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The weight of obesity

Childhood obesity

CAROLYN ABRAHAM

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 6:21 PM EST 13/09/08

The Canadian founder of California's private Wellspring Academy claims to have the formula to battle the skyrocketing problem of overweight children ...Read the full article

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  1. greg smith from Ottawa, Canada writes: To quote the old adage 'the more things change the more they stay the same' Come on when I went to school we did not have the same overweight kid problem because everything this school offers is what we had in the late 50's and sixties. It just going back to basics. I am a personal trainer and it is absolutely nothing new to me when reading this stuff. The school system which is abhor able has created the mess. I remember when my brother came home at the start of a school year and said phys ed was an option. We have created this problem and this guy is going to capitalize on the government's and educational system's stupidity. Amazing?
  2. Deskof Reason from Canada writes: Dr. Kirschenbaum tells parents, and their children, is that they are not to blame for their bulky bodies. Then, he says 'This is a disease of affluence'. Those two things do not make sense. First, he says fat people are not to blame for their weight. Then he says eating to excess is to blame. Make up your mind 'doctor'.

    Calories in minus calories burned integrated over our life equals our weight for almost all of us. You want a faster metabolism that burns more calories during the day? Build muscle. However, the biggest difference you can make is to eat less. 3500 calories in adds one pound. That's about 15 chocolate bars. An extra one every week will add 3.5 pounds/year.

    I find it hard to believe any school system has made phys-ed optional. The only time I got out of that class in high school was when I was burning too many calories in the pool before the school day started and I was too tired to run around the track field. There should be no other excuse.

    DoR
  3. m a from Toronto, Canada writes: Physical education every day should be mandatory all through HS a and grade school. That said, the weight issue is much more complex than 'behaviour modification'. Behaviour modification is only one third of the problem. The other two components are learning to deal with your feelings without using a substance (food) to make you feel better and intellectually understanding what is going on with you. That goes for what happens to your body chemically when you eat certain foods and with how that affects your mood and reliance on food.

