NationStates Jolt Archive

Toddlers too obese for child car seats, says study

Associated Press in Chicago
Tuesday April 4, 2006

America's growing obesity problem is making many young children too heavy for standard car-safety seats, prompting firms to develop heftier models, according to research in the journal Pediatrics.

Some 280,000 US children aged one to six are over the limit for standard seats, mostly three-year-olds over 40lb (18kg), which is generally considered overweight. More than 23% of US children aged two to five are overweight.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to create a 36kg crash dummy for testing safety seats, 11kg heavier than current simulators.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1746097,00.html

This is just horrifying. People's health is being wrecked from birth as surely as through malnourishment. They are never going to have a chance, are they? :headbang:

The sad thing is, the solution will probably be bigger car seats.

I blame the cheap petrol Americans don’t bother walking down the street because they can drive for pretty much nothing I also blame the American pedestrian accessibility and the belief that walking means your car is broken in America

All of this I got from a GCSE mock paper

Well done Americans, you're undoubtedly eating your way to the bottom of the competitive pile that we call the nations of the world.

I blame the cheap petrol Americans don’t bother walking down the street because they can drive for pretty much nothing I also blame the American pedestrian accessibility and the belief that walking means your car is broken in America

All of this I got from a GCSE mock paper

Well we do have a much bigger country so walking isn't really an opition unless you want to spend the whole day going somewhere. I blame the parents who are too stupid to not feed their kid properly.

Fat kids really annoy me. I feel like spitting on the parents every time I see one.

Fat is good padding in a car accident. Bouncier kids are safer kids. :D

They also make excellent floatation devices. :D

Well we do have a much bigger country so walking isn't really an opition unless you want to spend the whole day going somewhere. I blame the parents who are too stupid to not feed their kid properly.

I don't know how far round the block is in America but my rule is if it takes less than 45 mins walk

I don't know how far round the block is in America but my rule is if it takes less than 45 mins walk

Americans don't necessarily have a problem with walking for 45 minutes - it's the lack of sidewalks that drives us into our gas-guzzling cars. :(

Well we do have a much bigger country so walking isn't really an opition unless you want to spend the whole day going somewhere. I blame the parents who are too stupid to not feed their kid properly.
Your country as a whole might be much bigger, but you can't say the same for cities, towns etc. so "but our country is bigger" isn't much of an excuse/reason.

Your country as a whole might be much bigger, but you can't say the same for cities, towns etc. so "but our country is bigger" isn't much of an excuse/reason.
Europe is big too. And you can drive across a border the same as a stateline - just passing a "Welcome To ..." sign in a field. So it's not much of an argument.

People really need to be made to accept responsibility for their health and that of their offspring, that's what it comes down to. It's one thing for someone to become fat from a lazy careless lifestyle, but having that choice made for you on your behalf from birth, you can't defend that.

I don't know how far round the block is in America but my rule is if it takes less than 45 mins walk
I didn't mean in the city

Edit
I live in the middle of no where so walking would be a day long thing for me. I hate living in the middle of nowhere. Stupid cows and corn feilds....

I blame the cheap petrol Americans don’t bother walking down the street because they can drive for pretty much nothing I also blame the American pedestrian accessibility and the belief that walking means your car is broken in America

All of this I got from a GCSE mock paper
Try blaming the lack of sidewalks, public transportation, and parks.

I blame the cheap petrol Americans don’t bother walking down the street because they can drive for pretty much nothing I also blame the American pedestrian accessibility and the belief that walking means your car is broken in America

All of this I got from a GCSE mock paper

If that's the one with quotes from Bill Brysons "Notes from a Big Country" then you're reading too much into it. Walking does not mean that your car is broken, merely that you're a bit... urmm... "challenged". Or so it would seem, not willing to make sweeping statements :)

Your country as a whole might be much bigger, but you can't say the same for cities, towns etc. so "but our country is bigger" isn't much of an excuse/reason.

