by Lee Coombes

Created on: November 05, 2007

As with any good question, the answer is always half way between yes and no. The Gray area that exists between the two is where most people will find their version of the truth.

Do I think that under 10's should attend weight loss camps? No.
Do I think that under 10's should be obese? No.

I think anything that seeks to buck the trend of the playstation generation of kids to eat more and play less is a good thing. A weight loss camp is a somewhat extreme, and hopefully last resort, example, but if a perfectly normal child has a body mass index that rises year on year it's a problem that needs to be addressed.

In my own mind, I feel that anyone that puts the child's feelings before his or her health is already a good distance along the road to a place i don't ever want to pass through, let alone visit. For 99% of children it's a simple case of balancing healthy food with exercise, in whatever form, to have a consistent and healthy upbringing. Children can eat burgers, ice cream, candy, but only if they are off-setting it with a game of football, baseball, running in the park, cycling, any number of things that children used to enjoy so much.

Thus we get to the problem. Whereas in years gone by you could drive home from work to see children playing in fields, running and playing in the streets.. You now see row after row of houses with upstairs windows flashing as another virtual goal or home run is scored.

If it is beyond parents to educate their offspring in a manner that leads them to make sensible life choices then it runs true that someone else will have to do the educating.

I still maintain that it should be a last resort, but with every passing generation becoming unhealthier than the last should we really be setting any kind of boundary age at which health is promoted?

I certainly don't think so.

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