Preventing Obesity In Our Kids: Should Texas Follow the UK’s Example?

As a child, my weight fluctuated wildly. One month I'd be chubby, the next scrawny.

I grew up in the 80s/90s so there was plenty of junk food around and it was constantly marketed to me in commercials, on billboards, and on shelves.

While we're on the subject, so were beer and cigarettes in the form of Spuds McKenzie and Joe Camel, but I digress.

I had plenty of Ectocoolers and McDonald's French fries (fried in beef tallow, no less!), but I always seemed to ultimately burn it off. Many of us had times of chubbiness, but few were obese.

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If it seems like nowadays there are more obese kids, you're absolutely right. In the late 80s, only 5.4% of children were obese, while in the late 90s 9.2%, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Now, the amount of children who are obese in the U.S. is nearly 20%, according to the CDC. Texas has the 7th highest of any state.

The UK has roughly the same number of obese children and is now taking steps against it, by banning the advertising of "junk" food.

The definition of junk food is, to me, shockingly broad, including sweetened yogurt, croissants, and potato products along with the usual suspects like soda, candy, and chips, according to the BBC.

Will this tactic work? Or is it just political posturing in the face of a complex and multi-faceted issue? As a former child who still yearns for Shark Bites and the original Dunakaroos, I think the latter.

Myself and all my peers ate tons of junk. The difference is that we burned it off. We spent hours outside, unsupervised, riding bikes, skating, swimming, and being little heathens.

As a parent myself, I never left my child outside unattended. I was afraid of what the world could do to her. I don't blame parents for not setting their children free to roam, even if they felt they were allowed to anymore.

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And with both parents typically working extended hours, we are left exhausted and possibly unable to attend/ afford sports and other physical activities for our kids.

A balance between eating less junk and exercising more needs to be implemented for kids, and that will require a lot of effort from many adults. Time will tell if the UK puts a dent in their obesity epidemic, but I'm skeptical.