Well, most towns in this country that are considered "small" (about 10,000 people) are very spread out. My town has about 15,000 people, and it's ten miles east-to-west and fifteen miles north-to-south. Along with that, the only place in town with sidewalks is the downtown district, and that's one of the most insignificant places in the entire area (the shopping district is much more active).

This is the norm of many small American towns, though this is usually just in the Southwest. Small towns in the Northeast are very compact and easy to walk in by comparison. Shit, even the bigger cities in the Northeast have good sidewalk coverage (like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York).

Walking in Houston? That's an oxymoron.

Try blaming the lack of sidewalks, public transportation, and parks.
Or blame a society and culture that would rather sanction spending money on defence than on infrastructure like that, and then use cop out excuses to defend it.

Or blame a society and culture that would rather sanction spending money on defence than on infrastructure like that, and then use cop out excuses to defend it.

Sadly, this is true.

It's as much to do with people who have far too easy access to fast food restaurants, who make the choice to eat there, and who further make the choice to feed their kids food from said restaurant, as it is cars. Even, perhaps, moreso.

Now, I would like to point out that almost every kid that I personally know is of normal or slightly sub-normal weight. Granted, I live in the organic capital of America, so my experience might not be the best. But to deride all Americans as fat, ugly, stupid bastards with no knowledge of the outside world is ignorant at best.

[/unrelated, pointless rant]

Or blame a society and culture that would rather sanction spending money on defence than on infrastructure like that, and then use cop out excuses to defend it.
But if we develop public transportation, the terrorists win.

But if we develop public transportation, the terrorists win.
:D

Someone make the guy a sig.

But if we develop public transportation, the terrorists win.

Public transport is the first step towards Communism.

Aye, and then you get free healthcare as well... bloody hell... might start calling your most famous building "The Red House" after that... :p

Maybe they should start routinely stapling their stomachs like they have them routinely circumcised?

Maybe they should start routinely stapling their stomachs like they have them routinely circumcised?

Hahaha. Classic!

Public transport is the first step towards Communism.
The wheels on the bus go, ""From each according to his ability, to each according to his need!!!"

:D

Someone make the guy a sig.

Mine!*claims*

Discovery Channel has a new show coming up we might want to check out: "Honey, We're Killing the Kids" in which they apparently plan to tough-love families into actually thinking about what the American diet & habits are doing to life-time health. I wasn't sure I wanted to check out another reality show, but I saw an ad for it last night in which there's a family of two normal-looking adults and three young children, all obese. It was horrifying. The eldest child, surely less than 8 years old, starts crying at the mere mention of the phrase "healthy food" -- not temper crying, actual weeping as if his puppy died. I think this might be a seriously disturbing program.

I agree with the poster who said he/she wants to spit at the parents of obese children. I feel the same way. I come from a family that struggles with weight -- I think it's a combination of genes and culture; we all have the same body type, but we're also a food-is-love-and-sharing family. But weight only becomes an issue for us after we grow up. None of the kids in my family were ever fat because we're also a real-food family and a playing-outside family. I was a lazy kid and I used to get yelled at -- "Get out in that yard and run around like a kid is supposed to. You're not getting back in this house unless you're panting."

When I see young kids so obese they can't walk freely -- I'm sorry, I just think it's abuse.

:D

Someone make the guy a sig.

I'm putting teh_panless_hero's quote in my sig.

Fat is good padding in a car accident. Bouncier kids are safer kids. :D

They also make excellent floatation devices. :DAnd when the aliens come, they'll have plenty of tasty meals to choose from. :D

It's multiple problems rather then people simply eatting McDonalds 3 times a day.

Probably the biggest problem and the one to really help put a dent in the weight issue would be the over use of sugar. It's in everything!

My wife had gestational diabetes and had to watch what she ate. It was a real eye opener when we had to find food she could eat.

Now, there are the webbal people and there are the ones that eat fast food multiple times a week and there are the people that don't exercise.

Best thing though would be stopping the practice of sugar additives in everything......

Luckily, we Usians are exporting our culture of fatness around the world, so that we don't have to be the only fat ones. Apaprently you other first world nations are enjoying McDonalds McGriddles as much as we are. SO what if there is no real nutrition in it... you are getting full and money is being made.

