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Citing Obesity of Children, County Bans Fast-Food Toys

MrVicchio said:
I'm just dubious as to a medical condition that has McDonald's as a solution. (to get them to eat). A friend of mine, her son was autistic and she for the longest time claimed he'd only eat Mc'Ds. Finally her son starting get really fat and she found a different more healthy solution.
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As the doctor said "I would prefer he eat healthy, but really, he just needs to eat high calorie food." So I took the advice. His medication harms his appetite and he is frighteningly thin and underweight for his height.

You can find his picture in the Bar if you wish to see for yourself.

Now you will notice that I am not being a jerk to you, please afford me the same respect.
 
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NoJingoLingo said:
Advertising works. Kids see the advertising and badger their parents and in case you don't have children, they can really get on your last nerve. :lol: When you're tired and cranky, sometimes you give in. Some will call it bad parenting, maybe it is, maybe there is a reason for that beyond simply being a "bad parent". Maybe we don't teach people how to be good parents and instead we simply allow any 2 people with genitalia to reproduce without any instruction on child rearing. Like how to cope with these situations without abuse or relinquishing authority.
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I have two sons, but they're both under three. Neither of them are old enough to understand that a Happy Meal would come with a toy.

I realize that sometimes advertising works, but having a toy in the Happy Meal is not going to be a parent's main reason for going to McDs. The most likely reason a parent will go to a fast food place will be because they just don't feel like cooking or it's a convenient place to stop for lunch/dinner while they're out running errands. If their child is with them, then they will get the child something to eat too. Most likely they will get that child a kid's meal, because they're kid sized meals and they're relatively cheap, although a regular combo would give them more food for the dollar.

If you have anything that could actually prove that not having a toy in the Happy Meal could actually show a significant reduction in parents going to McDs with their children, then you might have a reason for removing the toy. But I don't think that is what is really going on here. I think that some people just felt they needed something to blame for childhood obesity, and they chose to blame fast food restaurants' kids meals.
 
This CNBC special premiers May 18th.

"One nation, overweight"

News Headlines

Anyone plan on watching? I think this discussion would go deeper with more information/exposure.

Obesity is an American epidemic, much like AIDS is an epidemic in Africa.
 
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No - I don't buy into calling obesity an "epidemic" - it's just widespread gluttony and/or ignorance. The majority of obese-cases are self-inflicted/inflicted by a parent. You cannot breath the air, drink the water, fail to wash your hands and catch obesity.
It is not spread through contaminated foods or by vermin or insect, either.

It is not an epidemic.

Epidemics are diseases and conditions - like Cholera, AIDS, Yellow Fever, the Black Plague, Tuberculosis . . . on and on that list goes.

Please do not call it an epidemic - even if the # of people who are obese measure up to the # of people who've died of a contagious disease, they are still no where near comparable in any way, fashion or form.
 
Goldenboy219 said:
This CNBC special premiers May 18th.

"One nation, overweight"

News Headlines

Anyone plan on watching? I think this discussion would go deeper with more information/exposure.

Obesity is an American epidemic, much like AIDS is an epidemic in Africa.
Click to expand...






Once you have the hiv, you can't fix it... Being a sloth, because your parents are sloths, is not a disease.
 
Goldenboy219 said:
This CNBC special premiers May 18th.

"One nation, overweight"

News Headlines

Anyone plan on watching? I think this discussion would go deeper with more information/exposure.

Obesity is an American epidemic, much like AIDS is an epidemic in Africa.
Click to expand...

I plan on watching it if I can remember to.


Aunt Spiker said:
No - I don't buy into calling obesity an "epidemic" - it's just widespread gluttony and/or ignorance. The majority of obese-cases are self-inflicted/inflicted by a parent. You cannot breath the air, drink the water, fail to wash your hands and catch obesity.
It is not spread through contaminated foods or by vermin or insect, either.

It is not an epidemic.

Epidemics are diseases and conditions - like Cholera, AIDS, Yellow Fever, the Black Plague, Tuberculosis . . . on and on that list goes.