    I was surprised to see the main character in this doc eating a hamburger and chips at this school that is supposedly very restrictive. Both the hamburger bun and the chips are useless, empty calories that will send your insulin sky high and keep you fat.
  4. Stephen P from Cambridge, Canada writes: I don't think there is any way that the young lady featured in this article will ever be a flight attendant. She's home and has already given up her morning walk and decided that she doesn't need the pedometer. I suppose she doesn't want to be reminded daily of the decline in her physical activity.
    For this per parents paid 6300 a month? The people running these centres have truly figured out how to live off the fat of the land...
  5. A D from Oakville, Canada writes: The main problem is related to being 'correct and extremely polite' people are fat because they want to be fat...but tell someone is fat or he/she actually looks like a muffin is considered offensive. if nobody tells you that you are fat (shamu???) you are probably going to think that just the others are fat and you only carry a couple extra pounds. second Macfatters (sorry Mac donald's) Murder king, KFC, pizza fat (upps, hut) are just trash I will never understand why people consider junk food as food. My advice...promote athletic sports....(baseball, golf, curling among other sports are not athletic activities) and condemn junk food. Remember the more muscle you carry, the more calories you will burn.
  6. Jay Wortman MD from West Vancouver, Canada writes: For the very small minority of overweight kids who have a bona fide mental disorder that involves excessive eating, this might be a good approach. For the vast majority of obese people, however, the problem is not psychological, it is a disturbance of fat metabolism caused by excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates. If you want to understand how this works and what you can do about it, a good place to start is the book, 'Good calories, Bad calories' by Gary Taubes. It will cost you far less than $6300 and your chance of success will be much better.
  7. jammin t from wetcoast, Canada writes: I am so angry with everything in this article, the school - the very thought that parents think that they can just send their overweight kids away to deal with the problem confounds me! Please tell me, WHEN will we all learn one basic concept - we are responsible for our actions; as parents we are responsible for the actions of our children at least until they are old enough to reason on their own. Habits of all kinds are learned in very early childhood, this includes eating and physical activity. If you want your children (heck if YOU want) to be healthy then you must make decisions that support this outcome; how about making meals from whole foods instead of processed? what about getting up from the sofa and going for a walk or run? or maybe encouraging your kids to go outside and play or try something new? perhaps going outside and playing with them?I hear too much about 'oh she might get hurt!' or 'he was never any good at sports.' Good lord, yup she might get hurt or s/he might learn a new skill and discover some self confidence! Please, read two books this year - 'The Omnivores Dilemma' and 'In Defense of Food' both by Michael Pollan. These will both educate you and inspire you to make different food choices at the very least without preaching.
  8. Gord Lewis from would you like fries with that?, Canada writes: Good post jammin t, but there is much more to it than personal responsibility. There is so much ignorance among parents about nutrition, besides that they are too busy to fix a proper meal. Wake up people and realize that the food and marketing industries are waging a war against you and your kids, and that their primary weapon is SUGAR. Not fat and not cholesterol. This is a mind-altering drug/industrial chemical that has infiltrated many of the foods in the grocery store (where far more junk food is found than in fast food joints - if you could isolate all of the refined sugar and corn syrup contained in a typical grocery store, you coud fill 2 full aisles out of 10). They are aided and abetted by the mind-numbing influence of video screens that are on 24/7. The marketing industry plays their part by endlessly promoting novelty and the 'entertainment' value of the stuff they push (since when was 'crunchy' a food group? And 'energy' drinks a substitute for sleep??) Don't want to come off like a good-old-days ranter, but seriously, we are killing ourselves en masse. And here we have folks only to happy to push a very expensive solution on ignorant, gullible but rich types (eating healthy costs LESS and doesn't take more than a few minutes extra each day.) Maybe parents shold consider putting a lock on the fridge between meals rather than let teenagers on down to toddlers decide their own 'menu' . . . humans are the only animals not born knowing what is good for us. Oh, and get off your keisters once or twice a day. End of rant.
  9. d. duck from Canada writes: keeping it simple: 1) once upon a time children went to school with a healthy bag lunch not money for cafe crap (blame double income families...tho you need two incomes now a days to survive). 2) once upon a time gym was mandatory not optional (and now these kids will never have the background or discipline to workout) 3) once upon a time schools did not have candy/pop machines that gave kick backs to the school boards/trusties (by the way...school trusties were voluntary and not paid once upon a time). 4) once upon a time the worst thing a kid could do was watch TV (without a remote control) but now gadgets make everything non-active. Why do kids need cell-phones???? 5) once upon a time after school activities were manned/womenned by teachers (that ended with lawsuits against these same selfless teachers). 6) once upon a time pregnant women only gained 20-30lbs and wanted to be the healthiest possible during pregancy for the best outcome for their new born. Now pre-pregnancy maternal weight is significantly higher than 20yrs ago and intrapartum weight gain is out of control leading to large babies (increased c-section rate), gestational diabetes, pregnancy hypertension and infants that become obese and stricken with type 2 diabetes in their early teenage yrs (disease of the obese 50yo). 7) once upon a time kids rode or worked to their friends house/school or outdoor activities now adays everyone is driven because we don't trust our neighbours/the crazy drivers/druggies or weirdos that haunt our communities
  10. Nature Lover from Canada writes: If you're fat you should be able to blame someone else. Someone did this to you, the marketing industry, McDonalds, Wendys KFC. THEY are responsible. They made it a pleasant and gratifying experience to get fat. Of course, once you are fat, it is self pretuating, sedentary lifestyles marketed to you by the Gaming Companies and the Auto Manufacturers certainly underscore the pleasant part of being fat and happy. Too much of a good thing CAN be bad for you. But we are the chosen ones and we should always have what we want, no matter what, right?
  11. Ed Long from Canada writes: PT Barnum must have been talking about lifestyle silver bullets when he made his famous quote.

    Parents .. have an evening meal with your children, talk about the day's events, eat nutritious stuff and talk about it, clean up together, take a ball and walk/run/cycle with your kids and pets to the local playground, beach, field, forest. Play. Don't watch them. Play like a kid with kids ... until everybody is sweating. Go home. Wash up. Have a good sleep.

