Fixing global childhood obesity epidemic begins with making healthy choices the easier choices – and that requires new laws

Cooking from scratch will always be the cheapest and best option. How many can cook properly these days, how many are a basic understanding of nutrition?

Why isn’t nutrition taught from a young age basic cooking skills etc.

Walk or cycle instead of driving when possible. Make fast foods a treat not the norm.

100% agreed

Never going to places such as Macdonalds will help....a lot.

Never going to places such as Macdonalds will help....a lot.

I wouldn't say never but certainly not every day. And anyway, the problem is far worse than simply avoiding fast food restaurants.

Healthy eating and exercising habits should be taught, and demonstrated, from a very early age, as mentioned above. For instance, a friend of mine recently returned from the states, and brought back a few tubs of Fruit Loops as a souvenir. I tried one yesterday and could barely get through the entire serving. They taste awesome, but it felt like I was eating pure sugar, and I could feel myself becoming unhealthier as I ate it. Also, I didn't feel as if I had eaten anything at all afterwards. One way to begin losing weight is to eat foods that make you feel full quicker and for longer. Foods high in protein and fibre, for example. Finally, a quick google tells me that Fruit Loops are actually "low in calories."

If that's what kids are eating every morning, then it's no wonder they have such a problem with childhood obesity. In my opinion, replacing those types of meals with healthier alternatives; fruit, yogurt, grains, will go a long way to reducing the impact of such poor food choices. And parents sitting down with their kids and eating those meals together will help, too. It's no coincidence that fat kids generally belong to fat parents.

I recently stopped eating wheat products because I was having problems with my digestive system. I have now recovered and as I side effect I have also lost weight. I don't feel hungry anymore so I need to eat much less. I also have more energy. I think we really need to review the place of refined carbohydrates in our diets. In my experience, they were causing me to feel hungry when I wasn't resulting in my overeating.

Allan,

If you don't mind, can you tell us what was replaced with what, in terms of food choices?

Never going to places such as Macdonalds will help....a lot.

agree. I NEVER let my kids go there. Burger King on the other hand... from time to time I feel is ok.

Not against fast food- I like it- but it has to be balanced with exercise.

My kids do Judo. In addition to that, we have a Tatami room which I have converted into a dojo and teach them other martial arts there (except in summer when it is too hot and their Judo classes are actually 3 times a week)

And in addition to that our bedroom doubles as the house gym where my kids work out with me. I do weights and they use the bench for sit ups and I have installed a pullup bar for them to do pullups.

The pandemic has kept people indoors but we can still exercise if we think outside the box.

If you charge more for 'treat' foods, many families will still buy them, but have less cash left for healthy food.

Healthy food is actually cheaper than processed food, but people are a mix of too busy/too lazy to prepare it. Exercise can also be done in your home (and for free if you are inventive).

Some kids react to their parents' weight/childhood diet, but most follow it. So the issues may primarily be the behaviour of the parents.

The easiest, most affordable and practicable solution is a mix of education (teaching kids to cook healthy meals in school) and better parenting.

No government is going to be able to end crime/inequality/poverty simply to reduce obesity.

Inflation has seen local authority funded leisure centres and pools closing all over the UK. A high inflation, high cost economy will see fewer facilities globally, and that decision has already been made with trade barriers, Brexit-style rules, migrant labour blocks and a new cold war. The future will be more expensive, there will be more poverty, fewer services and less food. So don't expect improvements there.

Banning everyone from eating treats just to stop a minority from becoming obese is puritanical fascism.

For the majority of people who don't have a medical issue, it is a matter of eating a bit less (and avoiding fat/sugar/salt), drinking a bit more water (reducing alcohol/caffeine), and doing some daily exercise. Overcomplicating it by looking for causes of causes of causes, isn't always helpful.

Fixing global childhood obesity epidemic begins with making healthy choices the easier choices – and that requires new laws

New laws?

.

Humans aren't so smart this way. Look at the ways we've created to destroy ourselves?

No law can or will address our need to diet or exercise without some draconian government like what we saw in the last century.

Its the parents.

.

Stay free world !

Stop wasting cash on war and weapons first.

Education before laws that won't work. School dinners can be a good example of healthy eating.

Who makes these ideas about what sizes, dimensions, shapes people 'should' be? Who even has that right to determine these 'standards'? Not all sizes fit everybody and with recent developments around the world we should not be having exercise sessions while some scowling Big Brother is watching us. Read the novel '1984' and see.

Like a carbon tax was floated as an idea to begin to cut emissions, the same should be done for this massive ( get it ? ) global youth health problem. Refined sugar tax, trans fat tax, potassium bromate, propylene glycol, TBHQ, calcium sulfate, propyl gallate, phthalates, fluorine the list goes on of the toxic garbage we throw down ourselves and our children. Chuck in a sedentary lifestyle or parents too focused on their own happiness and comfort to raise healthy and well balanced offspring and you have the perfect storm described above. Remember mental and physical health are two ides of the same coin.

