"That's why Americans are so fat."

Glad he's active, and hope he's off that medication soon.

But I think the general trend in weight gain among US children is pretty well documented, even with allowances for how we define 'overweight' or 'obese.'

https://thehill.com/changing-americ...e-us-children-becoming-obese-at-younger-ages/

More than half of U.S. children will have obesity as adults if current trends continue | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

 

No doubt where we’re trending, but in my experience, it doesn’t take much prodding to get kids out and about.

Part of my sample is self-selecting, being a youth sports coach, but I’m also involved in cub scouts and those kids never stop moving once you get them out in the wilderness.

Physical exercise is great for kids even if it doesn’t result in weight loss.

I’m at a loss as to why moving the needle on this is so hard.

 

Academic writing about early-onset menarche by clinicians who specialize in pediatric medicine was already filtering into popular media in the mid to late 90s. Diet was seen as a key factor.

Really depends on the child, the environment, and a lot of other things. My street used to be a hive of activity after school and during breaks. Now there is much less evidence children live here than there was a decade or two before.

 

The family factors on this are probably a huge impediment. Both my wife and I come from families where a handful of Cheez-Its, or dipping some Wheat Thins into cream cheese, were the "healthy" snacks as compared to eating potato chips. Processed food is still huge in this country. And while I'm not saying everyone needs to be on an all-organic diet 100 percent of the time, the availability and cheapness of that kind of food makes it ever-present. When my parents stayed the week, they had remarks for all the "fancy" food in our cupboard, which basically amounted to more basic grains (rice, quinoa) and things like Whisps instead of Ritz.

The other thing, well, eating healthier does take more time than not, excluding stuff like a salad. Cooking or meal prep for a week takes more time and equipment than just grabbing fast food. Making a lentil stew is a bit more complicated than boiling a box of pasta with some jarred sauce. Plenty of families don't have the luxury of time or the energy after an exhausting job to do either.

 

I think diet is an equal, or greater, determinant. Kids or adults. All that hidden corn syrup, for example.

So in historical terms we're in a new age of unprecedented calorie consumption and unprecedented inactivity.

 

Yesterday was as typical a day as a day off from work gets for this 61-year-old. An hour hitting with the ball machine, a mile run, four dog walks and a few household chores.

Step count: 19,668.

I love processed food. I also know the calories of almost everything I eat, because it's on the processed food box or on the menu. I don't go over 2,000-2,200.

 

I’m incredibly thankful to live on a street where the cul de sac is full of kids running around and playing from 4 until “dinner time” just about every day. There are now 14 kids under the age of 10 on our block, so there is always fun and activity to be had. And they migrate from yard to yard until their parents stick their heads out and yell for them to come home.

It’s totally a throwback. And I couldn’t be happier that my kids get to grow up that way too.

 

Speak for yourself on that last part.

 

I’m on 17 days with no extra sugar, no pizza, no fast food and only black beans, egg whites and chicken sausage for breakfast.

I feel freaking great.

The scale isn’t showing it yet but my system does feel a lot cleaner. I was one cranky prick that first week with the sugar withdrawals.

 

This will go over well:

World Health Organization warns non-sugar sweeteners may increase risk of diabetes and heart disease

 

No one should be surprised one bit that "non-sugar sweeteners," which are nothing more than chemicals. Even the stuff like Stevia isn't accepted well in the body.

There's a reason things like the Med diet or heavy fish/meat-nuts-plants diets work. It's real food.

Eat real food. Avoid shit and processed foods.