    Proven for generations up until this one.
  12. Pamphleteer . from Canada writes: There's no magic formula. Eat well and exercise regularly. That all anyone has to do to say at a healthy weight.
  13. robert quinn from Japan writes: I'll bite. The jock ate oatmeal and eggbeaters for breakfast. What's an eggbeater? (I'll assume it's not the device used to whip eggs into a creamy froth.)

    And the most basic exericise routine for the truly indolent? Get up out of your chair. Beautiful. Other steps--wiping the crumbs off your face, screwing the lid back on the peanut butter, yawning.... Good luck, tubby.
  14. Oksana Szulhan from North Vancouver, Canada writes: Yup; I remember the " good old days " of school in the '60s. We had gym classes at lest once a week ( we needed a doctor's note to be exempt for medical reasons - which really had to be legit ); at least once in the morning the teacher got us up to do some " jumping jacks " to get the blood circulated.

    We prepared our lunches the evening before, with the dinner left-overs, which our parents cooked ( sometimes we helped with that, too ). We changed our younger sibling's diapers, because we had to help out at home.

    We walked to school; we had outside activities where we usually took the bus - but everyone knew us, so we looked out for each other. Ever heard of COMMUNITY ? ? ? KFC and McDonald's were a " treat ", and they still taste terrible ! ! !

    In my case, it was mandatory for girls to take Home Economics classes - no option - and I laughed my way through it because I just took it for granted that everyone would know by that time how to cook, clean, sew, wash dishes, change diapers, take out the garbage, and generally be responsible.

    Of course, to-day, I'm just anal.
  15. Super Cyclisto from Canada writes: Gorging on Splenda? How healthy is that? There is increasing evidence that artificial sweeteners actually lead to weight gain because they trick your body and don’t feed it what it needs. According to researchers, "there is no clear-cut evidence that sugar substitutes help people lose weight. These days, more and more data suggests that these chemical sweeteners may actually stimulate appetite. " Aspartame has been on the market for over twenty years, so most of the research refers to weight gain in relation to products made with aspartame. However, Splenda is increasingly implicated in similar results.
  16. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: The comments here are too judgmental against people carrying excess fat. Much of this is genetic. The FTO gene recently has been linked to obesity and increased body mass index, or BMI, in several large-scale studies. More than half of all people of European descent have one or two copies of a variation of this gene, British scientists reported last year. Individuals with two copies of the gene variant are on average 7 pounds heavier and 67 percent more likely to be obese than those who don't have it. The good news is that lots of exercise can overcome it, the bad news is you need more than 4 hours per day, which is difficult for college students and people who do not have a physically active vocation. In a recent study (reported on last week by University of Maryland), participants with FTO gene variants were classified as having "high activity" or "low activity" levels. The more active people used 900 more kilocalories, or units of energy, a day, which translates into three to four hours of moderately intensive activity, such as brisk walking, housecleaning or gardening. Despite an active lifestyle, 54 percent of the men in the study were considered overweight (BMI over 25) and 10.1 percent were obese (BMI over 30). Sixty-three percent of the women were overweight, and 30 percent were considered obese. The mean BMI was slightly higher in women (27.8) than in men (25.7).

    Genetics plainly affects metabolism significant and results in various diet patterns being unsuitable. It is wise to emulate the food culture of one's genetic heritage, as a people will have co-evolved diet and genes. People from non-cereal grain cultures, for example, will have been found to have fewer genetic adaptions to tolerate excess starch (which the body digests into excess sugar).
  17. Sassy Lassie from Canada writes: The shrieking socialist left are constantly inventing epidemics to panic the public, remember Global Warming aka Climate Change. The Obesity Epidemic is just another alledge epidemic, honestly without a global cause how are the socialist going to force us to change our behavior? Another social experiment that's going to run amok, if one is obese they have only one person to blame themselves. Maintaining a healthy weight is a life long challenge, blaming the food industry is typical of those that never accept responsibility for their behavior. One need only look around a grocery store, if the parents are fat so are the children. Canadians have become a self absorbed society, many are just to lazy to prepare healthy meals.

    Obesity is a life style choice, blaming society for the bad habits of an individual is the first step in socializing abnormal behavior and making it normal.

    Just think of the millions the social tinkers can make devising various ways to make the taxpayer pay for an individual's personal choices.
  18. Anthony B from Maritimes, Canada writes: Ever noticed that most fat kids have fat parents?

