Kids, TV, and Exercise

That's right, I've got a bonus for you!  This one is another stupid study based on opinion and not fact, as usual.  This will be a quick one, I think.



The whole gist of the study was that children exposed to 2 hours or more of television prior to turning 2 are less likely to exercise and more likely to be obese when they become teenagers.  I don't really get how they can prove this either.  There have been many studies trying to explain why kids are obese.  The real problem comes down to this.  When I was a kid, there wasn't air conditioning everywhere you turned.  Central air was something only the really wealthy had.  We cooled off by running through the sprinkler, going swimming, or planting yourself in front of a fan.  Occasionally we would go for a ride with the windows open and the wind blasting in your face followed by ice cream.  We even drank cold water from the hose while we played basketball.  And in school, the only ones that got to keep cool were the ones next to the windows in class and the girls.  Boys weren't allowed to wear shorts but the girls could wear short skirts with flip-flops.  Now many schools have air conditioning, heck it was only a month or so ago that some parents were complaining because their kids were forced to sit in a classroom when the air conditioner wasn't working!  And this is my first thought as to why we are becoming an obese society.  We spend a majority of our time in air conditioning and sit.  Even if you aren't doing anything but you are in the heat you will burn calories because your body is trying to regulate your temperature.  Creating sweat uses some energy, not a lot but much more then sitting in air conditioning.


My second thought has to do with time.  To be competitive in the job market we often have to put in a lot of hours.  If we aren't putting in a lot of hours we often get labeled as someone who doesn't care about their job or future.  So what happens?  We put in time and have to save time somewhere.  That time savings comes with dining out a lot or purchasing partially or fully prepared meals at the store.  These meals, either dining out or prepared, are often high in fat and calories.  But what makes it even worse is the fact that the restaurants or manufacturers have to give us the impression that we are getting our money's worth from the meal.  How do they do that?  Give us extremely large portions.  How often do you go out to get a burger and feel that you got your money's worth from a 4oz burger?  Probably not very when you see the guy eating a 10oz burger.  So you order the 10oz and proceed to eat the whole thing along with the fries.  Then we turn around (as a society, not me personally) and look for something to blame for being obese because it can't be our fault.  And, of course, this leads to bad habits for children and they come to accept the diet as being normal.


My next problem with this whole obesity thing is what is called obese.  I am roughly 5 foot 6 inches and have been so since I was a sophomore in high school.  When I graduated I was 140 pounds yet anything that you read stated that I was overweight.  There was literally only one place where there was even a sign of fat on me.  I was very active (track for 3 years, cross country for 1 year, along with neighborhood football and basketball, and a lot of biking) so there wasn't much fat.  I actually wore jeans that were too big for my waste just so they would fit over my thighs.  Yet I was considered obese in medical terms.  There needs to be a better qualification for this then just height to weight ratio.  Each situation needs to be looked at individually.  Perhaps someone should figure out a weigh in which people can really figure it out on their own.


My last thought comes down to reality.  If you grow up in a house were your parents are obese you are going to be more comfortable with the idea and not think much of it when you become obese.  I can say that is the issue that I have from personal experience.  My father was one of those people who was overweight his whole life, even when he was active in high school.  It was worse for him when I was a kid.  And I think that played a large part in my gaining weight after graduation.  Top that off with the obsession there is with large "athletes" (I've gone off on that before here) and you can see the issue.


So much for a short one!  Let's stop trying to find someone else to blame for our obesity issue and start looking at ourselves.  I'm trying to turn my obesity around, not only so I can be here for a long time to enjoy life, but so my kids will not be in my situation and they can be around for a long time also.  I'm the one to blame for my obesity as I have made the choices.  It's time everyone else realize they are the ones to blame for theirs.