Quail Valley Kids Are Getting Fat

The Press Enterprise reports that kids all across Riverside County are getting fatter, but specifically it appears that childhood obesity is...

The Press Enterprise reports that kids all across Riverside County are getting fatter, but specifically it appears that childhood obesity is a severe problem in Quail Valley and Canyon Lake.

An article on the Press Enterprise today has a map showing this area in red, indicating that as many as 44.5% of the kids are chunky...

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/ PE_News_Local_D_obese05.2ec1f51.html

And junk food is being blamed...

State and Riverside County public health researchers attributed increased rates of overweight and obese children to the prevalence of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages, extended computer and video game use and long distances to parks and recreational areas.

Funny, when I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, we had fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, ice cream trucks, and just about every piece of junk food that we have today.

Computers and video game use was the same as watching television back in the 1970s. And as for long distances to parks and recreational areas, we used to ride our bikes anywhere from five to ten miles to find the best canyons and hills.

The difference back then was our parents kicked us out of the house and made us burn off energy.

The problem is not junk food and computers, it's that there are more parents not taking responsibility for their kids' fitness.

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  1. My family has lived in this area for 5 years, both my kids are slim. I certainly don't kick them out of the house when it is too hot, but they walk to school, ride bikes and scooters, play starwars other stuff with neighbor kids. We also have chips, soda, and video games. They are just not allowed to have them ALL the time. Most of my kids' friends are slim as well. Hello, there is NO fast food in Quail Valley, unless you count the circle k. My kids eat a yogurt and a fruit when they walk home from school.

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  2. Junk food is not the problem.
    The problem is that kids do not play outside all day, they do not walk to school or even up the street. Socoety has made it so that kids must be driven everywhere and sit in front of video games playing things like tennis, etc. on a computer versus actually physically playing the games outside.

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  3. I walked one mile to school and to get a car ride was rare. I had to walk to my friends houses and the stores. If the distance was more than a mile or so I might have ridden my bicycle. I did not have video games and played outside. I did not have movie theaters or bowling allies or parks to hang out in. I played with friends outside all day.
    I was skinny as a rail and ate everything in site and all the junk food you can imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. it's portion size, our plates are so big, super sizing is common, you think your getting a better deal. Remember as kids, going out to eat you only got ONE drink, 12 oz of soda pop, plus they used sugar in those product back then (although still bad, better the HFCS) Starbucks is so trendy, and pack a high calorie punch with it. This is only one chapter in the flabby pie. If you loved your kids and cared for there long term future and health, you'd take a long hard look in you cupboards, get rid sugars, syrups, white flours and hydrogenated oils. Read the labels people, you may out live your kids, how sad :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think its not so much what we eat but activity..so many parents are afraid to let their kids out to play anymore....our two boys are both slim and only play video games or watch TV in the evenings if at that.....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jeez anonymous 8:59am. Its a little dramatic. Gonna outlive your kids. Thats harsh!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What happened to eating hamburgers, pizza, ice cream and everything that had real sugar in it. That's the way it was up until about 10 years ago and guess what, it's only been the last 10 years or so that all the kids started getting overweight. All these chemicals to try and make the foods healthier are going to be found to cause cancer and other birth defects in a few years anyway.
    I say eat what you want when you want it, just don't over do it. That's what I do and I'm still not overweight. I don't eat anything with fake sugars or diet anything.

    "Eat right and exercise, you're gonna die anyway"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our parents used to cook real dinners 4 or more nights a week, and they worked full time. We walked to school with a group of friends, we were taught about strangers and being safe. We rode our bikes all over the neighborhood. We were not overweight, and we only had PE a few times a week at school, if we were lucky. We also ate much better food in the cafeteria. There are all sorts of reasons that kids are overweight. Blame cannot be put on just one source, ie: parents or schools or fast food. Overall we have to change our habits and quit being lazy. Parents need to cook meals at home, go outside and play with their kids, find friends for them to play with outside, etc.

    On a side note... The house I grew up in had the kitchen in the front so our mom could see us while she paid bills, cooked dinner, etc. Where is the kitchen in most houses now?

    ReplyDelete

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