We all need courage to face child obesity data

and therein lies the problem. This is a poor state overall and as such our citizens face issues such as food scarcity and limited choices so we end up with an obese unhealthy population and then Mainers being Mainers, we don't want to pay for the additional medical care required by the obese.

i raised nine kids and not one of them was obese. What I find most offensive about this is no one has to tell you that your kid is obese and this is a huge waste of money. Kids who are obese are living in households like you said babysat by TVs, Xbox, and nintendo. They are living out of paper bags and plastic microwavable containers. I agree on the cost thing completely. It is truly cheaper to eat healthy than buy junk and of course there is always the added joy and family fun and togetherness of growing a garden. Kids love to see the fruits of their labors and eat them too. In our house we never had soda or koolaid, most of the kids where lactose intolerant, so water was the mainstain, cheaper and healthier right from the tap, no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and no sugar. Nothing ever came in a box, a bag, a tray or a can as in pre-made. Cans held fresh cut green beans, corn, and peas for winter consumption and occasionally olives. This was partly to do with various family members' food allergies mostly for health and cost savings, feeding nine kids is going to be a challenge no matter how good of a job you have. We had one with a life-threatening peanut allergy which meant no cake mixes, muffin mixes etc that contained or was produced in a facility that handles peanuts. Another with an equally life threatening iodine allergy that meant no processed foods or iodized salt. Oh, and peanut butter, even if we did not have an allergy issue, would not have been around since it is loaded with fat and added sugar. Our bread was made at home from scratch too. Now some may think that cooking at home especially from scratch is very time consuming. But let me tell you, it is a lot more enjoyable and a lot less time consuming than rounding everyone up, loading them in the car, dragging them to a fastfood joint, dragging them home, collecting all the cups, napkins and containers and then hauling all that trash to the curb for the trash man. So while the family with the obese kids and mom and dad brewing their heart attacks are stressing on through all that fastfood fetching and cleaning up, my gang was picking fresh, enjoying each others company, making a great meal, eating it, washing the dishes and playing a pickup game of ball, tag, or hide and seek together. No you do not need to tell a parent their child is obese, they can see it for themselves, they just aren't willing to do what needs to be done to prevent it, stop it, or reverse it.

In response to Pinetree above:

One does not need to buy organic or spend lots of money to reach a healthy body weight. Do not buy into the media frenzy! Many excuses are made to justify obesity. I have a hard time believing that buying vegetables is a hardship when a frozen bag of peas is 99 cents and when a parent will buy a King SIze Kit Kat for the kid at the same price.

Scenerio #1: a family of four goes to McDonalds (or any quick-service restaurant for that matter) and buys four "value meals" for the family. We are looking at roughly $5.00 per meal, so the total would be $20.00 plus tax.

Scenerio #2: a family buys a whole chicken (roughly $5.00), a bag of frozen vegetables ($0.99), tossed salad (probably $ 4.00, including the cost of lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, etc), and maybe a starch like a baked potato (maybe costing 50 cents per spud if purchased in a 5-lb bag). Added up, grand total is $12.00.

Obesity is not simply about what you eat, it is about HOW MUCH you eat (too much of a good thing is still bad), and if you eat more than you can expend. Weight loss is not an easy thing, but it is not impossible. Send those children outside to play and take away the gameboy, playstation, or x-box! Exercise with your kids, whether it is playing ball or tag. Doesnt cost anything to go outside and play ball, and think of the benefits! Small steps will fight obesity.

I appreciate your editorial, but here's the thing...

we could solve all of our 'sins' if we just paid more money....we could eliminate childhood obesity if we just bought more of the 'right' food at higher prices for schools. You know...more organic foods, more fruits and vegetables, more of the 'right' stuff. Never mind that it's more expensive to do this...just do it! Who is going to pay for it? All of us? No one likes higher taxes...no one!

Or we could solve all of our energy problems with renewable energy if we just paid more money...bought more expensive greener technology...invested in wind, solar, tidal power...which we can do IF we decide to pay more! Who is going to pay for it?

Poverty could be solved with more money! Everything could be solved with more money! And, of course, we all know the best way to allocate resources because we have the right answer...."cut defense", "raise defense", "cut taxes", "raise taxes", "raise the retirement age", "cut the retirement age", "extend unemployment", "extend unemployment"...blah, blah, blah! "And, oh by the way, if you want to be reelected you'll listen to US."

If your editorial was designed to raise the issue and make people think, I think I've had enough of that. Maine is having a hard enough time trying to figure out what kind of state it wants to be, let alone curing cancer.