School lunches are a major disappointment in our local school system.I pay 2.25 a day per child.For me that is 6.75 a day.Now, Dont get me wrong, I do think the price for a meal is reasonable if they we getting an edible, healthy meal.Since my youngest child will still let me join him for lunch at school, I often have the opportunity to eat these meals.Obviously I dont expect a gormet meal but..........WOW!!Corn dogs, pizza, french fries, chicken strips,chocolate milk,tacos,cookies,cinnamon rolls......And my kids usually throw the whole meal away,come home after school starving and eat everything in site.So, the alternative is a sack lunch.Right?Nope.My kids would rather eat nothing than take a humiliating, embarrassing...sack lunch.UGH!!!!
Ya, crap in the school system is terrible -- it would be GREAT if it was just healthy and balanced...and what the heck do you do? Kids are gonna want to eat with their friends...
There ARE nutritious, healthy, low-cost options out there. And foods today are NO LESS NUTRITIOUS than they were years ago, despite what the organic foods lobby would like you to believe: http://english.pravda.ru/news/scienc...organic_food-0
This is probably true for non-processed foods, but is definitely NOT true for any kind of processed or restaurant foods. To increase profits, processed, packaged, and served meals have become increasingly less healthy in the past 50 years...either by replacing ingredients with cheaper or longer lasting ones that are coincidentally less healthy (HFCS and trans fats) or by creating larger portion sizes, which take very little additional ingredient cost, but make consumers willing to pay a higher amount for the foods in question. It's not a conspiracy, it's just good economics. Unfortunately, I don't know how aware most people are of the decrease in nutrition and quality in packaged and served goods over the years.
We CAN make the argument that personal responsibility dictates that people not partake in these foods, but it's pretty certain that some people always will, and that the negative nutritional impact of eating those foods on a regular basis has gone up significantly since they were introduced...in other words, what was once a "not so great choice" has become a "very bad choice".
I just read a very interesting book by a former food marketing exec whose argument was, essentially, that the changes to make these processed foods less healthy to make more profits were done without letting customers know...it makes good economic sense for companies to change back to healthier versions, even at a slightly higher ingredient cost, without letting the consumer know (because people believe that "healthy" processed foods taste bad, and don't buy them, and also because healthier processed food options tend to be priced out of low-income grocery budgets...), which will both improve national health AND ensure the food companies have brand loyal consumers with longer lifespans. I wasn't fond of the message that the food industry has to solve the problem, not consumers (I personally think it would have to be BOTH), but the arguments did make sense to a certain degree.
There is a lot of "blame" to go around for obesity, and not all of it lies at the feet of the obese. Personally, I think more will get accomplished, if instead of pointing fingers, if the people who can help, work on it together.
Schools bringing in restaurant franchises and cutting athletic, P.E. and recess to save money are contributing to obesity in children. You could blame the parents, or the child (or wait until he or she is older and then transfer blame from parent to child), but there are things that can be done to help people help themselves.
Not all obese people are uneducated, lazy or unwilling. There are many factors that contribute to obesity, and they're not all the fault of one segment of the population.
Two thirds of american adults are overweight or obese. In 1985, the obesity rate was 14%. In 2007 it was 30% - and it's growing, and is seen in all age groups. That means there are people alive today who were non-obese adults in 1985 who are now obese adults. Did these people suddenly become lazy, stupid, or irresponsible? I don't think so. Our changing environment is playing a role. We can ignore that and just blame the individual, or we can try to change our environment in a more responsible direction.
Not all of the obese are uneducated, but knowledge is power, and there's a lot of misinformation out there, and things we just don't know. For as long as I've been obese (since age 5) I mostly blamed only myself for my obesity (except once in a while, mostly during teen-year tantrums, I also blamed my parents). I did insane things to try to lose weight, but always relapsed because I couldn't control the insane hunger that made me want and think about food 24/7 (I even dreamt of food, especially while dieting). Weight loss was possible, but only at the expense of nearly everything else meaningful to me.
I knew that TOM was an especially difficult time for me to control my hunger, and I even suspected before I was out of my teens that stacking bc to reduce periods might be a possible solution, but my doctors always advised against it. It took me more than 20 years to find one doctor willing to support my trying it. WOW, the difference was amazing, and I have no doubt that if I had found this solution at age 21, instead of 41, it would have made my life and weight loss and maintenance a whole lot easier.
I don't have to work nearly as hard to lose weight and maintain it as I once did (which is good, because I just don't have the drive and determination any more).
By "blame" standards, I deserve less blame now that I am succeeding? Even though I'm working less and accidentally acheiving more?
I'm not lazy, crazy, or stupid and I don't think most obese people are. We have the ability to succeed in so many aspects of our lives, but somehow food and weight control are beyond our grasp? I don't think so, but I also don't think that there are simple answers or obesity would not be such a rapidly growing problem.
I don't think anyone is BLAMING you personally, Ms Kaplods. I just think that the general concept is that an individual is ultimately responsible for their weight, and that in virtually every case the individual has the power to do something about it.
And while I agree that collectively tackling societal obesity factors is important, through education and public health initiatives and so on, the INDIVIDUAL is ULTIMATELY repsonsible for themselves. I can educate a person up the HOOP, but I CAN'T MAKE THEM FOLLOW AN EATING OR EXERCISE PLAN. I'm not in someone's living room 24/7 monitoring what he or she may or may not eat. It is up to the individual, and no one else.
And perhaps if we consider societal factors but INDIVIDUALLY do what we can for OURSELVES, the individual numbers will add up and society will be, in essence, better.
I got fat because I ate too much and sat on my A$$. There were contributing factors, for sure -- pituitary tumor, medications, serious hormonal imbalances, family history, genetics, life experience, job loss -- but I personally decided to STOP USING these contributing factors as a rationale for being large and as an excuse for my failure to lose weight. And once I STOPPED deflecting the issue onto the shoulders of the medical establishment, genetics, society, my parents, my biology, I was able to get a grip and lose the weight. But that's just ME. We all have our own path to choose, and I make no judgement about other paths.
I can only control myself. I refuse to believe that diet and exercise won't work. And so far, I'm not doing so badly...
I am in agreement with Kira.I , like I said in a earlier post, am trying to change my lack of progrees in the weight loss department.LOL.I , and only I , are to blame for this.I have made the choice every day to either choose to eat within my calorie range for the day or not.I choose to either work out, or not.And believe me, I dont always do what I know how to do.I certainly agree that society makes it more convienent to live a sedentary life.But, at the end of the day, its all up to me.I am choosing to acknowledge the mistakes I have been making because you cant change what you dont acknowledge.Right?I know many people who NEVER eat fast food,NEVER take a day off from their exercise of choice.(I am not one of them).I think words are cheap really.Sometimes I feel hypacritical giving advice to others on this board when I have not met my own goal.Advice is great!But do you follow your own advice???That is what I have had to ask myself.Like many others I would guess, I find my self gravitating toward advice from our AMAZING maintainers!!I, personally want to hear its possible from someone who has walked the walk and show me....diet and exercise work!!!Easy?NO!Or course its not.Possible????Yes!