The progress we have made in eliminating hunger over the past decades has been momentous , but now it’s time to tip the scales back to our natural, healthy and active potential selves. We done got too comfortable! Obese children is a crime. Don’t mess your kids up for life before they even started it!

Poor people make poor choices. Can't be helped.

Having said that, larger people are much more fun to be around than some dull bodybuilder or gym bore.

Hit them in their wallets, just fine the parents of fat kids or charge them with neglect or abuse.

Looks like a global health issue, which global health authorities in the US have correctly identified.

The experts of the global authority in public health rejected the proposal of the US academics, there is nothing strange with that, US problems and priorities are not the world problems and priorities.

Do you have anything to contradict the expertise of the professionals that conform the panel? obviously a nameless person on the internet trying to contest the valid appeal to authority of the WHO is not an argument, it is not even an excuse.

Well, obviously the WHO agency missed the ball again, as they failed to identify noter global health crisis.

Looks like a global health issue, which global health authorities in the US have correctly identified.

There is no "global health authorities in the US" is either one but not both, you have repeatedly argued that no institution without global legal powers can be considered a global authority, that would be enough to disqualify every single institution of the US.

In reality the international community is the one that have identified the global problem and that have already put strategies in place to correct them, mostly so the disaster that is happening in the US is not repeated anywhere else.

Well, obviously the WHO agency missed the ball again, as they failed to identify noter global health crisis.

No, it has not, it is part of a priority in public health, your problem is thinking that automatically means categorizing drugs used against obesity as essential, when in reality that is not necessary in most countries that still have many other options to use.

We don't need new laws. Government involvement will just make things worse.

If you don't mind, can you tell us what was replaced with what, in terms of food choices

So I have managed to successfully cut out bread, pasta, ramen, and white rice.

I eat porridge for breakfast. This keeps me going for most of the day. It's a great standby and a bag of oats from Gyomu Super is 100 yen for 500 grams - crazy cheap

Lunch is the same as I would usually eat with rice but without rice! Plus additional boiled eggs, steamed chicken, and chikuwa another great high-protein standby

For dinner, I just eat the same as I would usually really but with potatoes or cauliflower rice. I always make extra potatoes much to my wife's annoyance. Cauliflower rice is available from Gyomu Super. It's popular and sells out quickly.

Cutting out these carbs has been the best thing I've done for my health along with giving up smoking.

There is no "global health authorities in the US" is either one but not both, 

"Global health authorities" in the US is correct linguistically and factually.

No, it has not, it is part of a priority in public health, your problem is thinking that automatically means categorizing drugs used against obesity as essential,

You're the one who argues that the drugs are essential for treating obesity. It's your problem.

Again, the WHO agency missed the ball big time.

Experts criticise WHO delay in sounding alarm over Ebola outbreak

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/22/experts-criticise-world-health-organisation-who-delay-ebola-outbreak

You're the one who argues that the drugs are essential for treating obesity. It's your problem.

No, that is just a baseless misinterprestaion, the doctors that are grateful for their approval are the ones that say that for some patients the drugs increase very importantly the rates of success in changing lifestyles.

That is not something that automatically applies all over the world, other countries can still have many other things to try first before failing so spectacularly as the US did

Again, the WHO agency missed the ball big time.

Not at all, it is precisely the global authority that is sounding the alarm for this and many other public health problems and how to solve them.

Experts criticise WHO delay in sounding alarm over Ebola outbreak

Again trying to spam completely off topic things that are not even related to the article? that repeatedly had your comments deleted.

No, that is just a baseless misinterprestaion,

No--I had the same interpretation from your other post.

Let's break it down:

The experts of the global authority in public health rejected the proposal of the US academics, there is nothing strange with that, US problems and priorities are not the world problems and priorities.

Seems here the global authority experts of the US say it is a world problem, hence the title of the article. Contradicting your personal opinion.

Do you have anything to contradict the expertise of the professionals that conform the panel? obviously a nameless person on the internet trying to contest the valid appeal to authority of the WHO is not an argument, it is not even an excuse.

See above comment, and this article in general , where professionals contradict the WHO agency panel.

Well, at least you understand the issue as a whole now.

Allen,

So I have managed to successfully cut out bread, pasta, ramen, and white rice...

Cutting out these carbs has been the best thing I've done for my health along with giving up smoking.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Don't eat anything SoraNews writes about. (Don't be me)

That is not something that automatically applies all over the world, other countries can still have many other things to try first before failing so spectacularly as the US did

The experts in this article have a different, and scientifically sound view:

*Fixing global childhood obesity epidemic*

Not at all, it is precisely the global authority that is sounding the alarm for this and many other public health problems and how to solve them.

No, a US global health authority is sounding the alarm here:

*The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has described five broad categories of social determinants of health.*

Again trying to spam completely off topic things that are not even related to the article? that repeatedly had your comments deleted.

