Blog Writer's Block

Whenever I have a bit of writer's block, I can always depend on Canoe to spice things up.

And an editorial from the Ottawa Sun fits the bill nicely:

But far too many of us are getting rounder than any generation before and this week came official acknowledgement of a particularly disturbing part of the trend: Our kids are gaining weight at such an alarming rate that childhood obesity is considered an epidemic

How bad is it? Unless we do something fast, many of our children won't live as long as their parents.

More than one in four (26%) Canadians aged two to 17 are now considered either overweight or obese, says a report from a House of Commons health committee that cites Statistics Canada figures.

Getting parents to do something about it, though, may prove a challenge. Apparently only 9% of parents believe their own children are overweight.

I am overweight. Despite losing a lot of weight a couple years back and getting regular exercise from Jui Jitsu twice a week, I am still overweight and struggle with balancing my poor eating habits with a desire to lose more weight and get healthy.

But I fail to understand how 26% of kids are overweight but only 9% of parents believe their kids to be overweight. Do people not understand the concept? Do they not know that "big boned" and "baby fat" are just excuses we use to justify obesity? How can we live in an age when encyclopedic information is available on TV, the internet, the newspapers and still have people that have a blind eye to the obvious facts?

Mister, your kid is fat. Lady, your kid doesn't need a chocolate bar, they need soccer game. Man, limit your kid to watching TV for an hour a day and include computer/playstation time in that hour.

Get informed, and get active. Children learn from there parents so provide direction and a good example and this "epidemic" can be routed.