A weighty issue for NYC kids.

[Vince524]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/your_kids_are_getting_so_big_p9iTxEeieCpuwUoj7OjWZJ

It's the really Big Apple.

Forty percent of city schoolkids from kindergarten through eighth grade -- 254,076 kids -- are either overweight or obese, according to 2008-2009 data gathered and analyzed by the city's departments of Education and Health.

A whopping 22 percent have body mass indexes (BMI) high enough to be declared clinically obese, and another 18 percent are considered overweight. ​

This is pretty bad and I'm guessing it's like this through the country.

I come from and overwieght family, but my wife and I have done pretty good with our 2 kids who are both healthy and fit. Feed them rght, watch what they eat. Teach them about food choices and keep them as active as possible.

But I know it's tough when you are a kid and overwieght. Kids will tease you to no end. (Of course, maybe if the whole class is as fat, the teasing isn't so bad.)

 

[CACTUSWENDY]

I was at the other end of it....skinny. Bean pole. Slim. Skin and bones. And I ate like a horse. Got teased and made fun of for that.

 

[LOG]

I'm only slightly over my target weight for my height. Some days that amazes me. It's likely due to my families habit of cooking their own food, even if not entirely from scratch it's better than eating at fast-food places regularly as many of the inner-city kids do, just because it's convenient.
I'm at the university right now, but one of these days I'm gonna have to ask for copies of the family cookbooks...or make them.

 

[Zoombie]

It's really hard to fight evolution. We thrived in situations where near starvation was common. Now that we have what our brains and bodies tell us is enough to eat, we get super fat.

It sucks, but all we can do, until basic biomods are readily available to make losing fat easier at least, is to try and excersize and eat proper and be content with what that gets us.

Which, usually, isn't that much.

 

[maxmordon]

It's really hard to fight evolution. We thrived in situations where near starvation was common. Now that we have what our brains and bodies tell us is enough to eat, we get super fat.

It sucks, but all we can do, until basic biomods are readily available to make losing fat easier at least, is to try and excersize and eat proper and be content with what that gets us.

Which, usually, isn't that much.

Or you know, one can always start eating better and doing a bit of work-out, I have start with it and have lost a few pounds already.

 

[Zoombie]

I
It sucks, but all we can do, until basic biomods are readily available to make losing fat easier at least, is to try and excersize and eat proper and be content with what that gets us.

.

 

[maxmordon]

Ah, sorry , remember, folks, if you have had your fair number of glasses of wine for the night, do not get near a computer.

 

[Zoombie]

Haha, it's okay <3

Now, my family is lucky if we can break even working out and eating proper. We're really good at surviving famines from that perspective. Assuming we don't have diabetes...which makes the not-dying a lot harder without modern medical tech.

 

[billythrilly7th]

It's a travesty.

We're the only country in the world where are poorest people are our fatest people.

If Ethiopians came here they would look at the fat people and say "wow, they must be rich to be that weight."

What other country has fat poor people? In most countries, poor people can't buy food. That's why they are starving and skinny.

I'm disgusted with the direction that America is going in right now. It's not the politicians fault. It's our fault and when the entire system collapses it will be a shame.

Oh well.

The historians will look back at the 300 year American empire and say "wow, they really did some good in their short life."

 

[waylander]

It's a travesty.

We're the only country in the world where are poorest people are our fatest people.

If Ethiopians came here they would look at the fat people and say "wow, they must be rich to be that weight."

What other country has fat poor people?

We do

 

[Ken]

... when I was back in grade school very few kids were overweight. Just a handful. Probably one major difference was that kids were much more active.

We had gym each day and during lunch everyone ran about in the yard and whatnot. There was far less reliance on buses too. Kids walked to and from school even if they lived a mile or more away. That adds up to a lot of exercise and burnt cals.

 

[Plot Device]

When I was in college about 20 years ago (before the obesity epidemic was even seen as such), one of my part time jobs was driving school bus (I still have my CDL). I can drive a 40-foot bus, which has 24 bench seats on it. And each bench seat is just 39 inches long and about 14 inches deep. These kinds of buses have been around since the 1920's, but these exact specifications I just laid out for you were developed for American public school buses back in the 1950's, and they were refined by the 1970's when bussing became mandatory all across America.



And here we see the interior of an actual bus (minus any students).

The phrase "72-passenger school bus" means you can theoretically fit 72 kids onto just one bus. So .... 24 benches......... 3 kids per bench ...... 72 kids .... 39 inches per bench ...... If you do the math, each kid's butt is allowed just 13 inches of seat width.

Well, to LITERALLY pack it full of 72 kids is a achievement that only kinda sometimes almost works if they are all tiy little kindergarteners, or at most up to the third grade. And even then it only kinda slightly maybe works in a half-assed crazy bullshit way, if nobody has any packbacks or lunch boxes or sports equipment. And only if it's summer time and the sun is shining and none of the kids are wearing layer upon layer of sweaters and coats and parkas.





Behold, a packed school bus where there are 3 kids per bench:

Please note that the children in the photo above are sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. And the kids unlucky enough to be seated in the aisle are in fact quite literally IN THE AISLE. Their butts are hanging right off the seats, and they are all performing a very stressful balancing act of trying to obey the bus driver rule to "Stay seated!" and yet also not fall on the floor, or piss off the person across the aisle in the other seat who is likewise trying to stay squatting in this barely-seated position --which is really half way dangling in thin air, all the while fghting agaist every lurch and turn of the movement of the bus.