A source that proves your personal claim wrong is not spam.

You're just being a troll. You challenge posters for sources. Here's another that contradicts you.

You're just trolling everyone here when they prove you wrong.

No--I had the same interpretation from your other post.

But you were completely unable to argue how this is the case, that means you accepted this is a complete misrepresentation you made, else you would have used any argument.

Seems here the global authority experts of the US say it is a world problem, hence the title of the article. Contradicting your personal opinion

The problems and priorities of the US are not the same as the rest of the world, in this article is very clear that there are many tools that can be used agains obesity so immediately pretending only drugs can solve the problem (a last resort the terrible crisis in the US requires) is not valid. Other countries in the world are still in much better shape, no expert have said drugs are necessary for all the different populations.

See above comment, and this article in general , where professionals contradict the WHO agency panel.

False, the WHO is part of the global authorities that consider obesity in children a serious problem, the claim that this can only be solved with drugs do not come from the experts, it comes from you.

The experts in this article have a different, and scientifically sound view:

The claim that obesity can only be fixed with drugs is yours, no expert in any

No, a US global health authority is sounding the alarm here:]

Still a false characterization, can you prove any US health authority can force any other country to follow their rules? if not you are accepting there is no such thing as a US global health authority.

A source that proves your personal claim wrong is not spam.

A source that has absolutely no relevance to the artcle and that have made your comments repeatedly deleted when you spam it definetely is off topic.

What part of the source says the problem of child obesity in general can only be solved with drugs? no part? that is where this is irrelevant.

a US global health authority

At this point I need to ask: Do you know what "global" means? Want to look it up again, just to be safe?

Do you know what "global" means?

Easy! Obviously, it means "shaped like a globe". This is a state you can find yourself in if you feed yourself too many SoraNews recommendations without exerting yourself more than walking to the front door to receive your ice cream fondue pizza. Feeding trolls is also not recommended, but their health will not be impacted as sound arguments are good for the brain and carb-free!

This is a state you can find yourself in if you feed yourself too many SoraNews recommendations without exerting yourself more than walking to the front door to receive your ice cream fondue pizza.

Yucky wucky! You see, that kind of vile ghastly cuisine foodstuffs can cause obesity which can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and an early death.

But you were completely unable to argue how this is the case, that means you accepted this is a complete misrepresentation you made, else you would have used any argument.

Looks like when someone affirmatively proves you wrong, you resort to this non sequitur, the tool of a troll.

At this point I need to ask: Do you know what "global" means? Want to look it up again, just to be safe?

Happy to help you understand this. The US based CDC, for example, is a global health authority. Why? Well, let:'s let the CDC break it down to you:

CDC helps other countries build capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to their health threats through our work.

https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/strategy/default.htm

Easy to comprehend, isn't it? Or, do you want to try and contradict what the CDC does at a global level?

The claim that obesity can only be fixed with drugs is yours,

Yet, how come in a previous article you were saying exercise and diet are not as effective as drugs???

The article is about how lifestyle changes become more difficult and less successful for the purpose of losing weight, this is precisely what the new drugs help with.

You forgot which account you were posting from or something?

CDC helps other countries

You realize there's a difference between helping other countries and having authority in those countries? Because the latter the CDC does not.

I was not facetious when I asked you to look up what "global" means. It has more than one meaning, in this case this one is pertinent:

global, adjective:

2. relating to or encompassing the whole of something, or of a group of things.

That's what the FDA and the CDC mean when they say they are "global authorities in the US". It does not mean that they are world-wide authorities, it means they are the authority for all the US.

And nowhere else.

You realize there's a difference between helping other countries and having authority in those countries? Because the latter the CDC does not.

Where did I ever write the CDC as "having authority"?

I wrote that the CDC is a global health authority.

You realize there is a difference between having authority and being an authority?

I was not facetious when I asked you to look up what "global" means. It has more than one meaning, in this case this one is pertinent:

Why look up just the world "global" when I used it to describe a health authority?

The CDC is. health authority, as a leader in the field of medicine, it has worldwide offices. It helps people in other countries. It's a global health authority by the fact of what it actually does. On their site they write:

CDC helps other countries build capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to their health threats through our work.

Would those other countries allow a non-health authority to help them prevent, detect, and respond to health threats? Yes? Why?No? Then you accept the CDC is a global health authority.

You realize there is a difference between having authority and being an authority?

What a weird hill to die on.

You realize there's a difference between helping other countries and having authority in those countries? Because the latter the CDC does not.

According to your definition the WHO is not a global health authority because it has no authority in any countries:

* the International Health Regulations (IHR) – *does not grant the WHO inspection, policing or enforcement powers against its member States. 

https://cil.nus.edu.sg/the-world-health-organization-and-covid-19-how-much-legal-authority-does-the-who-really-have-to-manage-the-pandemic-by-dr-ayelet-berman/

Looks like that does it for your "arguments"--whatever they were.