Sometimes being #1, is nothing to brag about.
The United States is at the top for the highest percentage of obese women and men. 36% of women and 32% of men. Take a minute to digest that, no pun intended. We are setting the example for our children, and their children. By feeding our children burgers & fries from fast food chains and replacing water with sugary soda and juices we are truly setting our loved ones for failure.
Why is an artichoke $3 and Burger King stacker $1 (whatever a stacker is, that does not sound appetizing)? Why do we not ask why?
For those of you who do not know, I have quite the commute to work each day. A twenty minute bus ride, a half hour ride on the Staten Island ferry, followed by two trains totaling another half hour (or more). This is NYC so I see a lot of crazy things, but the most daunting of all is the poor diet and lifestyle habits I view just on my commute to or from work.
I understand that not everyone has the same mentality as I do right now. I thought for the past 6 years that I have been a vegetarian that I was really healthy. Little did I know that I was not getting half the amount of vegetables and whole grains I should be. I will show you some photos I took on the way to work in the morning over the past two weeks. Keep in mind these are taken at 6am.
So this child was eating a bag of sun-chips (at 6am) which I thought to myself how horrifying - chips for breakfast? My mom used to give us oatmeal or toast and fruit. Over her dead body would we be eating chips that's for sure.
After the little boy finished that he ate two giant chocolate donuts. Halfway into the second one you can see he was leaning on his father (my assumption). He was moaning like he didn't feel well, probably from the massive amounts of sugar and garbage he just consumed before 7am. His mom followed up with "you don't feel well because you
didn't finish your breakfast". WHATTTTTT?!?!?!? (I had a slight nervous breakdown)! She hands him a chocolate milk and says "here drink this, you're probably just thirsty". Needless to say the kid was lethargic the last 20 minutes of the boat ride and I can imagine he was in a sugar coma in school for most of the day. How can his parents expect him to put his best foot forward, to be actively participating, attentive and succeed?
The next gentleman I see almost every morning and each day he pulls something out of his backpack equally atrocious. One morning a whole package of Oreos, another day a Big Mac (at 6am). This day, he had a family sized bag of chips and a 2 liter of Coca Cola. He sat there flipping through his comic book eating chips in a trance. I don't even think he tasted them. This saddened me. Here he was this guy who was always really thoughtful, picking up a wallet one day and chasing down the woman who dropped it, giving his seat to elderly women. I couldn't help but wonder, why can't he treat himself that great? Doesn't he deserve to feel fantastic and treat himself in a similar manner?
I would like to stress the fact that I am far from perfect, very far but I am trying each and every day - that is what counts. What bothers me most is when I see children eating pure garbage. They don't have a choice. I would let my child whine for weeks for candy, processed foods and snacks. Eventually they would eat the nice meal I prepared for them. More children each day are developing type 2 diabetes (typically an adult disease now becoming more prominent in children), sleep apnea, high cholesterol and shortness of breath. What was once a worry for our parents is now for our children. Between 16-33% of children and adolescents are obese. The annual cost to society is $100 billion a year for obesity. In the past three decades adolescents (12-19 years old) has more than tripled! One thing is certain, we are doing something wrong.
"For example, one study found that approximately 80% of children who were overweight at age 10-15 were obese adults at age 25. Another study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children. The latter study also found that if overweight begins before age 8, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe". (check out more statistics here)
We as parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, have the chance to influence our minors before it is too late. Let's not pass our bad habits onto these innocent children.
That is my rant for the evening.
Please remember though, we can make a difference. Every single time we choose healthy food at the register, we are voting for a change. If we do not buy it, eventually they will stop making it. Simple supply and demand. Let's demand a change, if not for us, then for our kids.
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