I don't get it

Time to vent a little.

It’s just a little thing, but something that got me going. I heard the other day that the Masterfoods company is going to stop marketing snack foods to kids 12 and under due to fear of government regulations.

Apparently there is a link between marketing food to kids under 12 and obesity.

What about this link?

Kids don’t do anything these days. They eat junk, not because it’s marketed to them, but because it’s given to them. And then they sit in front of the TV or computer and play games.

No exercise at all.

Yes, I’m speaking in generalizations. Not all kids are obese. But it is a growing problem (pardon the pun).

Now that I’m at the are where I have started saying, “I remember when……” I remember when I was young. I ate a lot of junk food, and have the cavities to show it. The thing is, it was monitored and I was going to exercise a lot of it off. We rarely got a candy bar to munch on, and snack time was portioned out and only after dinner.

When fruit snacks came out, we got a pack. Not packs. We couldn’t down pop at our leisure. Again, we got to drink it, but it was portioned out. As bad as my eating habits were, I learned how to handle my portions. Eat til your full, not til your uncomfortable.

When are we going to stop asking for government regulations on things, and start regulating ourselves? It’s insane that the government would even consider regulating food. It’s insane that people are asking the government to regulate food.

Another big thing is the ban of transfat in cities, due to health issues regarding too much transfat in our diet. Now, I agree it’s not best for us, but are you kidding me?! I can’t have a plate of fries or some potato chips because of the transfat? An occasional side of fries is not going to kill me.

I understand the smoking bans. It effects other people. I understand the alcohol and drug regulation. The overindulgence of alcohol can lead to drunk driving, bad behavior, unwise behavior, etc. It doesn’t have to, but it often does.

But how does junk food effect other people? What? They might overlap seats?

Come on!

You can’t legislate morality and you can’t legislate good decisions. This is not the government’s job. Really, all you can do is educate. If people knew what exactly it was doing to their bodies, they should not partake or at least partake less of it.

Why don’t they regulate caffeine? They aren’t making Coke sell only no caffeine Coke. They aren’t regulating Red Bull and energy drinks that have documented side effects.

Maybe I’m insensitive. I don’t know. But I should be able to determine what I want to eat. Don’t penalize me because a few lazy people out there don’t know how to use the off button on their appetite.

The companies that do this are only meeting the demand for their products. If people had healthier demands, the companies would adjust. They always do. They follow the money.

I offer a solution to the unhealthy world out there. Push away from the table. Limit your portions. How often do we say “I shouldn’t have another helping or another handful”, but do?

Bottom line is this gets down to thinking and acting responsibly. If we acted and ate more responsible instead of irresponsibly we’d be better off. Acting irresponsibly leads to problems and then to excuses.

If Americans were truly concerned about transfat and obesity, we’d watch what we eat. Instead we take it all in, get fat and unhealthy, blame the makers of it, and get the government involved.

Ah yes. The American way.