    When I grew up in the 50s, overweight children were the exception. Ah, but that was before fast-food restaurants, TV, video games, "labour-saving" gadgets and parents who chauffeur their kids everywhere.

    Maybe it's the moms and dads who should be going to school to learn that indulging their offspring (and themselves) with junk food and couch-potato lifestyles are the root causes of obesity.
  19. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: So geniuses, how do you propose a family exercise together when both parents work 9 to 5, travel home, make dinner, clean up, do homework, shower, that's if there are no other activities on the table such as basketball, hockey or dance? If any of you did you homework you would know that obesity and divorce have been on the rise since the onset of Capitalism.
  20. Major C from Toronto, Canada writes: Sassy Lassie says, "The shrieking socialist left are constantly inventing epidemics to panic the public, remember Global Warming aka Climate Change. The Obesity Epidemic is just another alledge epidemic, honestly without a global cause how are the socialist going to force us to change our behavior?"

    I am confused about how the "shrieking socialist left" has managed to contort this issue into a panic. How exactly do they control everything from the primary research to manipulating the media into presenting the issue as a panic - by what means is there such unity in the ways in which the problem is socially, culturally, scientifically understood to the point of a rather oversimplified dissemination of the issue? Could you please explain your logic re how this is an issue of lefty manipulation?
  21. Pro Canadian from Windsor, Canada writes: Here's what I don't understand about this program. Send your children away to a fat loss farm, teach them to focus on behavioural and self image issues, collect the monthly fee, then send them home to take care of themselves. Once they get home, thety immerse themselves in the same "bad" environment that got them to the fat farm in the first place. Let's cut off their parents because they seem to be part of the problom. Let's not see if we might need to change the home environment/ awareness to help these people maintain their fitter lifestyles and self image. Welcome home dear, here's a nice big helping of fried chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy! And for desert we have a whole chocolate cake. It's so nice to have you back! And don't tell me its the kid's faults. Some of these children are 12 and 13 years old. They don't comprehend psycho-babble and self image. Now that they're home, they no longer have to follow military-like rules and don't have other adults monitoring their every move. The blame lies in the sedentary lifestyle we have all been living. Yes, more calories burned than consumed helps, muscle burns more than fat, actual physical exercise is better than Wii, some people are genetically prone to larger bodies. It's a combination of all those things. But sending these kids home to the same old environment without preparing the family is assinine. Its like sending a reformed drug addict to his new home -which is a crack house!! The behaviour modification should be wholistically applied to everyone in the family unit, so that each of them comprehends what the kids are facing.
  22. Pro Canadian from Windsor, Canada writes: jammin t from west coast - ABSOLUTELY dead on!!
  23. greg smith from Ottawa, Canada writes: Sorry Jennie don't know how old you are but you are just like todays society lets look at the results not the root cause cause as you say everyone is in a hurry. EXCUSES Jennie that's all you have come up with! You are the ones that expect the school system to do your job of taking care of your kids!!! Do you think all of us old farts I am 55 and both my parents worked and my father whom I only saw on weekends worked 2 jobs to make ends meet! It is not a novel idea that both parents work unless you are brought up with the proverbial silver spoon in your yap and as you should know a lot of women work because they do not want to sit at home. Sure some have too but if you are committed to providing a healthy environment for your kids you do your due diligence and don't use excuses.
  24. Ed Long from Canada writes: Sassy Lassy ... great post.

    Jennie McCrae ... Divorce is the result of "no-fault divorce" laws and matrimonial property acts. Basically people can now walk and be protected. Divorce no longer carries a stigma.

    Obesity is the result of eating too much, with very, very, few genetic exception.

    Quit whining, my family was a two job household, including shiftwork, and somebody always took the kids out for family play every day.

