Fat Kids? Blame the Toys

I pretty much buy my kids the toys that I thought were fun when I was their age.

Jump ropes, kites, skateboards, scooters, bicycles, etc.

My kids turn to those things before they turn to action figures for entertainment.

You don't need a lot of money to buy them. Shop online or on Ebay and you can get a minefield of stuff for so little money.

I have watched my nephew become obese at the age of 12 because he has almost no physical activity. It's all about the video games.

I fully agree - and I am speaking from experience here, because I myself am quite obese, mainly as a result of spending too many hours in front of the computer playing videogames since the age of 4. I never really had any motivation to go out there and burn up some calories by exercising or running around playing cowboys and indians with my friends - who needs cowboys or indians when you could fire up Doom and slaughter your way through thousands of imps and demons and what not?

There were always plenty of sedentary toys in the past - dolls of any sort, etch-a-sketches, paints, board games - and plenty active toys nowadays - scooters were huge for a while, I suspect that we're in the trough after this craze, and that another one will appear.
However, I guess there is an underlying problem to do with more electronic toys, even if there isn't such a trend away from active toys. It's a bit of a vicious cycle - as more kids spend more hours doing indoors stuff, there are fewer kids willing to go out because there's no one to play with. Without that social factor, few toys see any use. And with a strong social factor, few kids need any toys to encourage active play.

I always thought those active toys were much cooler than video games. When I was a kid, we had bikes and jump ropes and sidewalk chalk (to draw hopscotch games). We also had Barbies and Lincoln Logs and Tinkertoys...but those were for when it was too dark or cold out to play outside. In the winter we used to go build snow forts and snowmen, but it seems like wintertime now is for kids to sit on their butts in front of the latest video game station. BTW, I'm not even old...I'm only in my early 20's. So I'd say the trend of sedentary kids has definitely grown quite rapidly in just the past few years.

Blame the fat role models.

http://www.antiagingatlanta.com

Yes, blame the fat role models. Children do what parents do, not what the parents tell them to do. Life is not easy and many parents do not have great coping skills or know how to prioritize. After a hard days work, looking for a quick route to escape from the stress (like watching TV and eating quick heavy carb meals and snacking) is preferable to taking the extra time to prepare a healthy meal and going for a walk. It all feels good for the moment, but when the consequences kick in it feels awful in the long fun.

Come to think of it, I did actually buy my boyfriend a playstation last christmas - however, I bought it so he could play Dance Dance revolution at home. Eye toy is another good option for active video game play - I find it especially good because outdoor activities tend to favour the legs and lower body, where as Eye toy favours the arms and upper body.
Video game play doesn't have to be all inactive, and hopefully the market for body movement controllers will only grow as designers take advantage of the possibilities, particularly with virtual reality.

Ok i think kids these days r trying to not to be overwieght cuz they see all the other kids wearing nice colorful clothes and they can't fit in them so they try the easiset way is to throw up or become very depressed. The way other people treat fat people is really unresectful the way they stare at u and the kids tease u at school. I think people should teach their kids that people come in all shapes and sizes and fat people r people too and they do have feeling too!!

I'm a teenager who likes video-games alot. But I don't let it control my life; I only play them later in the day, and I do sufficient exercise to keep any unwanted weight gain off. Kids can and do have self-control.

I'm also a teenager. I find that it's a personal choice to stay in shape or not. Instead of playing video games when I was younger I read books and used the internet. Reading these books worked my imagination so that I would want to go out and relive those adventures that can only be true in the confines of one's own imagination.
Do not blame the children, blame the nurture of the children.
Once a child gets to the age of 16, he/she can choose to lose the weight on his/her own.
Stop stereotyping us all as "kids."
Most of us "kids" are also running around having premarital sex, trying out various drugs, and being very violently competitive. Those are physical activities, no?
In bigger cities, there isn't ROOM for kids to go out and play soccer or baseball. They can go play basketball and risk their lives with the crime rate as it is.
You'll find the highest obesity rates are in the larger cities, where fast food and no space for exercise reign supreme.
So really blame America, freedom of choice permits freedom to be a couch potato.

get a life

Im a teenager and i definately agree that the toys that people play with effects their weight. Many of my friends that are obese, are quite obsessed with their computer and video games...personally i think..yes, it is their choice but quit whining about it if u dont plan on doing anything about it. I dont play any of those types of things, and i have people ask me what i do to stay so fit and all i say is i dont sit around playing video games...to me even doing chores around the house is considered exercise!

I agree.. I'm am now a 18 year old who is obiese, and has been quite large since I was around the age of four. Most of my toys as a child were indoor stuff.But there is a fun resolution about my weight.There is a videogame that is great for loosing weight!!!!

Right now I am on a DDR playing workout and diet that I set up for myself.. (DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION is a video game for the Ps2 and it has a dance pad on the floor and arrows pop up on the screen and you have to step on the arrow at the same time it gets to the top of the screen.) Now this might sound like a step step step meh boring game but its fun & It works. I have lost 11 lbs on this game and I've only been doing this workout for a week so far. (its only been recently that I aknowledged my weight and descided to do something about it..)

If you want to see for yourself here is a couple of links (but watch out for the video blog one.. at the bottom where the other links are.. theres some sick people who put really .. gross stuff >_http://video.freevideoblog.com/player.aspx?fileid=6F9DCC6E-6C1B-4678-AF2A-7D747160D05E

There are different select modes and such so that people can get use to the slower ones first then work there way up.. hes doing it on a harder one..

anyway :) not that I want it to become a craze but if It can help others, well then thats awsome ^__^

p.s it has calorie burning calculator too :)

When I was a kid I always enjoyed playing with active toys, sports or games. Not until I got into high school is when I became less active and sat in front of the tv playing nintendo.

I am a fan of video games myself but I also get my share of active play, I like to play the Nintendo Wii Because it makes you move with the game and you have to get up and move to win most of the games, on of my favorite games for the Wii is The Ledgend of Zelda and the Twilight Princess, I do agree with the other games Like Danc Dance Revolution I play that alot and it helps me keep my weight down, I fyou get to the Heavy modes it works wonders on your legs, butt, hips, and lover abs.

Emilee Miller
Age:14

Glad to read those who wrote in about active videogames like DDR and Eye Toy. We have been using these types of "exergames" in the clinic with our patients, helping schools get set up with this type of videogame as a supplement to their PE or afterschool program, and targeting those kids who don't like to exercise. To see a lot more examples of that, go to our blog on our website at www.xrtainmentzone.com and you can see how these videogames can be good for your health!!