Please do not call it an epidemic - even if the # of people who are obese measure up to the # of people who've died of a contagious disease, they are still no where near comparable in any way, fashion or form.
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I think there are American societal contributions that give an impression that obesity is an epidemic. The copious amounts of fast-foot restaurants, and the horrible school lunch systems. These are ingrained the in society, along with misinformation. This combination might be easy for the DP membership to solve, and not allow our own children and our own lives to be ruined by a poor diet, but I would not say that DP is a good cross-section of the United States population. I would say that there is a large percentage of the population who is incapable, either through non-understanding, or sheer stupidity, of ensuring a quality diet.



I do, however, think the terminology of "epidemic" just acknowledges the exponential movement of obesity in American society. It is not trying to say that obesity is a disease. However, it doesn't have to be disease to move like a disease. I prefer the term "social epidemic".
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
Yes, because NOT OVER-EATING and EXERCISING is so hard to come by. :lamo
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I think Obamacare should provide personal trainers for poor people, it's only fair. What sort of society are we anyways?
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
Once you have the hiv, you can't fix it... Being a sloth, because your parents are sloths, is not a disease.
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By that reasoning Malaria would not be considered a disease.
 
Mach said:
By that reasoning Malaria would not be considered a disease.
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Why not?

I'm not seeing the line of connection between his statement and your statement.
 
jamesrage said:
It looks like the food police is getting more idiotic. Toys do not make kids obese, Kids eating fast food does not make kids fat. It is kids not exercising that makes kids obese and weak willed parents who can not tell their kids no or to go outside and play that make kids obese.



A Ban on Toys With Fast-Food Meals for Children - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — It was not a happy day for the Happy Meal.
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In what it described as a blow against the fattening temptations of fast food, the board of supervisors in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, voted Tuesday to ban the promotional toys that often accompany child-size portions of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets if those meals don’t meet certain nutritional standards.

The criteria, which are based on federal standards and recommendations from the nonprofit Institute of Medicine, would apply to all fast-food restaurants giving away toys in meals in-tended for children. Ken Yeager, the board president, said the new law would level “the playing field by taking away the incentive to choose fatty, sugary foods over healthier options.”

“What we’re trying to do is de-link the connection between unhealthy food and toys,” said Mr. Yeager, who added that he believed children chose their meals based on the giveaway that came with it. “Why would a kid say ‘I want a burger with fries’? It’s the toys that they want.”

The law, the first of its kind, will allow restaurants to give away toys as long as the meals don’t contain excessive calories, sodium, sugar or fat. “This ordinance does not attack toys,” Mr. Yeager said just before the board passed the law by a 3-2 vote. “Toys, in and of themselves, do not make children obese.”
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this is just stupid. don't happy meals come with apples and milk?
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Why not?

I'm not seeing the line of connection between his statement and your statement.
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RevH said:
Once you have the hiv, you can't fix it
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Malaria is a disease and is fixable.



And to your assessment that it's nothing like other disease, that's not so black and white either.

HIV:
People naturally want to have lots of unprotected sexual contact
Engaging in this behavior can result in an HIV infection
HIV can lead to all sorts of diseases that cost taxpayers millions because our health care services are partially socialized.

Obesity.
People naturally want to eat lots of calories and not exercise
Engaging in this behavior can result in obesity
Obesity can lead to all sorts of diseases that cost taxpayers millions because our health care services are partially socialized.

I AM concerned about labeling it a disease meaning it's just another thing I get to pay for as a taxpayer. But since I'm already paying for the consequences, if it's cheaper to pay for prevention I'm for it. We also have the moral hazard of making it "OK" for all those over-eaters because now they will say "see, it's a disease, I can't control it", which is BS, because obviously it is almost entirely controllable with simple behavior.

Once it's classified as a disease, taxpayers pick up the burden of managing it. Is that overall less costly to me, the taxpayer? I don't know, but I do hate paying for other peoples problems. It aggravates me to no end. But then, I'm ideal height and weight and I eat until full and barely exercise (20 min per day). Does that cloud my perspective? Probably.

I perfer to have individuals pay for their own issues, otherwise, the system breaks down.
 
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:lol: I see how you correlated.... change HIV to, uhm cancer..... Thanks.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
:lol: I see how you correlated.... change HIV to, uhm cancer..... Thanks.
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Done.
Lung cancer.
#1 risk factor smoking.

I agree in sentiment, but it's too weak of an argument to hold up.
 