    More people walk their dogs than walk their kids.
  25. greg smith from Ottawa, Canada writes: Murray I do not know the study you are quoting but the most glaring thing I have to disagree upon is that it is comparing apples to oranges by using European and North American studies. Come on the culture eating habits and diets are night and day where in britain people can't get the T Bone steak you can go out and order every night they eat spam as a staple!!! The lifestyle is completely different and if you look at most studies the average North American can help keep the fat stuff down by just being active period! One hour of brisk walking after dinner eradicates the harm a rich dinner can cause. Most people as Jennie said eat later and crash. OH OH guess what happens. There is a lot more to it my friend then trying to find excuses for bad decisions when it comes to health.
  26. Gord Lewis from would you like fries with that?, Canada writes: According to Sassy Lassie, it is that shrieking socialist left that is to blame. Jennie MacCrae links it to the onset of Capitalism. So which is it?

    Get a clue, both of you.

    Pro Canadian, LOL - you have pretty much summarized the situation on the home front.
  27. jammin t from wetcoast, Canada writes: Jennie, Jennie, Jennie...while I sympathize with what appears to be a very full schedule I must point out that making a meal from scratch takes no more time than grabbing a fast-food meal or throwing something together from the freezer; perhaps making meal-times a priority would actually help your family spend quality time together, which could have untold benefits for you and your kids!

    Obesity and overall poor health does seem to be linked to our supposed "wealth" & "higher standard of living" ; isn't it sad that we as a society link a proliferation of fast-food and general sloth with "wealth" and "higher standard" of living? Personal experience aside, it is much cheaper and far more fulfiling to make a meal from scratch & go for a walk after dinner than just about anything else.
  28. Richard Hawrelak from Sarnia, Canada writes: Murray and Jay, thank you for excellent posts.
  29. Gord Lewis from would you like fries with that?, Canada writes: jammin t from wetcoast, Canada writes: Jennie, Jennie, Jennie...while I sympathize with what appears to be a very full schedule I must point out that making a meal from scratch takes no more time than grabbing a fast-food meal or throwing something together from the freezer; perhaps making meal-times a priority would actually help your family spend quality time together, which could have untold benefits for you and your kids!

    Obesity and overall poor health does seem to be linked to our supposed "wealth" & "higher standard of living" ; isn't it sad that we as a society link a proliferation of fast-food and general sloth with "wealth" and "higher standard" of living? Personal experience aside, it is much cheaper and far more fulfiling to make a meal from scratch & go for a walk after dinner than just about anything else.
    ______________________________________________________

    I will second all of this post. Cheaper consumer goods, and cheap food in particular, are a curse. At the same time, we have no food security left in this country.
  30. Natalie Dobrijevic from Toronto, Canada writes: I actually went to this school a few years ago, and I think that many people here do make a valid point, and many people at the same time do not. First of all, obesity is a problem thess days. Through our natural selection, we obvisouly seem to lead towards people with more meat on them, which gets passed down through generation and generation. In order for us to reverse the process, it's going to take more than a slap on the hand and a school. The school teaches us that fats are bad, and should be avoided whenever possible.. They don't say which fats, only fats in general. Instead of focusing on a whole wheat, high fiber,etc. kind of thing, it's all about the fat, which I really don't agree with. So as for the flaws with the program, that's a major one. however; who to blam is not so easy. Can we really blame it on the parents? I don't know how I got there, but I had a problem with being obese my entire life. I went to a private school where I was in the middle of no where through-out grade school, and still managed to weigh 180lbs by grade 5. I can remember going to the Daisy Mart, by taking money from my dads car coffee change, and buying as many 5 cent candies as possible. Who's to blame for that? Me for taking the money? My dad for not locking his doors? The people who sell and make the candy? My parents really had no idea.. So you can point to only on person, it's too complex for that. My parents enrolled me in sports, and I always took gym in school. I was sent to summer sports camps the whole summer, and was really always on the go. It wasn't about the activity either. It's honestly too complex to blame one thing like it seems so many people are doing. I will say that the school did save my life, as I lost over 100 pounds there, and have been pretty succesful in maintaining. I don't follow their program that they taught me, for my own reasons, but nonetheless, if it weren't for this school, my name wouldn't be here, but rather on a tombstone.
  31. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: Ed Long, the particular study I referenced was done through the University of Maryland, which is in North America. The British study had determined that over half of people of European descent have one or more copies of variants of the FTO gene. Many North Americans are of European descent.
  32. Stephen P from Cambridge, Canada writes: I think a lot of this genetic argument is nonsense. The average North American adult is some 25-30 pounds heavier than they were 30 years ago. This simply cannot be the action of some rogue gene.
  33. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: I really don't care if you agree with me or not but I must refute your statements as they are short-sighted and uneducated. Referring to my post as a blame game is a cop-out for people who are too lazy or scared to take on the real problem: Capitalism. It's much easier too blame it on the less powerful such as parents and the poor. Because of people like you the concept of divide and conquer is alive and well.

