Get a Move On It!

Are American Kids Too Fat?

Yes, and some American Adults are too. The recent child bill on school lunches and the like is expensive but highly laudable for all the healthy choices now available.

Why is this a national issue as Michele O has declared in her war against Twinkies. Obesity means that by 2020 something like a third of all Americans will be diabetic and pre-diabetic. If you think that is an over-exaggeration-google it yourself and you will see even more frightening statistics because some have said one in two people are at high risk for this. This is not a fun disease- it can result in blindness, amputations, severe circulatory distress issues and it is no fun pricking yourself for the blood sugar readings and injecting yourself with insulin.
Diabetic neuropathy is about the most painful thing out there-and there is no effective cure. It is just managed with horrendously addictive pain medications. Not a fun disease.
Sedentariness is a major factor and increases the more kids are glued to their Nintendo type electronic games as everything is more computerized. I tried taking the remote away from my four year old nephew who was using it to navigate the maze at the start of the Little Einstein kids video and he screamed so loud you would have thought (and the neighbors might have) that I took a bat to his little head. He was glued to the remote.
This is why I agree that Courts are empowered to and should be vigilant about enforcing in public schools the exercise requirements established by state legislatures. Kids need exercise. When they don't get it they can even be disciplinary problems as elevated blood sugar makes them figety and unfocused and then prime targets for ritalin overprescription for ADD-like symptoms. Kids need exercise and lots of it. See what the California Court of appeals is dealing with here:

http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/02/parents-can-sue-schools-for-skipping-gym-class-court-rules/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl5%7Csec4_lnk1%7C188051

When we were kids.....(didn't it annoy you when your folks said this when you were little...)
When we were kids we played outside all the time in nice weather-and even in snowy weather all bundled up. We didn't sit in front of TV ten hours a day. We played kick the can with the neighbors, walked to swim club, walked to the neighbors, got pick up basketball and tennis games going, and in cold weather skiied on back yard bunny hills until we could drive to the real slopes. We had junior high bowling nights, we had track events, we had gynastics practice. Something every day of the week. It builds muscle coordination and community bonding. Sitting in front of computer games all day is isolating, lethargic and might stimulate a brain-but a brain on an immovable object body is not half as effective unless you are Steven King.
Get your kids moving. They will thank you for it.