Wasn't sure where to put this- its not really healthcare, but there isn't just a health section. Mods- feel free to move to a more appropriate section. Americans are getting fatter. From what I've read, its because of poor diet and inactivity, mainly during childhood. But it seems to me the inactivity is probably the bigger (if not by much) factor. So why are children inactive? Is it because video games provide an easier access to dopamine reward and a greater perception of accomplishment than running around outside? Is it because we're too afriad of our kids getting in trouble/injured/abducted when unsupervised? Is it because we're too busy (or too lazy ourselves) to take them hiking, play ball with them or pick them up from practice everyday? Is it because theres too much bullying in sports and they only feel safe at home? I tend to blame it on helicopter parenting, parents who are afraid to let their children do anything potentially unsafe, like playing in the woods or walking to friends houses. But to be fair to them, that is considered by most 'authorities' on the subject (and certainly by other henpecking parents) today to be bad parenting... No risk, no reward I think is applicable here. Its certainly a tragedy when a child gets severely hurt, killed or dissapeared while playing unsupervised, but is it any less of a tragedy for all of our children to be perpetually couped up in the safety of home? What do you think?
Its certainly interesting how folks high up in the industry, like Steve Jobs that I know of specifically, banned their own kids from having their smart phones, yet never cautioned (at least not that I ever saw) other parents to do the same.
Inactivity IS a healthcare issue. Most of our healthcare cost go for preventable diseases linked to obesity. But, drive down the street. Fast food restaurants are everywhere. Instead of eating three squares a day, most can’t drive, let alone walk three blocks without stopping to eat foods high in sugar content which causes diabetes and perpetual hunger. We are always hungry because of the way fast food is made. My solution ? Serve in the armed forces for two years where you get three nutritious squares a day. A day you start off with some one screaming in your ear with obscenities you can only escape with a five mile run. Exercise and good food has to be provided to see the benefits. If they can’t be provide voluntarily, make it mandatory.
What can be done about such when the modern world, due to both economics and feminism being what they are, demand that both parents work, leaving no one to do any actually healthy cooking and meal preparation?
We need video games that incorporate and require actual physical activity, It may not be the most beneficial exercise but you can't tell me that Just Dance doesn't get its players moving https://technogog.com/information/10-video-games-that-can-help-you-add-exercise-to-your-day/ We also need healthy food that doesn't cost a mint, take hours to prepare and can actually be eaten by human beings. This Puritanical streak we have saying that we must suffer to be healthy is killing us.
@modernpaladin Look at your average modern city, it looks like a prison. More and more places are just a long place of unpleasant buildings. I think that play a role, that and videogames also.
Those lines come from trying to make everyone the same. Cities are the engines of civilization because they thrive on diversity, they die when we try to make everyone like everyone else. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Life-Great-American-Cities/dp/067974195X
More than a lack of diversity, I would says a lack of nature, green and simply beautifull things. I think that calhoun experiments on mouse's utopia is quite intersting to understand some dynamics in nowodays cities.
I think inactivity is an issue and various forms of media are to blame. It's like that South Park episode where the kids say, "Real life is so boring and stupid." I like the suggestion of games that encourage activity. Hopefully a game like counterstrike but instead you have to actually run and shoot will become popular someday. Pokemon Go at least encouraged going from place to place. For obesity though, diet is the main factor. Unless you exercise like Michael Phelps or at least a marathon runner you're not going to outexercise a bad diet. Large portions, especially of meat, lots of sugars and oils all contribute. The fact that we subsidize corn and produce corn syrup and oil in industrial quantities instead of subsidizing healthier things like vegetables and beans contributes to the problem. Marketing to pay just a little more for a ridiculous portion to get extra value is another contributer. Cities are organized in such a way that it is hard to go places without using a car (suburbs). Lots of issues come together to make us fat, but a change in culture can turn it around.
