and this is my fault...how?

[Sofar]

I'm only eighteen and I was allowed to roam free as a child. And the playground de-funinating started a while ago, the playground at my elementry school was built out of timber, steel, and old tractor tires, (so fun!) But halfway into my stay there it was all ripped out and replaced with brightly colored plastic and rubber that was so weak we tore it apart in a year. The monkey bars were only six feet off the ground, the slide was so shallow that you'd stop halfway down if you were wearing jeans, and the swings were the kind with leg holes in them, normally reserved for toddlers but these were meant for fifth graders.

[Bloodsoul]

We didn't have a park across from my house, but we had an old, old cemetary across from the school that was fun to explore, as were the neighboring hills and ponds.

Infact, I can clearly state that the SEGA Genesis ruined my outdoorsy life as a child; yet, even though I own a PS2 now, I rarely play that and never even watch television anymore aside from a movie. Actually, it's this darned computer that's got me trapped inside day after day (oh, if only I didn't need it for my work).

Thankfully the next town is only five miles over, which is fun to walk to since I walk right by Connecticut River, and I've even tried getting some of my D&D pals into doing some LARPing this summer. ^_^

(now if I can just stop going to the ice cream shoppe during my dinner breaks at work every day)

[Andara Bledin]

I wish we'd just stop trying to childproof the world.

Most of us survived the "deathtrap" playgrounds we had as kids, and they were a hell of a whole lot more fun than the cheap sanitized junk kids have available to most of them now.

^-.-^

[AFpheonix]

I think a big part of the problem is kids just aren't going outside to play as much anymore. Hell, if I tried to sit around and just watch TV or play on the computer constantly, my mom would pretty much force me to go outside.

People are soooo scared of everything that's outside that they don't let their kids go out.
Seriously, does anyone here really think that there's more rapists and whatnot running around then there were when we were growing up? No. More like there's more sensationalist news stories about crazy child kidnappers.
Plus, there's more on TV for kids now then there used to be. There really wasn't whole networks devoted to children's programming until cable started getting more popular.

I will also submit that industrializing our food supply to the point that we have today plus larger portions have also taken a toll.

I also suspect that teaching for exams only, not just for overall well rounded knowledge has increased homework loads to silly proportions. Moreover, teaching to exams has cut funding to PE programs and sports programs.

[tollbaby]

What makes kids fat are the parents who put a twinkie in their mouth to shut them up or by them fast food all the time and turn the pantry at home into a sugery wonderland.

My son's teacher has phoned me at work to tell me that she can't believe the variety of healthy foods I send my son for his lunch, and that she wishes other kids would be half as creative in packing their kids' food. *blush* I just grew up with NASTY eating habits because my mom would rarely give us anything to eat that wasn't pre-packaged and loaded with fat and sugar, and I didn't want my kids to grow up the same way. My kids will actually choose fruit or yogurt over cookies or cake, unless it's a special occasion.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't know about more TV for kids.

I agree that there is a lot more TV aimed at kids, but when I was in single-digits, I spent a lot of time watching PBS, including things such as Nova. I hardly ever watched the stuff that's considered "kids programming" when I was a kid.

Foodwise, it's not the portions so much as the nutritional imbalance. We strip the minerals out of the foods when we prepare them, then we half-assed add them back in afterwards, and we end up with incomplete mineral combinations making half of what we take in at least partially wasted.

^-.-^

[MystyGlyttyr]

I dunno, my mom's way was pretty enterprising.

She put the chocolate in the top cabinet and made sure the chairs were too heavy for me to move without making a lot of noise. So, at the age of four, I had to be able to quietly scale six feet of shelves bare-handed, then dangle off with one arm while flailing carefully around the bottles of oil, spice, and flour to get to one freaking fudge bar. THEN, I had to make my way down while still clutching the fudge bar, without making any noise, and then flee somewhere to eat my pilfered chocolate in peace.

[Tanasi]

there i was, minding my own business when...

aw = angry woman
me =

aw: you're fattening america!
me: wha...?
aw: people come here and buy your cookies and get fat. especially kids! how could you sell cookies to children?
me: because they pay for it?
aw: you shouldn't sell cookies to children or overweight people. it's unhealthy
me: um. i can't refuse people just because it's unhealthy. i'd get fired...
aw: you should sacrifice your job for the health of america
me: um?
aw: i hope you're happy
and she walked off. my boss said "what the hell was that?"

You should have looked her up and down and then say "No cookies for you." and then turn your back.

[megami]

Nail on the head! We were in Wal-Mart recently, and the TVs that they have mounted at the checkout were airing some sort of PSA about getting kids outside to play. I looked at my husband, who's the same age as me, and said, "When we were growing up, did kids have to be TOLD to go outside and play?"

i've seen similar commercials on tv when i'm being lazy. they say how much fun playing is and how great the out of doors are. kinda makes me sad.
another thing that makes me sad...we have a pool in my neighborhood that has foot paths from all over the neighbor hood. i have seen so many parents drive their kids to the pool. from down the street. why?!

[Polenicus]

I'm not an expert, I don't have kids, so I honestly can't say where the problem lies. I'm also overweight, but that really didn't start to set in until my early teens.

Anyway, I DO think parenting has gotten severely screwed up in the past few decades. Too much blame shifting (Your fast food restaraunts are making my daughter fat! YOU'RE TO BLAME!), too much fear around what is discipline and what is abuse (You spanked your child! TO ALCATRAZ WITH YOU!!) and too much of this 'New Age' parenting crap, where instead of setting rules and boundaries, they try and explain and negotiate everything (I'm going to just ASSUME that you've got all the moral and rational facilities of an adult RIGHT OUT OF THE WOMB Billy!)

I suspect even GOOD parents feel paralyzed sometimes.

As for getting fat... our culture ACTIVELY discourages physical activity. Physical activity is something you do at the GYM. If you're going to be physically active outside in public, you had damn well already be beautiful and slender! Show me any sort of physical activity in public media today that ALL the participants AREN'T of supermodel physique or better. If you're fat and exercising, even if you just started, you're a FAILURE.

For the rest of you? Drive everywhere. For those places you can't drive? Elevators, escalators and slidewalks. And the rest? Segueways.

[CrazedClerk]

Well back when I was a kid, say late 80s, early 90s, there was no internet, no ipods, only business people carried bulky cellphones, I had a Nintendo, but just my NES that I played maybe an hour or so at most since games were shorter back then. Only about 30 or so channels on the TV.

As a result most of my downtime was spent outside rollerblading, cycling, playing street hockey, playing in parks, swinging on my swingset, swimming, playing tag and other games with the neighborhood kids.

I still love being active and I still cycle, rollerblade, swim, etc. on a regular basis because it keeps me healthy and I enjoy it. It's sad to think I'm the last "pre internet" generation and that from here on out lifespans will be dropping and stuff.

I tell you though, MY kids WILL be active, believe you me. Kids today want to grow up too fast. 10 year olds with cellphones? 12 year olds dressing up like 18 year olds, etc, etc. Let's bring back the days when a kid had a chance to be a kid.