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That would almost be a good point, but the comparison is off. A sausage biscuit is a protein/carb source so compare it with a chicken or soy burger on a whole grain bun - a lot more money. Just walk into McDs and look at the menu to see the difference.

It's tricky for the government to intervene in the arena, although they can change the school menus (I think many schools took out soda machines and stopped serving milk/OJ [much sugar]). It would be great if they limited advertisement from fast-food restaurants, but the reality here is that obesity is a new problem so it takes time to figure out how to curb it. The stats from child deaths as a direct result of not wearing a belt is clear cut.

Right now, education is our best tactic.

longlegsrule wrote:

charlie wrote:.......
pretentious. condescending. assholes.

I hope you never have kids for this reason:

...and I hope I never have kids for so many other reasons.

I understand the concerns, and since my response was a bit off the hook let me try and clarify. I don't dig on fat people either, fat kids especially since largely it seems to be perpetuation of bad habits and crappy capitalist cultural influences probably going back for generations. But, I don't flatter myself into thinking they are useless enough and should all die by thirty or that they are anymore a drain on my tax dollars than anything else. Everyone's a drain on my tax dollars and if you think you can run the federal government's budget better, good luck.

But, I'm not so miffed about the particular details of this issue. I'm just a bit tired of people so consistantly passing judgement on others around here. "You should have bolted it this way" "You should drive this car." "You should raise your kids like this."

Without exception the wisest people I've known over the course of my life, the ones I've respected the most, people I try and measure up to, would never let you see them pass judgement on anyone. The human condition is a challenging thing and when people have the gall to speak like they are an authority on the mistakes other people are making it bugs me a bit.

Heard a great quote the other day, not sure of the source....

"The more I know, the less I pretend to know"

..and Jonathan, no I don't consider myself a climber. I feel like I'm much more and much less than that.

I'm sure the child was not seeing the sausage biscuit as their protein/carb source so much as a yummy breakfast.
Agreed. Education & forming good habits at home so that child would rather have yogurt & fruit for breakfast instead.

When I shop for breakfast to send to school with my daughter there are prefrozen sausage biscuits that I could buy OR for the same amount of money I can get a box of healthy cereal, some yogurt & some fruit cups & she has breakfasts that she loves & that are healthy.
It's the choices that these parents are making for their children that bothers me.

This reminds me of a funny quote from a foreigner, bewildered with the number of McD's found in the US:

When paleontoligists of the future start digging up golden arches all over the place they're going to interpret them as symbols of the dominant religion of our times. They'll be completely correct too.

diggum wrote:I don't agree with that. That sausage biscuit cost a lot more than the 39 cent apples they had at the counter. Fruits & veggies are cheap.

..but they don't provide a person with everything they need. an apple is essentially sugar and that's it. you're not getting much else out of it. when did apples get to be so healthy?

one apple is about a hundred calories. a sausage buscuit with egg is five hundred. if you're talking about maximizing your dollar so that you can eat and survive for the next week (decades aren't in their time horizon: go ask an inner city high school class how many think they'll live to see 21.. you'll be amazed), then all you're going to really care about is calories. in that case, to get the same amount of calories from apples would cost about two bucks, twice the sausage buscuit.

if you have a hundred bucks to feed a kid for a month, are you going to spend it buying 250 apples (25,000 calories not mentioning nutrition) or 100 sausage buscuits (50,000 calories)? either way, on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, your kid is hungry by 10,000 calories.. and that's not considering the extra they need to grow.

and if you're thinking about having them cook, think about how pots, pans, gas, stove, time cost that family.. they don't have that to invest at any given time. we have the priviledge of worrying about our health today or in ten years.. all they're worried about is if the money will last to get through the week.

diggum wrote: When I shop for breakfast to send to school with my daughter there are prefrozen sausage biscuits that I could buy OR for the same amount of money I can get a box of healthy cereal, some yogurt & some fruit cups & she has breakfasts that she loves & that are healthy.
It's the choices that these parents are making for their children that bothers me.

I can bet that it still costs more than a single frozen biscuit. Try making that choice for three to five kids rather than just one. Over time it gets easier to pull out a frozen biscuit rather than to prepare all that, especially if you have to get to your work. Time and money saved.

Education does begin at home, but often times the parents are not educated themselves. My parents are a good example - thank goodness for health classes!

charlie wrote: The world is a tough place for everyone and you fucktards do not have the monopoly on how it should be lived.

pretentious. condescending. assholes.

I stand guilty as charged. But I am trying to do better. 8)

When did the poor become fat? Ma and Pa Kettle were rail thin, all photos I've seen of the depression....walking skeletons. When did being poor become an excuse to lose self-respect. Shit, I grew up poorer than a lot of people but we still ate healthy balanced meals.

Let me see if I can help illustrate where I'm coming from purely within the context of this argument.

I see Paul and Meadows as having very little credibility here, they aren't raising any kids. I'd give Diggum more credibility than both Paul and Meadows cause she has a kid, but she's pretty professional and gets a paycheck and only has one. So even her credibility is limited in telling others with smaller budgets, less education, and more kids, what they should do. Plus she's not a fatass so how can she speak to all the things that would lead someone to raise a fatass kid?

That said, I respect her greatly for leading by example, that's all you can do in this world. She's not raising a fat kid, maybe she can talk to someone in her daily walk of life and help them see the value in her choices, maybe influence them in walking a 'better' path.

All you can really hope to do is raise the average. People around you suck -- try and suck less. People are mean -- fight that with kindness. Pollution bothers you -- try and pollute less. SUV's bother you -- buy a hybrid. If you're lucky, the life you lead and the examples you set will help influence others around you and maybe they capitalize off of your strengths, just as you capitalize off the strengths of others.

That just seems to me a much safer way to do things than sitting on your podium preaching to others because you're better than them, especially when half the time you're just as clueless as anyone else.

I may not have kids, but you can't assume I lack experience with families in the situation.

I commend her too for the choices she makes for her child, but she can't demand other parents have the same mindset. She can afford to drive an SUV a long way for a weekend of fun, where many parents have to wonder how they can afford to drive to a grocery store. Where I grew up, the nearest grocery store is ~20 miles.

We also can't assume that everyone is educated on what is good or not. That's changing, but old habits are hard to break and food advertisements have become very pervasive.