genes have changed much over 3 or 4 decades, so the other obesity suspects are changes in the environment that lead to weight gain, and here the list of culprits is tediously long and obvious: TV, computers, computer games, cars and elevators, schools that long ago abandoned any attempt to keep kids active, parents who don’t believe it’s as important to get kids to play actively as it is to keep kids doing extra schoolwork, “low-fat” foods and drinks, portion expansion, too many unhealthy food choices, an incredible recent reliance on eating out and eating prepared foods, and on and on.
.....No other way to see it, really: we’re killing our kids softly, or rather by being too soft on them and letting them get too soft as a consequence.
.....But before I begin to sound too much like a fogey or a Luddite, let me quickly say that most of those changes have also provided wonderful gains to life (I have absolutely no idea, for example, how I would get along without my Blackberry, which has replaced my wife as my main squeeze; well, for a start, my Blackberry never needs reassurance that it’s not too fat, and it never keeps me waiting while it puts on make-up), so since we’re never going to get rid of the changes that have taken place, what we have to do instead is work with them, or more specifically work within the restrictions those “advances” have produced.
.....And as Bob Dylan wrote about God’s instructions to Abraham, “Yes, it can be easily done”. We produced the problem, and we can solve the problem, although I certainly wouldn’t rely on the old Canadian stand-by of letting the government do it for us. I mean, just look at what the government has done with the justice system (that’s an oxymoron, by the way) and the passport renewal fiasco.
.....Rather, let me suggest that the solution start at home. If you live a healthy lifestyle, study after study shows your kids will, too.
.....And I offer my family as living proof. My sons are both very active adults (they got that from their mother), they are both very healthy eaters (from mom, too), they drink alcohol sparingly (mom again), and they have never smoked (ditto).
.....And what did I contribute to them, you ask. I was smart enough to marry their mom.
Dr. Art Hister can be heard on CKNW and other Corus Radio Network stations on House Calls on Saturdays at 10 AM, as well as seen on Global TV news on Saturday mornings at 9:20. |
|
|
WHERE PEOPLE COME
FIRST