    .... The notion that it takes just as much time to prepare food from scratch as it does to buy and heat is clearly a comment coming from an inexperienced person who probably only cooks for himself/herself or doesn't work. My advice, study up on Anthropology and Economics see if you are able to put two and two together.

    * Btw, ignorance is the biggest contributor to poverty, see if you can figure that one out.
  34. james p from Canada writes: fat farming better stay in the private sector. i don't want my tax dollar rehabilitating some fat slob too lazy to move or eat properly. was that too insensitive? tough. i was an obese teenager til i got a job on a dairy farm and got into cycling. didn't cost me or my parents a damn nickel. obesity management is the latest fetish in our over-stimulated, over-fed society and some savy entrepreneurs are gonna make a bundle.
  35. Mmm Cleavage from Canada writes: Well, my wife and I work, (nurses), have two kids, and the inlaws live with us, (they are older and require a bit of help), . We prepare about half our meals, eat left-overs, have one car, and actually do physical activity with our kids. We do not have housecleaners, etc., etc. However we watch about 4 hours of TV a week and take an active interest in the family unit. I find it amazing that people go on about having to have two jobs, no time to prepare food etc., etc, yet know all about Survivor, Desparate Housewives, American Idol. What is more imoprtant???
    Mmmmmmmmmmm
  36. dirk dirk from Canada writes: Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: The comments here are too judgmental against people carrying excess fat. Much of this is genetic. The FTO gene recently has been linked to obesity and increased body mass index, or BMI, in several large-scale studies.
    ----------
    Genetic you say? Well then, evolutionary genetic mutations predisposing people to obesity must have worked their way through the population faster than the average fruit fly.

    High calorie/low nutrition food and too much of it. Coupled with a sedantary lifestyle. It's a societal/lifestyle problem. Not genetic (in most cases).
  37. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: People here misunderstand the role of genetics. What genetics shows is that of two people on the same diet (including number of calories) and exercise pattern, one may stay lean and the other become obese. There have been changes to the North American diet in the past 50-75. Most notable of the large trends are the increase in carbohydrates (starches and sugars) and the decrease in fats, with the exception of poly-unsaturated vegetable oils (which contain omega-6, a known pro-inflammatory fatty acid prone to rancidity). For me, by cutting out all cereal grains, starchy vegetables and added sugar and increasing the proportion of fat in my diet, I have dropped to below 10% body fat (into the 6-7% range) without any additional exercise. Works for my genes.
  38. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: Murray Braithwaite from Canada:

    .. I agree that many of the comments here are completely short-sighted and I also agree with you genetic predisposition. There are more studies now than ever before showing the important role particular hereditary genes play in our lives. The nature vs. nurture issue has always been controversial since the time of Locke. Science has shown clear evidence linking genes to other disorders as well so it is not always that simple as some are suggesting here.

