance companies have to pay the doctors fees and hospital fees and this fee and that fee and that causes premiums to go up which cause less people to be able to afford health insurance or makes using health insurance more difficult to obtain or keep or maintain which leads to trillions of dollars spent to reform health care all because people are making the wrong nutrition choices.

And if you don't think 90% of medical related illnesses are due to poor nutrition, then you need to smarten up.
(Emphasis added)

I agree poor nutrition and obesity cause many health problems, but so do genetic factors, pollutants and chemicals, hygeine (how many people really wash their hands often enough in flu season?), housekeeping skills, plain old age, everyday stress and other factors contribute to or cause far more than 10% of illnesses that require medical attention. Do you also advocate government mandated DNA testing, white glove patrols, meditation sessions and bathroom monitors? It's an individual's or a parent's responsibility to drive past the drive-thru and avoid the chips aisle, not the government's to ban or regulate it.

If you don't think education works, look at the way the government has effectively stigmatized smokers.
 
No, the biggest problem in America is this obsessive idea that government should micromanage our daily lives. Leave us the heck alone.
 
I'll admit I'm carrying a few extra pounds - about 20 lbs overweight, give or take 2-3. It used to be more after having the kids, but I've been really watching what the kids (and by extension myself) eat and basically banning junk food in the house. To this point they've been in daycare with cheap, salty fried food every single day (or else balogna sandwiches - is that stuff really food?). They start KG tomorrow and the school lunch menu actually looks much healthier than the junk they've been having, with the daily option of a chef salad (which my kids will actually eat) instead of the regular offering. I for one am pleased about the improvements with them entering school compared to what they've had.

This is not an issue between the government and your kids but an issue between you and your kids. If you don't like what they are served in daycare, then either change the daycare center or pack lunches and snacks for them. If you don't like what they will be served in public school, then pack their lunches for them. I raised a son, and I can tell you from my own experience that if your children respect your opinions and they see from your actions that you are concerned about what they eat, they will take that lesson with them when they are away from home and later when they are grown up.
 
2 health Nazi's and counting...

We regulate contaminated food (or try to, with limited funding). Yet the incidents of e.coli or salmonella are blips for the health care industry while the blimps are costing you and me nothing but money.
 
Oh goody just waht the world needs - another health Nazi.

Actually, he's got a point.. The shit they're serving in schools now, compared to when I went is just that. Shit.

When I went, Friday's menu was whole milk, pizza (4"x4" slice), salad, some vegetable, a piece of garlic bread (maybe 2"x3"), and something like jello for dessert. That was your meal - there were no options, no substitutions, and certainly no junk food machines tucked into the corner.

Just as an example.

Now, from what I hear, you can practically get a big mac in school for lunch.

Actually, you just mentioned what constitutes a big part of school budgets, another problem. Just cut the crap and I wonder how much more money would be available for books.
 
Yeah and as son as we could get off campus for lunch we went and for me that was more than forty years ago. Why does stuff that is supposedly good for you always have to taste like crap?

And the problem with McDonalds is serving size. Same is true any other fast food place you go and why these collosal serving sizes? Because that is what the consumer wants. McDonalds has tried off and on for years to sell salads. They gave up. Why? Because no one ever bought one.

The problem isn't the fast food industry on this one, the problem is we the people are getting exactly what the hell we want and the freaking health and food Nazis aren't happy.

If you die of myocardial infarction at forty because you just had to have your daily 6000 calory intake you didn't cost the government money, over the long term you saved them money.

Forty years ago, the average kid didn't have a wad of bills in his pocket to spend on junk after school. If I had a quarter for ONE icecream bar, I was lucky.

As for McDonald's, et al., it might be helpful for schools to have as required viewing "Fast Food Nation" showing some kid spitting into a Big Mac before it gets boxed up for sale, or the guy who sent a sample of his fast food burger off for lab testing and found a percentage of it contained manure. Those are ewwwwww moments, even for a teenager, and they might think twice next time a Big Mac attack comes on.
 
