C'guy ... you misunderstand my intent. I fully understand your point. One meal at a fast food place could be half your daily caloric requirement. So, just adjust your other two meals, instead of hogging it 3 times a day. Why don't folks just order the cheeseburger meal? Why do they have to get the super sized, pony keg of coke, small bucket of fries, etc? Why can't Americans moderate?
My thing is that people need to take responsibility for their own health. I don't want to see individual freedoms taken away because some fat folks don't wanna eat smaller portions or choose healthier alternatives, or *gasp* prepare food at home. The rest of the world has seemed to notice this thing called a George Foreman grill. Buy one. Use it. If this paragraph sounds high and mighty ... so be it. I don't want all of society have to conform to the needs of the lazy.
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Ironically, the Simpsons episode where marge gets the Motherloving Sugar Co banned from town, was on tonight. Then, I saw your post and it was almost as if destiny has brought us together. *smile*
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Without trying to start the debate up again (Probably unavoidable) ... here goes, and I'm willing to take the flack that results from these comments. EVERY country has very nutrient dense fatty foods (There are countries that live on deep-fried, high carb foods). I absolutely love crossaints. I could eat 6 a day, for breakfast, for lunch, for snacks, etc. I don't because I know where that will lead. When you look at worldwide fuel usage, food consumption, etc ... the problem is not the fuel, the food, etc ... the problem is AMERICANS. I'm saying that as an American. Not as a superior American ... but as one of the group.
We live in the Land of Excess. We live in a land where we have everything ... even our poor peopple have access to most types of foods they want. Look at our vehicles. Look at our houses. Everything we have is in excess. The problem is not our little pleasures ... it's our attitude. We do NOTHING in moderation. We use ZERO restriant ... in ANYTHING. Forcing changes on food will not stop the problem, it will just filter the fat folks to another source ... be it ice cream, Cracker Barrell, Old Country Buffet (you wanna see some fat folks, hit this place come Sunday after church).
Again, Many countries have fatty, nutrient dense foods. The thing is that they don't eat grotesque amounts of it, and in frequent amounts.
Problems in kids = lack of parental responsibility. I don't want to see government regulation replace parental responsibility.
Anyway, I understand the problem. I understand your solution is to require companies to have restrictions on fat/sugar content, etc. My argument is that it won't change anything. It's like putting a band-aid on a severed jugular. The problem is the "excessive everything".
If you want to get kids to be not fat ... convince the parents to remove the power chords from the PC and the game consoles, and push their kids out the door and tell them to play outside (this handles both the grazing and the inactivity ... nutrition & exercise). I would suggest a bigger problem is that kids that are inactive graze on food as they sit there. looking at the data table of fast-food kids vs. non fast food kids, the total daily calories is not all that different. Certainly not different enough (200 cals) to account for the "fat plague" affecting our kids. Using that data table the easy solution is to convince kids to drink diet soda ... that negates the 200 calorie surplus right there. Or if the kids want to drink Sugar soda, they need to be somewhat active when they get home.
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CGuy, you and I are more alike than different, I think you said you have a nutrition minor ... me too. We want the same things, but we want to attack it from different angles. You want the government to handle the situation, I want parents to. Our difference is in political opinion, not from lack of caring for our fellow man.
Edit: Hey, we both typed our responses at the same time, and came to the same conclusion ... our difference is not in the compassion for people, the concern of our health, where the health problems could lead us, etc ... it's strictly political and I agree with that. You're a DC, I was raised by a DC, we both have conerns for lifetime good health and well being.
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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --
My thing is that people need to take responsibility for their own health. I don't want to see individual freedoms taken away because some fat folks don't wanna eat smaller portions or choose healthier alternatives, or *gasp* prepare food at home. The rest of the world has seemed to notice this thing called a George Foreman grill. Buy one. Use it. If this paragraph sounds high and mighty ... so be it. I don't want all of society have to conform to the needs of the lazy.
--------------------------
Ironically, the Simpsons episode where marge gets the Motherloving Sugar Co banned from town, was on tonight. Then, I saw your post and it was almost as if destiny has brought us together. *smile*
--------------------------
Without trying to start the debate up again (Probably unavoidable) ... here goes, and I'm willing to take the flack that results from these comments. EVERY country has very nutrient dense fatty foods (There are countries that live on deep-fried, high carb foods). I absolutely love crossaints. I could eat 6 a day, for breakfast, for lunch, for snacks, etc. I don't because I know where that will lead. When you look at worldwide fuel usage, food consumption, etc ... the problem is not the fuel, the food, etc ... the problem is AMERICANS. I'm saying that as an American. Not as a superior American ... but as one of the group.
We live in the Land of Excess. We live in a land where we have everything ... even our poor peopple have access to most types of foods they want. Look at our vehicles. Look at our houses. Everything we have is in excess. The problem is not our little pleasures ... it's our attitude. We do NOTHING in moderation. We use ZERO restriant ... in ANYTHING. Forcing changes on food will not stop the problem, it will just filter the fat folks to another source ... be it ice cream, Cracker Barrell, Old Country Buffet (you wanna see some fat folks, hit this place come Sunday after church).
Again, Many countries have fatty, nutrient dense foods. The thing is that they don't eat grotesque amounts of it, and in frequent amounts.
Problems in kids = lack of parental responsibility. I don't want to see government regulation replace parental responsibility.
Anyway, I understand the problem. I understand your solution is to require companies to have restrictions on fat/sugar content, etc. My argument is that it won't change anything. It's like putting a band-aid on a severed jugular. The problem is the "excessive everything".
If you want to get kids to be not fat ... convince the parents to remove the power chords from the PC and the game consoles, and push their kids out the door and tell them to play outside (this handles both the grazing and the inactivity ... nutrition & exercise). I would suggest a bigger problem is that kids that are inactive graze on food as they sit there. looking at the data table of fast-food kids vs. non fast food kids, the total daily calories is not all that different. Certainly not different enough (200 cals) to account for the "fat plague" affecting our kids. Using that data table the easy solution is to convince kids to drink diet soda ... that negates the 200 calorie surplus right there. Or if the kids want to drink Sugar soda, they need to be somewhat active when they get home.
------------------------------
CGuy, you and I are more alike than different, I think you said you have a nutrition minor ... me too. We want the same things, but we want to attack it from different angles. You want the government to handle the situation, I want parents to. Our difference is in political opinion, not from lack of caring for our fellow man.
Edit: Hey, we both typed our responses at the same time, and came to the same conclusion ... our difference is not in the compassion for people, the concern of our health, where the health problems could lead us, etc ... it's strictly political and I agree with that. You're a DC, I was raised by a DC, we both have conerns for lifetime good health and well being.
=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --
Last edited by:
TripleThreat: Jan 30, 04 22:12