    ** Good for you though, and others who have worked hard to take control of their health.
  39. dirk dirk from Canada writes: Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: People here misunderstand the role of genetics. What genetics shows is that of two people on the same diet (including number of calories) and exercise pattern, one may stay lean and the other become obese. There have been changes to the North American diet in the past 50-75.
    ---------------------
    I think the key point there is the changes to our diet. I agree that genetics will factor in to how different individuals metabolize the poor diet they are consuming. But the fact remains, that they are still eating a poor diet.
  40. Mr. Roadrocket from Ottawa, Canada writes: Wow: $6200 per month? I believe that this is more expensive than a Harvard degree but it sounds like a great business! Particularly if the students go home and gain the weight and have to do it all over again. I laughed when I read that Carmen, who was 15 in 2006 and is therefore 17 now, said that she wanted to enjoy her vacation and "not not drink pina coladas." And the image of the boy dumping all the Splenda on his yogurt suggests that they can't be learning much about food. Genetics do not explain the prevalence of 300 pound teenagers now but lifestyle certainly does. It is up to each of us to be responsible for our own actions but obesity has consquences for society as a whole in lost productivty, increased healthcare costs and a reduced enjoyment of life. Simple things could be done, such as making physical education mandatory in school but not a credit course.
  41. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: Incredible how people just don't want to learn, reminds me of the time of Galen and Copernicus, you know, one was burned (by order of the church) for suggesting that the sun was the centre of the earth, the other was threatened. I doubt anyone on this board know which one was which. For your own sake people open your minds and listen, you might learn something new.
  42. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: Jennie, I think you meant to refer to Giordano Bruno (who was burned at the stake in 1600) instead of Galen, who was a Roman physician ca. AD 129-200.
  43. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: Yes Murray, you are right, my mistake but I hope you know that I wasn't referring to you. I was trying to relate some of the closed minded-ness of some posters here toward science as it was centuries ago. How this closed minded attitude prevented society from progressing sooner rather than later.
  44. d. duck from Canada writes: Jennie,

    You remind me of most socialist..........blame everyone else and take no personal responsibilities for your own actions. If someone disagrees with you, then call them ignorant. If you were the leader of the NDP, I bet you would be living in the biggest house (since your the boss) while the rest of your pions were suppose to live substandard dwellings listening to your rhetoric. Funny, how you were wrong about Galen but have the gall to insinuate that the rest of us are uneducated. Don't underestimate the blogs.
    Cheers
    PS: without looking it up on the web.........define geocentric and heliocentric
  45. A. H. from Edmonton, Canada writes: Attention all you parents!, If you don't want fat kids just read the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories", by David Taubes (2007). This will tell you all you need to know about the REAL CAUSES of obesity and other diseases. while I admire what these "fat camps" are trying to do with the kids, save your money!, spend $40.00 on this book, and TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WHAT FOODS THEY SHOULD PUT INTO THIER BODIES, AND WHAT FOOD THEY SHOULD NOT EAT! To summarize in a nutshell: stop your kids from eating all carbohydrates, and all sugar, and they will lose weight without having to do any dieting ever again, or kill themselves exercising! It's all contained in the book! It is not a how-to book, all the author does is give you the scientific and anatomical facts about the human body, and you can then decide for yourself! Please, save your children a lieftime of obesity misery, and teach them about what is "good" food NOW, before it is too late! You are going to be shocked by the findings in this book!, but you need to read it!!
  46. J W from Canada writes: Considering the cost of the school, I can't believe there is no one on the staff with a healthy view of nutrition. I am no rocket scientist but even I know that not ALL fats are bad and that the only thing worse than refined sugar is artificial sweetners! Regular Schools need to put more emphasis on proper nutrition and set good examples by offering healthy food choices, not hotdogs and pizza. I put the the burden of educating on the schools (I should include doctors here as well..not that nutrition is their strong suit) because obviously, in many cases, it isn't coming from the home. Final word...EXERCISE!
  47. Ghetto Dude from Istanbul, Turkey writes: Questions:
    1 If the cause of a certain problem is genetics, should we not expect the amount of that problem recurring to remain the same throughout centuries?
    2 If exercising makes one thin, why does the amount of those bulldozer size of Americans running for hours in the central park increase? This sound like "My shrink is so successful and helped me so much that, I have been visiting him/her for 20 years."
  48. Kim Philby from Canada writes: I suspect that, if these obese kids are teenagers, it's probably far to late to help most of them. Poor food choices, poor psychological relationships with food, and poor attitudes about exercise need to be nipped in the bud - i.e., at toddler age, or earlier - by parents. Unfortunately, as many have pointed out, parents (and overindulgent grandparents always arriving with "treats") are the source of the problem.

    The "food" industry, which is not in the business of providing nutritious food, but instead is in the business of selling a product, is also partly to blame.

