“A fast-food restaurant on the corner can have a terrible impact on a child’s life,” he said. “Obesity, diabetes, hypertension — it’s a step toward a less healthy life.”
Unless the little darlings are into larceny, who is giving them the money to purchase the fast food?
It occurs to me that when a NYC councilman proposes legislation that would ban a fast food restaurant within a 1/10 of a mile from a school, because a study found that kids tend to be fatter when such a place is within a block of their school, we really have abdicated personal responsibility and the responsibility of parents.
Mind you, the study found that "[i]f a fast-food restaurant opened a quarter-mile or more from a school, obesity rates were not affected."
What this tells me is that our kids are too lazy to walk that extra block to get fat.
But who am I to say? I shall defer to the experts, who clearly have a greater insight than me when they can conclude:
If a child has visible belly fat, Ms. Roth said, the child is probably overweight.Maybe stupidity breeds obesity.
A personal anecdote: I stopped one late afternoon for a cup of coffee at the McDonald's in Dalton, Tennessee. As I gave my order, I suddenly realized what was different than the McDonald's at home - instead of Hispanic adults working there, they were all local teens, earning some pocket money during their summer vacation. And in thinking back, I don't believe any one of them was obese. Made me harken back to the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, when I was a short order cook at a local luncheonette run by an irascible Greek. Lost about 15 pounds that summer, waking each weekday morning to be at work by 5:00 am and go until about 2:00 p.m. with no break, except if the crowds thinned out.
3 comments:
I live about a mile from SoCal's finest....In-N-Out. My Cubs, 12 and 16 Lourves the food. They have to walk, run or jog to it if they want some Animal Fries and a Shake.
Doesn't matter what you eat as much as what you do with those extra calories.
No sitting around with video games and tv at the Lair. Vitamin D from sunshine and hoofing it does wonders.
What does this politician say about the fast-foods compamies that have garnered contract to BE the food service on some school campuses?
We have had legislation proposed by different cities in Arizona to limit the density of fast food joints citywide, nit just by schools. None of the proposals have gotten legs at the moment, but, it is interesting to look at the debate.
All they would be doing would be increasing the business for the ones allowed to stay in business. Nanny state here we come.
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