Micheline's Put-in
 
Fatty, Fatty, two by four
It seems like just yesterday when we were singing that nasty song to that unfortunate fat kid in school or at the bus stop: "Fatty, Fatty, two by four, couldn't get through the bathroom door….". That poor child who most likely had a glandular problem, or perhaps an eating disorder. Whatever it was, that child was definitely part of the minority, the odd person out and he/she suffered for it.
That no longer seems to be the case today. Child obesity has almost tripled over the last 20 years for kids between 7 and 13 years of age. Non-profit organizations are looking for ways to bring about awareness to help reduce what seems to be a growing problem. Recently, an international program was launched to encourage kids to walk to school on a specific day.: "Journée internationale Marchons vers l'école" (International Lets Walk to School Day). See greenestcity.org or waytogo.icbc.bc.ca
I find this to be ironic given the fact that we are living in a society where working out is in. We are walking contractions. Our diets have deteriorated so in order to compensate, we work out more per capita. What kind of message are we giving our children? The thing is, the kids only hear half the message "…McDonalds 3 times a week is acceptable…"…."Pizza Pockets are considered to be a food group…."
The food courts are loaded with junk. In the Montreal downtown core, I would guesstimate that there are five junk food (fatty food ) stands for every relatively healthy (I use the term loosely) one. I was recently in Vancouver and stopped at a coffee shop for a sandwich. I was asked what kind of bread I wanted. I asked for brown bread. The person behind the counter corrected me by asking: "do you mean multigrain?". "Sure", I replied. I took one bite and was totally amazed. I saved part of the sandwich and brought it back to my boyfriend that afternoon to show him the "healthiness" of such a sandwich. "There must be 100 grains in this thing…we would never find this in Montreal". And this was at this little corner coffee shop. Though it did cross my mind that this could have been an isolated case, something tells me that it wasn't. The way the lady looked at me as to think that I was sooooooo behind the times asking for simple brown bread….
We all have an uncle or a grandparent or a parent who would go on and on about how they walked five miles in the snow to get to school, sometimes without winter boots. Our reactions were similar from one to another; the rolling of the eyes. By the same token, there was this feeling of aweness. Today, the concept seems so unrealistic, I would assume that kids don't even react to such 'fables'. They either take the bus or are driven by their parents. Be it for security reasons or from sociological laziness, kids simply do not walk to school anymore. Gone are the days when kids would play outside from the time they get home from school to the time dinner is served. Entertainment is now computers or TV. Their brains are perhaps working harder but their bodies are not. There seems to be an unbalance.
Personally, I was somewhat of a lazy kid but I was also a skinny kid. I never had a weight problem, but by the same token, as of the age of 13, I became quite active starting with my dancing and softball. I was fortunate that I was a natural at sports (ok maybe not dodgeball at first but that's for another article). My ego kept me active. Regardless, there was not the variety of activities to choose from back then, yet child obesity was not prevalent. We are living in a fast paced world where all sorts of gadgets do things for us. They were created, seemingly, to make our lives easier and what the industrial revolution is actually doing is killing us, starting with our children. As melodramatic as I may sound, there is a definite problem and I don't foresee it getting fixed any time soon. Things will have to get much worse before they get better. Until society hits its bottom, change is not likely to happen. It's human nature….
© Micheline's Put-In
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