Children need exercise not banning soda from schools

Feb 24
13:42

2009

Rocco Castellano

Rocco Castellano

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When are lawmakers going to get it together when it comes to providing "real" solutions to the crises that is fat. Rocco discusses other alternatives than banning soda in schools as a solution to childhood obesity

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I have my Google Alerts set on many topics but obviously one is set on fat & obesity. I get a daily alert with between 20 -30 articles from across the internet that speak to fat as a subject. So it's a topic that's not going away. Over the past 6 months at least 1 article read like a campaign speech and it's made me physically sick on more than one occasion. It has become a practice on insanity to listen to this rhetoric.

Lawmakers in many states believe it is a good idea to ban soft drinks and junk food in schools. They are creating an enemy where no enemy can be found. I'm definitely getting flashbacks of TV commentaries about WMD's and I don't like it. These lawmakers are creating their own cold war against an enemy that does not exist and I'm getting pretty tired of the BS.

Instead of spending money and time on imaginary enemies,Children need exercise not banning soda from schools Articles why aren't these same lawmakers taking that money and making it mandatory for schools to include physical education in their curriculum? The real enemy is "lack of movement" not products. The more you move the less fat you will become from ingesting products filled with "high fructose corn syrup" and the myriad of sugar substitutes.

Creating "make believe enemies" does not help in the fattening of America it only disguises another excuse? "It's not my fault; let's blame those soft drink companies. They shouldn't be allowed to make their stuff taste so good". My question is why not? As Americans we live in a free society that provides us the opportunity of choice...to either buy products or not. We can't blame advertisers for doing what they're supposed to do. Make it possible for you to buy their product. When are we going to take on the responsibility as adults and read a label or see that we don't consume products that are fattening. There is no reason to blame companies that make good products. For decades as a society we've known that junk food and sugary soft drinks are not a good thing, but people still buy and stuff their faces with it.

It doesn't take us to long to go back in history to understand that most Americans want what they can't have. Banning soft drinks in schools and public places will not do one thing to curb fatness or obesity. It will actually encourage these impressionable children and young adults to go after these products with fervor. The more attention that is brought to this subject the more the under belly will grow. Now that Congress has made themselves look utterly ridiculous with the whole "steroids in baseball" thing, maybe we can get them to aknowledge something that really matters. Why is there no cry for the heads of "Board of Education superintendents" for cutting physical fitness and fitness related extracurricular activities?

Where is President, William Jefferson Clinton when we need exercise in our schools not the creation of campaigns against "soft drinks of mass destruction"? Let's create task forces that establish exercise curriculum for schools and if there is no money for teachers to do it than why can't parents volunteer their time to run Boot Camp exercise classes for students. One, two, ten parents from each school district could easily provide enough movement to burn fat and decrease the fat and obesity rate in half within the next year. You read that correctly...within the next year. This war can and will be won. It doesn't take much for us to encourage our kid's to get out there and get some exercise.