Well its a bit more of a complex question.
Mainly, could the parent(s) afford healthy food? If they couldn't, then you are punishing someone for someone they can't control. So if you want to do this, you would need to make sure everyone can afford healthy food :/
I'm not defending people that eat their way into health issues and an early grave, but I think the issue is that yes, a pound of bananas might be less than a buck but who is really going eat 3 or 4 bananas at a time? Sadly, it IS cheaper and easier to buy something junky that at least resembles a meal than it is to make a balanced, healthy meal.
That said, parents do have a responsibility to ensure that their kids are getting real food and spending enough time being active.
http://anotherschwab.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/miss-the-point.png
*sigh*
Nobody is going to eat four bananas at a time, my point is that it's way healthier and still easy to come by. And that healthy food is in fact cheap. Sudo-healthy "organic" crap that you get at whole foods and similar places might not be, but they sell to people who want to be healthy and think that's the only place you can shop if you do.
I didn't miss your point, sparky. I know that no one is going to eat that many bananas. I cook at home 7 nights a week most of the time, I'm very familiar with the cost of groceries. I utilize farmer's markets a great deal because they tend to be cheapest, and I'm very careful to make the most of money. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to run through the drive through at McDonald's than it is to cook a healthy, balanced meal a lot of the time. If you're talking about fruit or veggies as a snack then yes, it's probably cheaper than junk. And there are some meals that are cheap and super healthy. But a varied and diverse diet that is nutritionally sound is NOT cheaper than convenience foods in most cases.
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I made the statement about not eating a bunch of bananas as a meal because you made the comment that someone could get a pound of bananas instead of a taco.
Then get a pound of bananas instead of a taco and then have a snack for now and for later and for a bit after that then. My dad would cook every night too, and it's definitely cheaper to cook every night than eat at a restaurant, even fast food. We always had leftovers and you have to take into account the sum of the ingredients divided by eight because it was a family of four over the span of two nights. If you think that THAT is less than a meal at a drive through, you're just wrong.
Good grief. Ok. You must live in an area with unusually cheap grocery stores. I feed my little family of three, including packing lunch for my daughter every day, so I know without a doubt that the majority of meals I cook do indeed cost more than fast food. That is a fact, not an opinion or speculation. Dinner tonight cost me roughly $30, so yes, fast food would be significantly cheaper.
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I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but if you have $5 to your name and you're overworked and stretched thin it's a lot easier to grab 5 McChickens than it is to figure out how to cook a meal with $5. And THAT is a fact. Most of the people I know that are really struggling financially also have to work long hours in jobs that aren't easy on them. The time and effort that a bag of dried beans, fresh produce, and a protein of some sort would require is just not in the cards. So yeah, that taco isn't the best choice (and wouldn't be my choice) but sometimes things aren't so black and white.
Ummm okay well I work 60 hours a week while in school and cook when I can. If I don't cook, I don't eat. I just can't really afford to get things from a restaurant. In my experience, living alone, ingredients are cheaper. Especially with leftovers.
I didn't think much of the 60 hour work week thing until I saw another comment where you said you don't have your high school diploma yet. Are you working that many hours a week while you're in high school?
fast food is definitely cheaper than cooking at home, at least if you order right, i mean i did used to date a dude who managed to make a trip t mcdonalds cost him about 25 bucks, sooo maybe you're one of those. cheap canned processed stuff is also cheaper, i have been trying to eat better lately and succeeding to a degree but i run into issues as i do live just a bit above pay check to pay check and when i am in a rough couple weeks theres no apples and homemade lean meals, its whatevers cheap (noodles mostly) or shelves well enough that i still have it (which is always always always full of carbs) water is about the only cheap thing thats healthy.
Healthy food doesn't mater, as far as obesity is concerned. If I ate nothing but junk food, keeping my calories at less than 2000 a day, I would still be weigh the same.
I think a lot of the food cost issues do depend on where you live, some places are just not suitable for growing a huge variety of produce or raising livestock so the cost is higher. Mass produced, frozen stuff is more cost efficient.
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And theodorerex, to some extent that may be true but there ARE conditions, medications, etc. that impact how food is metabolized. I'm currently on a course of treatment that tends to cause weight gain, so it's been a fight to maintain my weight in spite of the fact that my diet and activity levels haven't changed at all.
Heh I actually uhm... I *may* have a hyperactive thyroid or something... My hands are always shaking and in my wrestling days, I'd eat 6000-8000 calories a day and still be the lowest weight class.
junky food leaves you feeling hungry again sooner... your body needs more than just calories so even if you stuff it full of calories when it still needs other things it will just demand more and acting holier than thou about calorie counts and the body screaming for more food is absurd.