Anyway, I do not know what the state of affairs is on American public school buses these days. But if 40% of the kids are downright obese, then Detroit needs to re-think the dimensions of the benches in those buses. (Or else maybe kids can start walking to school again. )



::ETA::


Found another photo. These kids are high school students. I see a few really big guys in this one. And they don't look happy.

 

[Bubastes]

Or you know, one can always start eating better and doing a bit of work-out, I have start with it and have lost a few pounds already.

Yes and no. Eating well and working out is necessary, but not always sufficient. I actually gained two pounds while training for a marathon this past spring, and I cook most of my food from scratch.

 

[tiny]

Yes and no. Eating well and working out is necessary, but not always sufficient. I actually gained two pounds while training for a marathon this past spring, and I cook most of my food from scratch.

Muscle weighs more than fat and during training most people gain weight after the initial loss of fat. At the height of my training I weighed 136 at 5'1" but I was a size three. It was all muscle. Weight isn't always a good measure of health.


Oh, and to the OP. When my son was in elementary school... they weren't allowed to run on the playground. No running, no games including running, no swinging too high, ... etc.

 

[Shadow Dragon]

Muscle weighs more than fat and during training most people gain weight after the initial loss of fat. At the height of my training I weighed 136 at 5'1" but I was a size three. It was all muscle. Weight isn't always a good measure of health.


Oh, and to the OP. When my son was in elementary school... they weren't allowed to run on the playground. No running, no games including running, no swinging too high, ... etc.

I agree with the first part. Weight alone does not tell you how "fat" you are.

On the second paragraph... What the fuck? I know some places go a little overboard on the safety rules, but seriously? Not allowed to run?

 

[tiny]

I agree with the first part. Weight alone does not tell you how "fat" you are.

On the second paragraph... What the fuck? I know some places go a little overboard on the safety rules, but seriously? Not allowed to run?

Yup. I'm quite serious. I wish was exaggerating, but my son was one who got in a bit of trouble over a game they made up which involved running from one point to another on a square. I forget what it was called, but it's 'banned'.

They cannot run on the black top, but there is a huge green grass field... that they aren't allowed to use because the school doesn't want the children playing on it to damage the grass. It's for special events.

No running. It's sad.

 

[brainstorm77]

I thought physical exercise was being encouraged more than ever in schools?

 

[Shadow Dragon]

I thought physical exercise was being encouraged more than ever in schools?

Actually, phys. ed. is generally one of the first things to get cut. And then they wonder why kids are getting fatter...

Oh and after doing a quick google search, that isn't even the closest to being the most idiotic thing that schools have banned. I really wish bureaucrats would learn some common sense.

 

[Bubastes]

Muscle weighs more than fat and during training most people gain weight after the initial loss of fat. At the height of my training I weighed 136 at 5'1" but I was a size three. It was all muscle. Weight isn't always a good measure of health.

Good point. I once got my body fat percentage measured and realized that the only way I could get to my "ideal" weight was to cut off an arm.

 

[icerose]

It's a travesty.

We're the only country in the world where are poorest people are our fatest people.

If Ethiopians came here they would look at the fat people and say "wow, they must be rich to be that weight."

What other country has fat poor people? In most countries, poor people can't buy food. That's why they are starving and skinny.

I'm disgusted with the direction that America is going in right now. It's not the politicians fault. It's our fault and when the entire system collapses it will be a shame.

Oh well.

The historians will look back at the 300 year American empire and say "wow, they really did some good in their short life."

It's quite simple really. The absolutely worse food you can possibly be eating is dirt cheap compared to other food. It is horrible for you. It's high in starches, sodium, fat, and carbohydrates and low on everything good for you. The good food is expensive. We're at two dollars per pound of apples right now in my area. Thankfully I belong to a co-op and we purchase our produce in bulk directly from the farms.

So yeah, not surprising. It takes money to buy quality food. You can eat cheaply, but you're body is going to pay for it dearly. That's why the poorest people are the fattest.

 

[brainstorm77]

Actually, phys. ed. is generally one of the first things to get cut. And then they wonder why kids are getting fatter...

Oh and after doing a quick google search, that isn't even the closest to being the most idiotic thing that schools have banned. I really wish bureaucrats would learn some common sense.

Well that sucks. What passed for physical education when I was in school wasn't great.
One class a week, 45 mins which included most of us not getting a chance to participate in anything.

 

[Zoombie]

It's better to eat crappy food than to starve.

Now, my question is: Why can't we make BETTER food cheaper?

 

[backslashbaby]

Check out the prices in the fruit section of your grocery store. Then check out what an apple pie at McDonald's goes for.

It makes me sick that fresh produce has gotten so expensive.

The food thing is certainly not a problem of being lazy.

Phys Ed? Meh, just a place to stand around and get smacked by kickballs, if I recall correctly. It was all the dance and gymnastics in the backyard that kept us fit. Bikes or skateboards for the boys.

Mostly, the opportunities are there for exercise for kids, but I see them inside playing video games or watching their choice of 100 channels in the AC. Like their parents !

 

[Zoombie]

Hey, I had a perfectly good bike until a truck hit me.

 

[kuwisdelu]

My weight is just barely within "normal" range. Gain a pound or two, and I'd be overweight. Considering that I still look fairly fit when I have a shirt on, it really scares me about how many people must be overweight.