tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post111516659583566666..comments2023-11-30T03:44:34.585-05:00Comments on Opinions Nobody Asked For: An Attempt At More Regular BloggingJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11683622475941901572noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115304597363543572005-05-05T10:49:00.000-04:002005-05-05T10:49:00.000-04:00As a clarification, I'm not saying the state shoul...As a clarification, I'm not saying the state should accept responsibility for that. Obviously, as you said, I was the one pushing the buttons. But I wouldn't have pushed the buttons if there were no buttons to push. I still say simply reducing availability would be step 1.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06383789548221247888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115304443413715422005-05-05T10:47:00.000-04:002005-05-05T10:47:00.000-04:00Exaggerated, sure. I don't think it's an epidemic ...Exaggerated, sure. I don't think it's an epidemic at all. However, I couldn't help but notice when I was in Europe how easy it was to pick out many of the Americans, not by the stereotypical tourist tell-tale signs, but by their stomachs. Jeff, having also been recently, would probably concur.<BR/><BR/>Pierce, you make a good point. I bought tons of sodas and snacks from those vending machines. I was also known to get lunches in middle school that consisted of only french fries. That's exactly the problem I'm talking about. Of course it starts at home, but in the end, kids are out of their parents' hands for half of the day.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06383789548221247888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115299261177344632005-05-05T09:21:00.000-04:002005-05-05T09:21:00.000-04:00Another thing to keep in mind is this obesity "epi...Another thing to keep in mind is this obesity "epidemic" has been <A HREF="http://consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm?article=161" REL="nofollow">widely exagerated</A><BR/><BR/>- miguelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115225917377484472005-05-04T12:58:00.000-04:002005-05-04T12:58:00.000-04:00Completely anecdotally, I almost always brought my...Completely anecdotally, I almost always brought my lunch at TJ, and I never had a lot of junk food or beverages at home (and indeed, "moderation" was just about every other word out of my Mom's mouth). But what did get me was the availability of caffeinated drinks, especially the Surge machine. I've been drinking copious amounts of soda ever since.<BR/><BR/>I accept responsiblity for my decisions, I was the one hitting the buttons on the vending machine, but I'm at least one example of someone with every reasonable good-parenting stimulus, who nevertheless took the unhealthy response.<BR/><BR/>- pierceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115225128372218582005-05-04T12:45:00.000-04:002005-05-04T12:45:00.000-04:00Miguel describes, and Jeff hints at, the "Bernard ...Miguel describes, and Jeff hints at, the "Bernard Effect", which refers to the fact that card-playing did not become popular in medieval Europe until Saint Bernard toured the continent decrying it as gambling.<BR/><BR/>There is definitely a problem with the availability of healthy food at public schools. As everyone on this comments list so far is a TJ grad, I'm sure we all remember the crap they served in the lunch lines - and that's a well-off school district. The country needs to decide just how much we want to devote ourselves to the welfare of our children, and commit to doing so.<BR/><BR/>However, I would emphasize the observation that healthy diet habits begin at the home. I know it's trendy and easy to blame parents for everything, but if they don't start taking some responsibility in nourishing their children, they're dooming them. Not having a solution to propose, I say this ignoring the fact that many parents are struggling so much to make ends meet that they simply don't have time.<BR/><BR/>Child obesity is a problem, but it needs to be attacked from all angles at once. In this case, it's certainly not the government's job to tell people what they should eat, but they can limit the availability of unhealthy foods by, say, removing vending machines. Or, if they need a cash cow, sell something healthy in those vending machines. When kids get hungry, they'll eat anything.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06383789548221247888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115220188312825652005-05-04T11:23:00.000-04:002005-05-04T11:23:00.000-04:00Yes, legislation will work to help keep kids away ...Yes, legislation will work to help keep kids away from junk food. Like it has with cigarettes, drugs, gambling, prostitution, pornography ............ oh wait.<BR/><BR/>- miguelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115174601231122562005-05-03T22:43:00.000-04:002005-05-03T22:43:00.000-04:00I think it's fair to put some responsibility on th...I think it's fair to put some responsibility on the state for keeping kids healthy, when it already accepts (nay, requires) the responsibility for babysitting them five days a week in order to educate them.<BR/><BR/><I>Super Size Me</I> was pretty blatant propaganda with some spurious arguments, but one of the good ones was that kids can barely <I>get</I> healthy food in a lot of public schools, even if they <I>want</I> to eat healthy. If the state is deciding what food to make available in an institution that they <I>require</I> kids to go to, then they are accountable for the health of those kids to some significant extent.<BR/><BR/>- pierceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-1115167519639859092005-05-03T20:45:00.000-04:002005-05-03T20:45:00.000-04:00The N&O's article is here.I admit that I skipped o...The N&O's article is <A HREF="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/2368905p-8746924c.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>.<BR/><BR/>I admit that I skipped over a major issue - whether it's really the state's responsibility to keep kids healthy. Shouldn't parents be doing that? I would argue, though, that the state will be paying for parents' neglect down the line, when Medicaid and Medicare will have to correct for childhood gastronomic indiscretions. So the state has a vested interest in preventive medicine (which is what this bill is).Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11683622475941901572noreply@blogger.com