| You and I see it everyday. Children and teens | | | | and choose high calorie selections daily, is it really |
| that are 50, 100 sometimes even 150 lbs | | | | their fault? |
| overweight, accompanied by parents who seem | | | | If we continue as we have, by 2015, 75 percent |
| to just look the other way as the child gorges | | | | of adults and nearly 24 percent of U.S. children |
| themself on junk food and sugar. You can go into | | | | and adolescents will be overweight or obese. |
| any fast food restaurant and see an entire family | | | | Obesity is now the most prevalent health issue |
| of morbidly obese people, unabashedly consuming | | | | for kids and teens. |
| super size meals and jumbo drinks. What the | | | | So, who's really at fault? |
| hell?? Is anybody listening? The parents lead, and | | | | I'm going to take the other side, for a change. I'm |
| of course, the children follow. | | | | usually the one beating up on the parents, but I |
| The latest trend has been to sue the companies | | | | want to be fair. In defense of the parents "It's |
| that produce and sell these products we over | | | | not my fault" claim, we have these facts: |
| consume. | | | | Most kid's meals at restaurants exceed |
| Just as recently as a couple years ago, Kellogg | | | | recommended daily calorie limit |
| and Nickelodeon were being sued over their junk | | | | Few healthy items are found in kid's meals at |
| food and marketing tactics targeting children 8 | | | | many restaurants |
| years and under. | | | | Food is the most advertised kid product during |
| In addition, a child advocate activist group | | | | children's programs |
| threatened to sue Viacom for using the Sponge | | | | Soda and candy machines can be readily found in |
| Bob image to promote sugary snacks and cereals. | | | | most junior high and high schools |
| In another lawsuit, a mother is suing Nabisco over | | | | Fast food chains heavily target children, and use |
| the trans fat in Oreo cookies, citing that this is | | | | toy giveaways and games to attract them to |
| one of the causes for her child being obese. Are | | | | their products |
| these lawsuits justified? Is it the fault of these | | | | You can't watch your kid 24-7 |
| companies for producing and marketing these | | | | So, what do you think? Is allowing a child to |
| items, or does the fault lie closer to home? | | | | become morbidly obese a form of child abuse? |
| Even though a new law has passed requiring all | | | | Should child protective services or some other |
| restaurants to list the calorie content of all food | | | | agency become involved when a child's weight |
| items on their menus, fast food restaurants are | | | | goes to such an extreme level that it becomes |
| still doing a brisk and steady business. They have | | | | life threatening? |
| complied with the prescribed laws on this matter. | | | | I know how I feel about it. What's your opinion? |
| Now, if we still decide to go in these places to eat | | | | |