Let's Help Our Children

Those who know me well know that I’m not the most politically correct person. This gets me in trouble sometime, but at least you know where you stand with me and where I stand on issues. Today I’m going to talk about obesity in children in the good ole USA.

I was listening to Fox Talk yesterday, yes one of my favorite stations and heard about the city of New York banning bake sales in public schools citing obesity in children as the reason. First of all I thought this was CRAP! Bake sales aren’t the problem, McDonald's isn’t the problem, Taco Bell isn’t the problem, Coke isn’t the problem and school lunches or the school system isn’t the problem. So who is?
First and for most, THE PARENTS! It is a parent’s responsibility to teach their children good nutritional habits. You might say, most parents don’t know anything about nutrition. That would be a correct assumption, but there is a big Internet out there, i.e. the World Wide Web. Learn something about proper nutrition! There are plenty of resources, research and learn. Aren’t your children worth it?

Now this open up another can of worms, parents. What if the parent is obese? I hear this all the time in my profession. I have been fat all my life. My parents were fat and their parents were fat. First of all, research has proven that a very small percentage of obese people inherit this trait. The bottom line is this. Obese people eat too much unhealthy food and they don’t exercise, period!

The blame game. We live in a society where people don’t take personal responsibility. They want to make excuses and blame someone else for their short comings. Here is my take on this. Take personal responsibility for yourself and your children. NO EXCUSES! Well, fast food is making our kids fat. Don’t let them eat fast food Mom and Dad. We are too busy to cook at home, we have to eat out. You are too busy then. Get your priorities right! What’s more important, your children or your job? I know, I know, you have to work to provide for your family. Again, get your priorities right and quit making EXCUSES!

Childhood obesity is a big problem and can’t be solved over night, but the bottom line is this. It starts in the home. It is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children how to make good food choices and to model this behavior. You become what environment you live in. If you grow eating unhealthy food, you will be unhealthy and fat. If you grow up eating quality nutritious food and you exercise and work hard, you will grow up healthy and lean. That’s it in a nut shell. Eat crap and don’t exercise = fat and unhealthy, Eat nutritious foods and exercise = lean and healthy. It’s not as hard as people make it.

Take personal responsibility, quit blaming and NO EXCUSES!

Scott Hines Sr. EdM, C.S.C.S. RKC II
Pro Performance Inc.
www.pro-performance.net