Around the nation, jungle gyms creak under the weight of a chubby youth. Our nation is facing a childhood-obesity epidemic that will make the present heart disease rate look paltry. And what are we doing about it? We're blaming Ronald McDonald for making our kids fat. It's ridiculous, and it's time parents get the guts to control their children.
The first place we can start is the cereal aisle. Nearly every cartoon character ever created now has its own cereal. It's brilliant marketing—a 4–year-old will eat cardboard if it looks like SpongeBob. Regardless of the ethics of such marketing, the real problem is the mom who doesn't have the guts to tell her screaming child no.\
Ironically, these grocery store tantrums mirror those commonly seen at Toys ‘R' Us, and this leads me to the next problem: Today's kids pick toys over balls. Blame Xbox if you like, but any way you look at it, our 8-year-olds get as much physical
activity as our 80-year-olds. Hey, mom, imagine the athlete your kid could be if he used that tantrum-throwing energy on the soccer field.
If you still blame junk-food ads, think back to tee ball. Every game was followed by a trip to Dairy Queen, or maybe a big greasy hot dog. See, you can let your kid have his damn sugary cereal if you just get him off his butt once in a while.
Things will only get worse as these kids get older. If their parents have no control, how can their kids learn self-control? We'll see the birth of the Freshman Fifty.
Yet somehow parents of today's obese youth remain unconcerned. A 2000 survey by the American Obesity Association found that parents ranked drugs, violence and sex as greater risks to their children than obesity. Funny, since one in three kids today are overweight or obese. With this number increasing, heart disease and other obesity-related afflictions are sure to kill far more of these kids than gangs and crack overdoses.
Don't get me wrong—it's wrong that food marketing pollutes the diets of our children. But it is not all-powerful. Media effects research has shown that the easiest way to reduce the influence of TV ads is to discuss the content with kids.
Indeed, parents are the strongest force in a child's life. Parents need to start giving kids a firm base to overcome the effects of unhealthy food marketing. Help them learn to like health foods, teach self-control by not giving into tantrums and show them how much fun a good game of tag can be.
I hate to preach ""traditional family values,"" but let's face it: No one in ""Leave it to Beaver"" was fat.
E-mail Jay with your own thoughts on this issue at storey@wisc.edu.\
