Natural. You are an ancient seraphim. How could you not be jealous before the plumpy little ones?Originally Posted by Ecurb
Natural. You are an ancient seraphim. How could you not be jealous before the plumpy little ones?
I think you hit the nail on the head. When I was a kid there were almost zero fat children around. We used to get out from school and then me and my best friend or a group of friends would go out into the forest or to the beach or on our bikes and simply enjoy being active outside. Then when I was about 11 or 12 years old gaming technology took a large leap forward and computers became common and instead of going outside after school we'd sit in front of a screen.
Your other point is spot on as well. Parents these days are afraid to let their children out of their sight. When I was a kid we would roam far and wide, hike or bike for hours. We'd take row boats out into the sea. Nowadays I almost never see children outside. I go for a walk or a run everyday and never encounter a single kid. The river used to be crowded with kids when I was young. Now its ever vacant, except for adults in the summer time. It amazes me how quickly and drastically this shift has occurred.
My generation may have been the last to live as children without overly-anxious parents and almost always before a screen.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
There are still practically no fat children where I'm from. The obesity "epidemic" (doesn't that depreciate the meaning of the word?) hasn't hit the sticks.
__________________
"Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood. The doctors didn't know if my eyes would ever heal."
-Pi
The one silver lining for me with the obesity epidemic is that in the event of a zombie apocalypse fit people like me will have the advantage as the zombies will go for the slower fat people first and all the resultant fat zombies will be easy to outrun.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
I don't have much contact with children, so I'm not overly aware of their obesity problem, but surely obesity is a massive social problem among adults. It's depressing to see the streets full of rambling fatballs who are, for the most part, simply greedy or careless about the amount and type of food they consume. What I find surprising is the lack of self respect shown by people who have ceased to resemble a human being and have taken on the appearance of whales.
A few years ago there was a TV fitness programme in which selected fatties were incarcerated for several weeks in a boot camp under a strictly controlled diet. They were weighed regularly but as they were allowed home at wekends, they usually returned heavier than before. The exercise regime was rigorous but too much for some who simply couldn't do much but wobble around at a snail's pace. The crowning moment of failure came when after splashing around in the pool, they were ordered out, but one man was so huge he actually broke the rungs on the steps and had to be hauled out of the water by the others, where he lay gasping with the effort on the side of the pool. If Captain Ahab had seen him he would have been harpooned immediatly .
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Nice diatribe, Emil. Obesity is (acc. Emil) not a "health problem", but a "social problem". Why? "It's depressing (to Emil) to see... fatballs..."
It's all about you, isn't it Emil?
Yes it is all about me, everywhere I look I see it. But if you live in a sparsely populated region, rather than one of the most heavily populated cities on earth, it's probably not so noticeable.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Poor little baby! So many fat people annoying your sensitive sensibilities!
Here's Henry Vth's take on Emil's infatuation with outward appearances. Henry is dismissing a herald who has offered him terms of surrender:
....Tell the constable
We are but warriors for the working day;
Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirched
With rainy marching in the painful field;
There's not a piece of feather in our host
(Good argument, I hope, we will not fly)
And time hath worn us into slovenry;
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim.
'But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim.'
You have obviously never had a drink in a Wetherspoons pub.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Good one. I'll even grant that when Henry made his "hearts are in the trim" quip, we had yet to discover cholesterol.
Hah, I've never though of the zombie apocalypse in light of modern obesity. Good call. Also, if we become zombies, we'll have more food per kill.
__________________
"Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood. The doctors didn't know if my eyes would ever heal."
-Pi
It's both, although for Emil it seems to be an "aesthetic" problem, and reading Emil's response sent this reader bad vibes without even being obese. Because Emil's hate is toxic and pervades psychic space. Way to make the world a worse place, Emil.
Unless you think a combo of skinny parent/fat kid is likely, then please accept this reader's hypothesis of most likely fat parent-fat kid. So maybe ask "Why fat parent?" Only, do it for real. Don't just say they eat x and don't do y. That's what's happening, not why it's happening.
