We’re not alone in our childhood obesity epidemic, nor are we the only ones handling it in an odd way, but our solution looks to be of the same instant-gratification no-effort style that is becoming so typical lately. Using surgery to “fix” your fat kid instead of buying them a rubber ball and a swing set will hurt the child far more in the long run than any upset some real discipline in their diet and excercise will cost them.
For decades, the number of kids trying weight-loss surgery has been tiny. The operations themselves were risky, with a death rate of about 1 in 50. Children rarely got that fat, and when they did, pediatricians hesitated to put the developing bodies under the knife. Only 350 U.S. kids had such an operation in 2004, according to federal statistics.
A group of four hospitals, led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, are starting a large-scale study this spring examining how children respond to various types of weight-loss surgery, including the gastric bypass, in which a pouch is stapled off from the rest of the stomach and connected to the small intestine.
Hell, run around outside with them and you’ll get thinner as well.
Jail the parents. If porno in the classroom gives you 40 years in prison, then not providing a balanced diet to your child should give you at least 80 years.
Excuse me but the elephant in this room is, too, too much food period.
A normal person (fat or thin) maintains a Body temperature of 98.6 This is a measure of the body’s ability to generate and get rid of heat and is very good at keeping its temperature within a narrow, safe range.
Point being; aside for energy used other then to produce heat, i.e. growth, everyone uses the same amount of energy, normalized for their given body shape/size. I am tired of people trying to bend the truth and say the problem is a “very low metabolism”, simply bull.
The problem is unlikely “very low metabolism”, instead more likely having an excessive appetite.
The excessive appetite may just be a learned behaviour that needs to be unlearned. That’s the job for the parents, however; it seems to me these parents don’t want to work very hard at parenting. I could be wrong.
http://www.rwc.uc.edu/koehler/biophys/8d.html
#22,
The excessive appetite may just be a learned behaviour that needs to be unlearned. That’s the job for the parents, however; it seems to me these parents don’t want to work very hard at parenting. I could be wrong.
Yes you are wrong. Your premise is that this MAY be the cause then turn around and start blaming the parents for a possibility. I suppose juvenile diabetes or multiple scleroses is also the parents fault because of something they MAY have done.
Although I realize this is only an opinion, you shouldn’t base your opinion on a possibility for condemnation. Simply because we do not know the cause of morbid obesity.
And as for saying it is too much food intake, that is a symptom, not a cause.
#23 – Sometimes you’re the only one here who makes much sense. Between the anger and the willingness to blame (liberal weenies, the parents, the child herself), people are losing sight of the first thing a crowd of bright, contentious geeks ought to consider important: nobody know the cause.
Even if the child is eating fat and sugar 24/7, what caused such a ravenous, self-destructive hunger in her? Kids’ appetites are normally pretty wonderfully self-governing. I seriously doubt treatment of children by (liberal weenies, parents, McDonald’s, whoever) has changed radically in the past 10 or 15 years, but something changed to cause the spike in morbid obesity. We need to find out what the hell it is and fix it if we can.
My wife eats less than I do. She is twice my size. Obesity is NOT ALWAYS a “can’t stop eating” problem.
http://tinyurl.com/2fx896 lists 8 discrete causes with the 9th being ‘multiple causes’.
Of course, saying “it’s just too much food” is the easy answer because then you don’t have to think.
As for you, #22 noname, you jackass, metabolics is one of the 8 major causes.
25,
If portion control is not the answer, why does stomach-stapling work?
Obesity in this country became an epidemic when companies switched from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup.
A 5 yr old that is 230 lb and you don’t think the kid eat more then the average 5 yr old, that rich and that’s just dumb.
#25 if I am a jackass, then I am at least a thin jackass, you pig!
A 5 yr old that is 230 lb and you don’t think the kid eat more then the average 5 yr old, that rich and that’s just dumb.
#23, #24 and #25 wrong, only #26 has it right. What does the multi billion dollar diet industry have in common, portion control and exercising. Guess what this kid doesn’t have portion control and exercise.
#25 if I am a jackass, then I am at least a thin jackass, you pig! Sorry couldn’t resist the truth in poetry.
29 – noname. I’m so glad you can diagnose that kid’s problems just by looking at a picture! Do you know how the thyroid is functioning or not? Do you know what genetic abnormalities that kid may or may not have, just by looking at a picture?
Do you know that some people literally do not have an ‘off’ switch for their appetite? Do you know that a huge cost in dieting is the yo-yo factor (up down up down), which in turn causes MORE health problems than maintaining a steady weight? Do you know that some people, no matter how phyiscally active, STILL DON’T LOSE WEIGHT? I’ve seen it.
But what’s the point of talking about it with you? Did you even check the link I posted? Did you comprehend any of it? I’m so glad you’re a thin jackass. Tell me this: how many other people do you pass judgement on, just by looking at them?
#26 Smartalix – I had posted a reply to you that, although accepted, vanished into the bit-bucket. Google with these parameters:
“stomach stapling” “sucess rates”
I looked at only the links on the first page. Some were pro, some were con, and the sides were very far apart. They all make for an interest read, however. What struck me as important was the long term effects discussed, specifically at 2 years or more.
A common thread seemed to be that even with stapling, strict diet controls had to be maintained, which begs the question: if strict diets have to be followed anyway, why staple?
As for the diet industry, most of what I see, in print and TV, are touting ‘fat burning pills’ or some other snake oil. Two very notable exceptions have been Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers.
Regarding diet & exercise, check the medscape website:
http://tinyurl.com/25nlyk
Yea #30, amazing even your medscape reference shows diet & exercising really does work in weight loss. I guess 4 years of medical school is really needed to understand diet & exercising really does work in weight loss. You must be a blooming genius for discovering that one.
The difference in opinion here seems to be how much credit you give a socialized human for impulse control. I side on people having impulse control; a result of learned behaviours, whereas you obviously don’t.
Besides your reference, your ramblings acknowledge the implications of portion control to weight loss.
You seem to believe there a human neurological law that prevents people from having impulse control. We are just animals after all, right? #30, you strike me as one with out impulse control.
Crime, obesity, drug use … non of that can be prevented by simply saying NO?
And yes there are diseases, not just of the thyroid that directly affect metabolism. My bet is, if that is indeed an influence here, the main contributor is still the parents over indulging the kid. And yes, seeing a 5 yr old that is 230 lb clued me into that.
I just like to add:
Let the food fight begin.
noname, you’ve got blinkers on. You have your mind made up and nothing will sway you.
My points:
(1) overating is not the only cause of obesity.
(2) physical activity doesn’t always work for weight loss.
(3) Genetics and metabolics have significant roles.
Your points (as I understand them)
(1) Fat people just eat too much
(2) Get out and exercise more and you’ll always lose the pounds.
(3) Fat people just won’t say ‘no’.
I may be wrong, but there is one thing I am sure of: your simplistic view of the world *is* wrong.
http://tinyurl.com/2s85zb
Opening paragraph:
The reasons for obesity are multiple and complex. Despite conventional wisdom, it is not simply a result of overeating. Research has shown that in many cases a significant, underlying cause of morbid obesity is genetic. Studies have demonstrated that once the problem is established, efforts such as dieting and exercise programs have a limited ability to provide effective long-term relief.
From the Medscape link, page 7/9
For an individual trying to lose weight, an adequate food intake can complement exercise, whereas a restricted food intake can antagonize an exercise program.