Eat up!

Luckily, we Usians are exporting our culture of fatness around the world, so that we don't have to be the only fat ones. Apaprently you other first world nations are enjoying McDonalds McGriddles as much as we are. SO what if there is no real nutrition in it... you are getting full and money is being made.

Eat up!

That is for sure. I was in the UK a few months back and noticed they are getting larger.

"More kids being damaged."

Damaged is an excellent album by the band Black Flag. I'm listening to it right now.

It's multiple problems rather then people simply eatting McDonalds 3 times a day.

Probably the biggest problem and the one to really help put a dent in the weight issue would be the over use of sugar. It's in everything!

My wife had gestational diabetes and had to watch what she ate. It was a real eye opener when we had to find food she could eat.

Now, there are the webbal people and there are the ones that eat fast food multiple times a week and there are the people that don't exercise.

Best thing though would be stopping the practice of sugar additives in everything......


So true, but there are other causes as well. It seems that food on the US market (even stuff we import like Dannon Yogurt for example) has less nutrition and more additives, leaving us hungrier because we aren't getting the nutrients we need, so we eat more as well.

I just thought this would somehow fit into this thread:

Burger King To Sell Xbox 360 Games? (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/burger-king-to-sell-xbox-360-games-166066.php)

That is for sure. I was in the UK a few months back and noticed they are getting larger.


Yeah I've heard this from quite a few travelers to Europe in general. I'll be going there int eh beginning of May so I get to see it first hand.

Yeah I've heard this from quite a few travelers to Europe in general. I'll be going there int eh beginning of May so I get to see it first hand.
Depressingly, it's true.

For the first time ever in the UK, I saw an obese woman slowly walking with her son (aged 7 or so) who was fat and waddling. Couldn't even walk properly.

That is for sure. I was in the UK a few months back and noticed they are getting larger.

I was too, but I also noticed there were more substitutes than in America...instead of fries a kid could get a little fruit cup or a little bag of baby carrots instead.

Depressingly, it's true.

For the first time ever in the UK, I saw an obese woman slowly walking with her son (aged 7 or so) who was fat and waddling. Couldn't even walk properly.


Yeah, here's what irks me - I could care less if people want to eat until their stomach explodes and their heart fails, but at least consider your childs health when deciding what to feed them (or how much). I guess that is the point of your thread too eh?

Like my fiance... Her parents came from the Phillipines and lived with very little. THey came to the US and worked very hard and made quite a bit of money so they wanted their kids to have everything they didnt have. They filled their cupboards with all the standard junk food (Hostess snacks, chips of all kinds, soda, candy, and the list goes on).

They let their kids eat anythign and everything until they couldn't eat anymore. My fiance loved the snacks and quickly became nice and fat. WHen the time came for extracirricular activities, she wanted to go out for gymnastics, martial arts and different sports but her parents discouraged her from doing so saying she was too fat!!!!!!!!!!!

WHen we finally got together I had to basically teach her the basics of nutrition and just how bad all these sugary and fatty foods were for her (she knew it wasnt health food but she didnt know you could eat delicious food that was healthy at the same time). She Didn't think she was capable of eating healthy and exercising (and had a pretty heavy addiction to sugary foods) but after a short while hanging out with me and eating the food I cooked she quicklydropped like 40 pounds... then I got her exercising with me and she quickly lost even more.

Now her parents both have diabetes and other health problems and are struggling to teach themselves how to eat properly. They are even getting a lot of good information from my girl and slowly improving.

I feel sorry for her parents and it's hard to get mad at them for not taking their kids health into greater consideration because all they really wanted to do was give them everything they could to make them happy, but I do get mad at them anyway because you would think this is common sense stuff.

It should be obvious that healthy food is the best medicine (besides laughter) and junk food creates junk bodies.

Well done Americans, you're undoubtedly eating your way to the bottom of the competitive pile that we call the nations of the world.

Europe is getting pretty fat to. Also America has always been pretty fat.....why you think we are 'aristocratic fatcats' or just 'fatcats'?