What do you think? Problem: Childhood Obesity. Cause: Lazy Parenting?

Sometimes is can be from that. Also, lifestyles have changed a lot from when I was a kid. It really is a more sedentary lifestyle. People are afraid to let their kids play outside, so kids play a lot of video games. When I was a kid, I played outside until dark - just running around, playing tag, hopscotch, jump rope, riding bikes or whatever. Sometimes there are other factors like a health condition.

American culture. American culture is driven on productivity, but also focuses on the ones behind the desk as being the most prominent. We are conditioned to want to be promoted, and the higher up you go the more likely you'll be behind a desk.

With little physical work but still being tired mentally, the American parent is too tired to do much when they get home. High fat foods are much easier to find and make, thus adding to the problem.

And with a TV and/or computer in pretty much every household now, plenty of inside distraction for the children.

Its not LAZY parenting, its the inability of their bodies to keep going. You are right on the cause, but not the reason as to why the cause exists.

There's that comment about "lazy" parenting....There are lazy parents out there, but the biggest problem is busy, not lazy...Too much on parent's plates it seems, to be giving children the supervision and care they really need...It's much easier to order from McDonald's then to cook a meal for so many,,,,it' s sad!

depends on the child really. Some kids are naturally gonna be a little chunky some keep that chink till middle school and then sprout.

Some is related to poor eating, and that is the parents fault, not saying no to sweets and forcign a balanced diet on the child.

Some kids are not as active as others. But as a parent it is our job to get them moving now and again.

But keep in mind each situation is different so I wont generalize and say lazy parenting.

Assessment: Sweeping Generalization.

Sure, buying lots of prepackaged foods and snacks, or getting fast food can contribute to obesity. So to the extent we cook less these days, we're arguably lazy chefs and that is part of the obesity epidemic. Lazy chefs doesn't mean lazy parents or lazy people, though. We're cooking less, but we're working more and many parents are spending the time that their own parents spent cleaning and cooking playing with their kids instead. To the extent we're not taking our kids to the park, that's arguably lazy until you realize we're taking them lots of other places instead (more extracurriculars like instrumental music or chess or book club or whatever, or organized sports with a big focus on winning so less athletically gifted kids end up spending the whole time on the bench and not getting enough exercise) ... so it's not so much parental laziness as it is attention to other things than exercise.

Other parts of the obesity puzzle include advertising, changes in food portions (which are substantially bigger now than 20 or 30 years ago both in people's homes and at restaurants), changes in food ingredients (the ubiquity of corn syrup, for example), more crowded living with fewer places to walk and exercise, fear of pedophiles that makes many parents keep their kids indoors, increased time on tv/ computer/ other sedentary activities, increased time on homework, increase in speciality summer camps and activities like computer camp instead of traditional camps that involve lots of running around, latchkey kids who aren't urged to get enough exercise, etc. (probably dozens more).

First off I'm going to say I'm completely not talking about the small percentage of children with health (diabetes- thyroid) problems. OK... set that aside.

Yes, some of the obesity comes from lazy parenting. That can't be denied. It takes hard work to make sure your kids develop good eating habits and get enough activity.
Also, it's a cost issue. It costs more to make a salad than to buy a box of Debbie cakes.
Kids that eat unhealthy are usually copying their parents. It IS lazy of parents not to set an example and get active and eat well.
I ate lunch with my daughter at school not too long ago. I packed her lunch (peanut butter sandwich, apples with fat free caramel dip, granola bar and strawberry yogurt), I watched most kids eat about the same kind of foods and same amount but one of the very obese little girls pulled out a 6 inch pepperoni, ham and turkey sub, a kit kat bar, a small bag of chips and a coke. It can't be denied that those must be the eating habits at home, in which are making the child obese. And it isn't FAIR to let your child get that large when it can be prevented.
You are denying your child a HEALTHY life when they aren't getting proper nutrients and exercise. That's all I can say.

lazy parenting in part! it is them that buy and make the foods.
But it is also everyones busy lifestyles. You have both parents having to work now to get by. They get home late and there is not the time to get kids out . It may be dark and it is not safe for them to go out by themselves. Schools can take some blame to , some are having less and less time for kids to play and do sport (not our school, if anything they are adding more sport but we are in Australia. I have asked how much playtime Americans get and was shocked at how little they get at school). Parents are buying more pre packaged foods and kids are in front of screens more and more. I don't know what the answer is for everyone but this is the first generation believed to die before their parents and that is sad

it is parents responsibility to do their best to keep their chirldren healty and most parents try to the best of their ability to help their child be healthy and happy.

but at the same time it can be a very difficult task to keep some chirldren satisfied and parents are just humans the way we all are.

it dose depend on the parents to teach their children healthy habbits but we all make mistakes somtimes. some people are very good at teaching good habbits others arnt it has nothing to do with lazyness

Nonsense. So much of it is genetic -- different bodies respond differently to adequate food intake and average activity level for our culture. One of the biggest myths of our times is the idea that fat people are fat because they eat worse and more and move their bodies less than thin people. In fact it is very possible for #1 person to eat better and exercise more than #2 person, and still be fatter than #2 person. My family is a perfect example -- we eat all organic, very little refined, food made from scratch, a good portion of vegetables and fruits, and my kids are outside a good part of the day running around and they play sports, as opposed to the average skinny kid who has to sit at a desk all day under fluorescent lights and who gets Snackables and soda for lunch and McDonald's for dinner. Guess what? My kids are fat. Yeah, it's not a simple black and white issue. Be careful who you judge, because you might not know anything about it at all. (I am so sick of hearing stories like, "Every time I go through the supermarket line some fat person is loaded up with junk food" -- well you know what? It seems like every time I go through the line with my beans and rice and organic vegetables, there's some skinny guy behind me loaded up with hostess twinkies and soda. I wish I were kidding.

Do some reading up on fat advocacy and the book The Diet Myth. Here is a great article about genetics and fat: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/health...

no u cant blame it on the parents some kids by junk food when their oparents dont now and also parentsd cannot force children to eat things csn they

usually, yes.

Yes - simple as that!

answer: mind your own business!!!!

No, junk food that taste good.

Yes and I always notice that fat kids have....FAT PARENTS!