Calorie deficit might be the driving force behind weight loss, but caloric need varies wildly from one person to another. 2 people performing the exact same activity are not going to burn the same number of calories so it's not like you can just point a finger at someone and assume that cutting a few hundred calories a day is the magic answer. It's rather shocking to think that there are really people that think it's that easy across the board. For some people it may be that simple, but it's not the case for everyone. Doctors don't have a damn clue why certain drugs cause weight gain or the inability to lose weight, but reducing your intake to 700 calories a day is a very quick way to make yourself very sick.
there are numerous studies that argue every angle of nutrition you can post a hundred links for each argument because its significantly more complicated than that. and thats life in a box anyways, have one person eat 1200 calories a day in burgers and another eat 1200 calories a day in apples and see how they feel and how energetic they are the rest the day, theres going to be a difference, and 1200 calories of burgers is a few bucks and i have no idea how many apples makes 1200 calories but i know most apples are like 2.99-4.99 a pound. plus since this originated as a discussion about affordability you gotta take shelf stability into mind, this is really where most people get stuck on less healthy foods, when you shop in bulk to save money and because you have to budget for the month you arent gunna get a whole lot of bananas cuz you got a small window to eat those but salty preservative filled carb loaded foods last for montthhssss
I was at McDonald's yesterday because I needed to eat 40 chicken nuggets to get that off my New Years resolution. So I thought it was going to be really expensive but the 10 piece chicken nuggets cost 4.90 but the 20 piece cost 5 bucks. It was only a 20 cent difference so I decided to go and buy it. As I was eating my chicken nuggets I saw a little girl staring at me, she looked about six but daaaaaaanmmmm she was FAT, like her checks were so chubby she couldn't even talk right. She appeared American with freckles and blond hair, and she asked me. "WHERE DID YOU GET DOSE CHICKEN NUGGESTS." And I told her that a got them at the counter. She countinued to stare at me eating my chicken nuggets and it was kind of unsettling until I heard a voice "VIRGINA LETS GO HONEY." But the girl said "MOM I WANT SOME CHICKEN NUGGETS." The mom said no we have a burger for you. And the girl didn't want to go and started crying and SNEEZED ALL OVER MY DAMN CHICKEN NUGGETS. Then the mom has the balls to
Get up and she would make a walrus look skinny. Like Fat ass doesn't begin to describe it, I'm surprised she didn't need a wheel chair. So she got up and picked up the girl and said 'VIRGINA WE ARE COMING HOME NOOOOOOOOWWWWW, AND NO ICE CREAM FOR YOU!" And she picked up the girl and left. (The manager also refunded my chicken nuggets)
Parent's can (and should) have a big influence, but...
How about fixing the legally mandated education that makes them sit inside all day with exercise scheduled for 30 minutes every other day?
How about fixing the economy where parent where parents (with a college education) have to work two job, so they don't see their kids, never mind have time to worry that they are eating McDonald.
What about fixing the media which allows children's television to have ads that are 75-90% about junk food.
This is a cultural problem, not a handful of neglectful parents.
How about parents make their kids go out and play. It's parenting. My parents and my friends parents didn't let us eat junk food and because our parents were active, so we're we. None of us were obese. It's a parenting problem.
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· 9 years ago
Her face should have been blotted out to avoid her embarrassment. I hate it when people are made fun of for the whole internet to see.
There was a lawsuit about this meme. The girl in the picture has a development disability and the weight is a part of it. The child was already being teased and this meme has made her life worse. Shaming people about their weight never makes them lose it, but can cause more weight gain as they see food as their only friend.
Mainly, could the parent(s) afford healthy food? If they couldn't, then you are punishing someone for someone they can't control. So if you want to do this, you would need to make sure everyone can afford healthy food :/
That said, parents do have a responsibility to ensure that their kids are getting real food and spending enough time being active.
*sigh*
Nobody is going to eat four bananas at a time, my point is that it's way healthier and still easy to come by. And that healthy food is in fact cheap. Sudo-healthy "organic" crap that you get at whole foods and similar places might not be, but they sell to people who want to be healthy and think that's the only place you can shop if you do.
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I made the statement about not eating a bunch of bananas as a meal because you made the comment that someone could get a pound of bananas instead of a taco.
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I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but if you have $5 to your name and you're overworked and stretched thin it's a lot easier to grab 5 McChickens than it is to figure out how to cook a meal with $5. And THAT is a fact. Most of the people I know that are really struggling financially also have to work long hours in jobs that aren't easy on them. The time and effort that a bag of dried beans, fresh produce, and a protein of some sort would require is just not in the cards. So yeah, that taco isn't the best choice (and wouldn't be my choice) but sometimes things aren't so black and white.
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And theodorerex, to some extent that may be true but there ARE conditions, medications, etc. that impact how food is metabolized. I'm currently on a course of treatment that tends to cause weight gain, so it's been a fight to maintain my weight in spite of the fact that my diet and activity levels haven't changed at all.
Please continue
How about fixing the legally mandated education that makes them sit inside all day with exercise scheduled for 30 minutes every other day?
How about fixing the economy where parent where parents (with a college education) have to work two job, so they don't see their kids, never mind have time to worry that they are eating McDonald.
What about fixing the media which allows children's television to have ads that are 75-90% about junk food.
This is a cultural problem, not a handful of neglectful parents.