    These kids face a lifelong, and probably losing, battle with weight. I see the same thing happening with my four-year-old niece, and it really worries me. When I visit her family, I bring fresh fruit. My nephew once asked, "Is that candy"? I said "Yes, it's nature's candy." When he opened the bag, a look of disappointment crossed his face.
  49. mike fall from Guelph, writes: Splenda is a food group! That sums this up perfectly. The owners of this BUSINESS should stop trying to pretend they care about obesity rates and admit they are in it for the money. Shameful to take advantage of desperate, uninformed people in the name of better health.

    Poor diet, no exercise = fat kids. It is this simple!

    30% protein 40% carbs and 30% fat at each meal! It is this easy. Read enter the Zone by Dr Barry Sears
  50. Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: d. Duck:

    .. Listen genius, it's not about what you memorize it's whether you get the big picture or not that's what separates the ignorant from the intelligent. There are many leaders in our history that were brilliant at memorization but really stupid with actually understanding what the heck it all means, putting things together and making sense of it. The point I was trying to make, if you took the time to read and listen rather than try to figure out what political party I'm voting for, WAS, that it is common for people to dismiss science because it's something that is more difficult and complex to understand therefor it is feared. If you know anything about history rather than who was burned or not, the big picture is exactly what I said: ignoring science prevents us from moving ahead! Got it? Or do you need more explaining?
  51. A. H. from Edmonton, Canada writes: "Ghetto Dude", you have it exactly right with your question about why there are "fat runners" everywhere? It is because EXERCISE IS NOT A PROMINENT FACTOR IN WEIGHT LOSS!. What is that you say?, blasphemy right, nonsense! right?....wrong? Think about it..a 200 lb man running for a half an hour might burn what 400 calories?, or approx 800cal/hr. There are 3500 calories in a lb of fat. So then the same guy would have to run for 3500/800= 4.375 hours straight just to burn one measly lb of fat. So, is exercise a "prominent" component of weight loss?..no! That is why you see so many "fat runners" everywhere you look. It is because while their lungs may be strong, they remain fat because while they run everyday, they also continue to consume tons of crappy carbohydrates, sugars, processed foods, alcohol etc., which makes and keeps them fat! With these kids, and any kids for that matter, it's not the lack of exercise that makes them fat, it is the POOR FOOD CHOICES they stuff themsleves with that makes them fat, and THEN if they are not doing regular, constant, intense exercise, the crappy food is stored as fat on their bodies. I am not saying exercise is not needed, because obviously if I want to have strong muscles, or good lung capacity, or be flexible, reduce stress, etc., etc, I need to exercise, BUT if I really want to be thin, then I need to eat the proper types of food that my body will BURN AS FUEL, not store AS FAT. Whether people want to believe it or not, it's true, exercise is not a prominent component of weight loss.The parents of any obese kids would do well to get their kids moving more, but their main focus needs to be consuming the right types of foods. Gary Taubes explains it all in his book "Good Calories, Bad Calories".
  52. jammin t from Canada writes: Jennie MacCrae from Ontario from Canada writes: I really don't care if you agree with me or not but I must refute your statements as they are short-sighted and uneducated. Referring to my post as a blame game is a cop-out for people who are too lazy or scared to take on the real problem: Capitalism.... The notion that it takes just as much time to prepare food from scratch as it does to buy and heat is clearly a comment coming from an inexperienced person who probably only cooks for himself/herself or doesn't work.
    _________________________________________________________

    Thanks for the insults Jennie & for making your comments so personal - yikes, looks like I hit nerve!

    I agree with what I think it is that you are trying to say, that is, obesity is a complicated issue; most certainly, genetics play a role however, lifestyle CHOICES have a far greater impact on one's health including one's weight. For instance, I choose to eat organic, locally grown, made from scratch foods at least 75% of the time, I choose to get regular exercise, I choose to educate myself (and my family) on health and wellness issues and finally I choose to prioritize all of this over just about everything else.

    As for my (& others) being short-sighted and uneducated, I'd be careful what you say...these comments really do make you sound immature and defensive. Clearly, those of us who believe the essence of my comments have chosen differently than you have.

    A word of "thanks" to all the posters who actually grasp the concept that if you consume more calories that you use daily you get fat & also that of the calories that you do consume are not nutrient dense then you get fat AND malnourished, which leads to multiple health issues.

    all the best!

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