J
You're missing my point. Parenting, like everything else is a fashion. It simply isn't acceptable to let your kids roam without supervision. While I'm not stating the wrong or the right of it, I am endeavouring to understand it. Both parents if there are two are usually working to pay off a mortgage and other so called luxuries. Call it the Jones' Syndrome if you like. Often they're not home when they kids finish school or they go into out of school care which doesn't promise physical activity so much as more gaming till the parent picks them up. Fast food is more available and cheaper than it has ever been - I'm not saying it's economically cheaper than a home cooked meal but in terms of convenience, it has its advantages for a busy working family and remember it doesn't have to be on the menu every night so your statement letting a kid munch on burgers all day long is likely an exaggeration.
While many parents may have their kids involved in a local sporting or arts club, many don't because the truth is, they're buggered and/or they can't afford it. Add to that the odd point that their generation grew up without such foods which may have had a reverse effect.
Life events which affected them in such a way that they resort to food as a form of comfort and pass this behaviour down to their children e.g the loss of a loved one, child abuse etc. Instead of a poor diet, they could just as well become underweight or resorted to drugs or alcoholism. Obesity is quite often an emotional issue so to be blase about it is because it offends our own senses and we like to think in purely black and white terms when this really isn't the case.
Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb
Which appears to be a serious case of apologetics! (Note that I'm not having a go at you so much as having a go at these oft-stated "reasons" for parents' neglectful behaviour)
Which is a disgraceful attitude. Parenting is a responsibility. Even animals as base as crocodiles understand that their first responsibility is to their offspring. People who put fashion or personal assets & wants in front of their children are an outrage. If you breed it, bring it up properly!
Why not?
As long as they are of an age to be able to understand road and safety rules, there are still very few societies in the western world where kids aren't safe during the day. Far too many parents won't let kids out of their sight because of their own fear, not because there's a real threat to the children. In fact, in the days when every kid has a cellphone, I'd say kids have never been safer.
Kids need boundaries, not shackles, which goes back to my very first comment:
Newsflash: parents are idiots.
Yes, that is a huge issue, but it can be overcome very simply. First off, many after-school care programs are very [physical] activity based. Also, if they're working to gain assets to assuage envy....
... those parents are idiots.
Laziness.
Spend an evening cooking meals for the week and freeze them, or use alternatives that take less time and effort than fast food. A salad is ready in minutes and you don't need to drive to get it, while things like stews & soups can be ready in seconds thanks to microwave ovens.
Even better, if parents use just a molecule of common sense, they can involve their kids in the cook-up, which the kids love, and they learn how to feed themselves.
Win/win.
Instead, lazy, useless parents choose the option of fast food & watching TV, enuring obesity and lack of skills.
Lose/lose.
Those are another two common points, but I must challenge both.
Sports clubs can cost a bit of money, but if a couple is working two jobs, then they ought to be able to afford $50 for a season's sport. If transport is a problem, team parents are usually ready to help out.
The second point is also not right. I can't believe old-fashioned fish & chips, cooked in animal fats, were less fattening than McDonald's. The difference is, what used to be a treat is now the norm.
Those parents are....
Not wanting to minimise those things, but they will be a small minority of cases and aren't relevant to the main issue.
Looksism is rife and fat people are the last bastion of prejudice. I have employers who openly tell me they won't employ fat people.
Go to work, get married, have some kids, pay your taxes, pay your bills, watch your tv, follow fashion, act normal, obey the law and repeat after me: "I am free."
Anon
Your welcome to your point of view Atheist. You obviously know that not wanting to minimise these things so you don't sound like a insensitive person allows you to follow on with the 'fact' that it is the small minority of the people. You know this because based on your fairy tale opinion, most fat people are fat because they choose to be - it's their target weight, there are no issues going on in their lives. Hell they just sit around eating day in day out and to top it off, they actually want their children to be fat so that when their kids go to school, they'll get picked on and teased. That's the majority. So according to you most fat people are informed and have a healthy mind. It's just the minority that have 'stuff' going on and their body fat is the symptom of it.
Bad people, very bad people and to make matters worse, they're breeding more bad people. Where the hell is Hitler when you need him?
Lol.
Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb
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