I'll admit I'm carrying a few extra pounds - about 20 lbs overweight, give or take 2-3. It used to be more after having the kids, but I've been really watching what the kids (and by extension myself) eat and basically banning junk food in the house. To this point they've been in daycare with cheap, salty fried food every single day (or else balogna sandwiches - is that stuff really food?). They start KG tomorrow and the school lunch menu actually looks much healthier than the junk they've been having, with the daily option of a chef salad (which my kids will actually eat) instead of the regular offering. I for one am pleased about the improvements with them entering school compared to what they've had.

There's no doubt that the addiction to fast food starts in early childhood and is compounded by parents who don't want to give it up either. I sure didn't, and it took a LOT of retraining of my taste buds to get away from it.

I have three nieces who all exhibited signs of genetic weight problems anyway, their parents continued to allow them to eat anything they wanted, whenever they wanted, and now they are adolescents and as you can imagine are already being either shunned or picked on in school. They try to wear the stuff the more svelte teen girls are wearing, but just look like sausages. So what happens? They are frustrated and depressed, and so they eat MORE. It's a vicious cycle.
 
No, the biggest problem in America is this obsessive idea that government should micromanage our daily lives. Leave us the heck alone.

Then don't come crying to the gubmit when a private health insurer will no longer cover you because you're too fat. Many people who are morbidly obese can't even get life insurance.
 
Food is not the problem, rather its activity! Ever hear a person tell a child where they hell do you put all the food? Most children who aren't overweight and are considered athletic did not stay that way because of what they ate, rather they got that way because of the activity they do.

Although my kids love green beans, peas, bananas, green apples, corn and 2% milk (they don't like fruit juice) - all which they eat regularly, I won't say they generally eat healthy. Their favorite dinner meals are chicken fingers, popcorn chicken from KFC and personal pan pizza from Pizza hut. While breakfast/lunch consists of ego strawberry waffles and cinnamon french toast (no syrup), its generally chicken fingers or Pizza Hut Pizza for dinner for them.

Nevertheless my kids are rail thin, very athletic, very strong and every check up at the doctor's office he states they are in perfect health (even encourages us to have them eat more).

Why do they stay so healthy while eating fattening pizza and chicken fingers for dinner? Because we keep them very active. No TV or movies during the day. They read (well the wife and I read to them) and they play outside. I walk around the block with them while they cruise around on their tricycle. My wife takes them a few times a week to the pool. We have them in many play groups during the week. And we have signed both my daughter and son up to many classes: Both got to gymnastics, my son goes to soccer and baseball and my daughter to swim classes.

Eating crap is going to happen, but children have a better ability to eat food without letting it increase their waist-line, this will continue all the way until they are 18!

I believe the key is not letting them sit in front of the TV or playing video games (unless its the interactive ones on the Wii) and rather getting and encouraging them to do physical activity like riding their bikes, playing sports with friends or going to the park!

Just My 2 cents!
 
Better to give an obese person an ultimatum. "You can choose to eat what you want, but then government healthcare will not cover you healthcare costs, unless you start losing weight!" Yep that is a slippery slope, because what will judge whether a fatty is a fatty? What about genetics?

Rather then kill and industry because people just can't restrain themselves, go directly to the people themselves. I personally don't eat too much fast food. But most fast food joints are having legit health options. Taco bell offers refresco meals, in which you can get out of there eating a satisfying meal of 300-400 cals and 10-15 Fat grams. McDonald's offers healthy salads and grilled chicken sandwiches. KFC offers grilled chicken! Subway offers good healthy subs that have helped them corner the market.

Why I believe food joints should be allowed to offer whatever they want, I do think restaurants, fast food joints etc. should all have nutrition labels on them, such as but not limited to, cal per MEAL, fat grams per meal, carbs per meal, fiber per meal, trans-fat per meal and notice of any deemed overly unhealthy ingredients the by FDA.


Until you can afford to pay yours and your familiy's own medical bills WITHOUT health insurance, the full fees, the government should have SOME right to regulate your diet. The pizza, and burgers and hot dogs and cakes and snacks that we all eat cause us to get overweight and to have problems such as diabetes and heart disease and then health insurance companies have to pay the doctors fees and hospital fees and this fee and that fee and that causes premiums to go up which cause less people to be able to afford health insurance or makes using health insurance more difficult to obtain or keep or maintain which leads to trillions of dollars spent to reform health care all because people are making the wrong nutrition choices.

And if you don't think 90% of medical related illnesses are due to poor nutrition, then you need to smarten up.
 

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