Childhood obesity campaign--what do you think?

This is an anti-obesity campaign from the state of Georgia designed to address childhood obesity.  What do you think?  I have some pretty strong but mixed feelings about this and want to hear your opinions........
http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/0103/georgias-controver sial-anti-childhood-obesity-campaign-helpful-or-hurtful.aspx ?xid=aol_eh-news_4_20120102_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cn etscape%7Cdl6%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D124568

The internet is full of good stuff today!
Top 10 Food Label Tricks to Avoid in 2012  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-davis-phd/food-labels _b_1173411.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cnetscape%7Cdl10%7Csec1_ln k3%26pLid%3D124542
10 Weight Loss Resolutions to Skip This Year:   http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight-pictures/weight-loss-re solutions-to-skip-this-year.aspx?xid=aol_eh-diet_1_20120102_ &aolcat=EFG&icid=maing-grid7%7Cnetscape%7Cdl15%7Csec1_lnk3%2 6pLid%3D124663#/slide-1

this may be a bit harsh- but i like the idea that Georgia is putting out there. Yeah it may be rude, but lets be honest, as adults we needed a rough shake to realize how being overweight affects us. i would do anything to prevent my future children from having to go trough the years of misery, pain and ridicule that i went through...

its a wake up call for children and parents!

Both helpful and hurtful.

This is an epidemic!  It takes a hard message to turn this ship around.  That being said, this does raise all the side bar issues of how do you fix a society that suck into every stimulus out there hawking everything unhealthy from the Big  Mac to Pizza Rolls.  Then there is the politics of it.  How many conservatives attacked Michelle Obama for her campaign to bring this issue to the fore front.  Come on, for crying sake, tackling childhood obesity should be a no-brainer!  The only debate is how to do it most effectively.

We also have conservative factions that will spend untold money to push the Right to Life agenda.  I'm cool with that so don't take that as criticism of that position because for the most part I agree with it.  (If you want to attack me because I believe in some specific cases where there should be latitude...you are missing my over arching point.)  But, a large portion of those same folks don't think beyond the birth and support fiscal conservative principles that would say the government has no business in personal affairs like this.  They will say money needed  to be spent by the government to put on a full court press to end this epidemic is not what government should do.  In essence, they support the right to be born and oppose the right to a dignified passing but in between...your on your own baby. 

There is a fairly simple $ and cents part of this debate.  Even insurance companies pay money up front for things like WLS to reduce their overall health costs.  If that wasn't the case, this site wouldn't exist.  A full court press on this issue could do the same thing. 

This kind of campaign needs to be targeted at care givers, not children. 

I haven't read it, will later for sure.

I'm all for education, I'm all for overhauling the schools' so called "healthy" meals since they are already a socialist institution (they are, sorry and I'm ok with only schools) so we get to tell them what to do.

I don't know what is in there so all this is off the top of my own head.

1. I will never agree with any regulations on us as a people to compell parents on how to parent their kids with regards to food. Yes there are stupid parents but rules don't change that, they only punish those who follow rules.

2. I have always taken the stance with my own kids to downplay the stress of food and talk about healthy choices. It's a hard battle but I REFUSE to use weight as a punishment for food. IE: I was raised that everytime I picked up something unhealthy, I was told it would make me fat. BAD thing to do. If my kids pick up something unhealthy I say things like "that's not a good choice right now, pick something else" or "you need to focus on moderation and portions, and not eat the entire bag".

3. Allow alternatives for exercise. My son once had to do a chart of his exercise outside of school. In addition to riding his bike 2 miles everyday, he included our Wii Fit and was docked points. WTH?

That's my short version

 I think a good ad would say... "Hey kids !!  Tell mom and dad to start feeding you right because you don't want your ass to be wider than their flat screen tv". 
Kids are fat because parents teach them their eating habits, plain and simple. 

I hear what you are saying, but I don't think it's entirely fair to make such a blanket statement.  Yes, many (maybe most) children who are obese are obese because their parents taught them poor eating habits.  Perhaps another way to put it is that they failed to teach them good eating habits and/or failed to intervene when their child became close to overweight.

But we should all know by know that obesity is more complex than that.  For example, my son is a very picky eater and honestly doesn't eat much at all.  He isn't overweight technically according to his pediatrician, but he is a *****unky-ish. He's just three so, we are being very diligent in ensuring everything he does eat is healthy - whole foods is the focus.  My daughter on the other hand eats everything and anything in sight. (She's just 1 1/2, so this list includes playdough.  Eek!)  She is very thin - still withing normal ranges for her age and height but on cusp over being a bit too thin. My children clearly have different builds and different metabolisms. Both are very active and we don't allow either to watch TV yet.    

I know that's just an anecdote, so it doesn't really say much ...  but I just wanted to share the perspective that there are genetic and other biological components to obesity.  So it isn't fair to say all kids who are fat have their parents to blame. 

Having said that, I am all for anything that will get parents to become more involved in their children's lives and make educated choices about how to raise their family.  

Just my two cents! :)

Interesting topic and one close to my heart - great thread!

 I see what you are saying... my point is, that parents buy the food in the house and choose what to buy and what to serve their kids.  How many people do you know that see McDonald's as a reasonable place to take kids to eat ?  How many do you know that don't ?  I know more who do than don't...
The conveniences of fast food play a huge part in the epidemic, especially when so many families have two parents working and not  having the time to prepare healthy foods daily. The first thing we WL patients learn is that fast food and soda are EVIL and to be avoided... I know that I ate a lot and never thought twice about feeding it to my son as a single working mother.  I wish I had known then what I know now... 
You are lucky that your kids are so young that you can teach them what you have learned on this journey and they may not have the same issues.  I know their chances are greater than most children's. 

I liked the ad!  I didn't find it offensive, I actually found it rather touching.  I don't think any parent could watch that and not want to reach out to that sweet child asking the sincere question "mom, why am I fat?"  I hope it does make parents really look at their own children and think of how they would answer that question.

I know the concern is that this could increase the stigma against fat and increase teasing or bullying...  I'm not sure that would be the result of this ad.  I know bullying is an issue and a very serious one, but I don't think we are doing anyone any favors by trying to tip-toe around this deadly health crisis.    Perhaps talking about it more openly would even reduce the stigma.  I'm not an expert in bullying, though, so I'm not sure my opinion is correct on this issue.

I skimmed the article but didn'****ch the video.

This is my family we're talking about. My 11 year old niece weighs more than my 18 year old son. She has both an enormous stomach capacity and a full blown food addiction. To make matters worse, her very large father died suddenly Nov. 30.

How do you treat an addicted child?

She is literally the crossroads of nature vs nurture. We have pictures of her that show she has been large from babyhood.

I love her dearly. I know how she feels when she eats. I know why she eats. I just don't know how to help her.