A child will see the Toy and pester his parent/s for that Toy, the child does not realise that the Toy is an incentive for the child to badger the parent into purchasing the 'food'.
So yes it is primarily the parent who needs to say NO.
It is also the parents responsibility to provide nutricious, interesting, good tasting and healthy food to the child.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
Yes, because NOT OVER-EATING and EXERCISING is so hard to come by. :lamo
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if you have grown up with parents who know nothing about nutrition they cannot pass on information about good nutrition
if you have grown up on a diet of non-nutritious foods because that is what your parents provided for you, then you eat what is available
by the time you reach an age of awareness where you learn that your eating habits are poor, you are then obese ... and still dependent on the non-nutritious foods provided at home

from your posts, it would seem that you believe people are born with the knowledge and the means to live well, right out of the birth canal
 
justabubba said:
if you have grown up with parents who know nothing about nutrition they cannot pass on information about good nutrition
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They didn't, I had a mom who put butter in on everything and a father who lived on steak and potatos, somehow I made it.



if you have grown up on a diet of non-nutritious foods because that is what your parents provided for you, then you eat what is available
by the time you reach an age of awareness where you learn that your eating habits are poor, you are then obese ... and still dependent on the non-nutritious foods provided at home
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Neither of my parents nor was I fat..... :shrug:



from your posts, it would seem that you believe people are born with the knowledge and the means to live well, right out of the birth canal
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I think people are smart enough to know when you can't see your wee wee anymore, your too fat. :shrug:
 
Goldenboy219 said:
While it really is just spit in a bucket, it's on the right track. Junk food addiction is a serious problem for future generations of America. The result of such indulgence is well.... rather embarrassing.

Something interesting:

Junk Food 'Addiction' May Be Real - Yahoo! News
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Part of the problem is we are biologically programmed to seek out foods like junk food because they are high calorie foods that give lots of short term energy. We eat the same way we tried to when we were still primates but we use less than a fraction of the energy we consume and thus we get fat.
 
MacDonalds and Burger King and KFC meant my mom didn't have to cook for a bunch of kids maybe one day a week . And no dishes to wash. Although we kids washed the dishes.

There is nothing better for children to eat than a double whopper with cheese, onion rings, and a chocolate shake. If they throw in a toy it will bring them joy. :)
 
StandUpChuck said:
As a responsible parent, I am tired of paying the price for irresponsible and moronic breeders. My son has been to McDonald's once, and he didn't like it. Sure the ads probably got him interested, but it's up to *me* to say no. :naughty Fortunately, I've made sure he's had good food all his life, so when he tasted that crap, he didn't want to finish it. And guess what? It was probably a lot less expensive all these years for me to cook for him.
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Exactly. There is a reason my children (ages 5 and 6) prefer Subway to McDonald's. We (Daddy and Mommy) eat that and from a young age, our girls did too. Not only do they like it, we eat it after our Wednesday evening runs on the track. Why can't other parents wake up and raise their own children rather than have the nanny state raise their own in addition to mine???
 
ludahai said:
Why can't other parents wake up and raise their own children rather than have the nanny state raise their own in addition to mine???
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To play devil's advocate: Not everyone has the time or money to make the ideal choices.

Working two and sometimes three jobs means that often a homecooked meal simply is too costly in terms of time and energy. Also, for what I'd pay to make a good homecooked dinner, I could probably get one or two meals at McDonalds. This means if my budget is limited, my choices are limited.

A lot of the reason people GO to McDonalds or KFC or Jack in the Box is it's the most economical choice to make, if not the healthiest choice.
 
Hoplite said:
To play devil's advocate: Not everyone has the time or money to make the ideal choices.

Working two and sometimes three jobs means that often a homecooked meal simply is too costly in terms of time and energy. Also, for what I'd pay to make a good homecooked dinner, I could probably get one or two meals at McDonalds. This means if my budget is limited, my choices are limited.

A lot of the reason people GO to McDonalds or KFC or Jack in the Box is it's the most economical choice to make, if not the healthiest choice.
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I save money by not getting fast food - the argument that fast food is affordable food is bull. I can serve up a yummy, healthy meal for $5.00 for my entire family of 6.

Same thing with time. When I'm taking a full semester of classes I cook only one day a week - Saturday. I spend the entire day pre-cooking meals so when it comes time to have dinner on Wednesday all I have to do is thaw or bake.
 
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