COSPRO Child Obesity Newsletter July 2009
What's On Top
- My apologies if you didnt get the June Newsletter. Technical difficulties at this end (not the least of which was the untimely passing of my office computer!). If you did get the Newsletter then you may need to bear with me as Im going to repost some of the issues raised in that Newsletter to ensure that they are sufficiently distributed. There are also a couple of new issues and topics of interest which have come up in the meantime, so please read on...! (But before you do, please note that any omission of apostrophes in this Newsletter is due to ongoing technical issues - not a lack of writing skills!)
Topics Of Interest
- The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show is a new TV series which promises to provide us with a hands-off, no-holds-barred look at parenting in todays climate of political correctness. Truth is, when I first saw the shorts for this new series I thought; ‘Yay! At last heres someone with the clout and the courage to rail against the invasive influence of our current crop of state social engineers’.
Nigel Latta, the host of the show, provides us with some good common-sense advice to counter the sociopolitical dogma that modern parents have been bombarded with in recent times, and tells it like it really is out here in the real world. Basically, he tells it like we knew all along but were too scared, politicised, or downright brainwashed to admit and assert as parents of the children we - not the government - conceived, nutured, and raised.
I have a strong suspicion that Nigel Latta and The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show is going to have some significant influence on the current concept of ideal parenting. Specifically, I think the series is going to remind us parents of our instinctive imperative to provide care, support, and guidance to our offspring, regardless of what the government of the day may deem ‘politically correct’.
Dont get me wrong - I’m not advocating a return to the bad old days of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. I have far more faith in good parents to see past such archaic and outdated methods of parenting. A concept of ‘firm but fair’, and learning from the mistakes and excesses of our past, would, I think, go a long way to raising a new generation of young people who are as comfortable being in a society that respects basic human values as they are adaptable and receptive to it.
This Wednesday 22nd on TV1 at 8pm Nigel Latta is going to talk about issues around having a ‘chubby child’. Parents with big kids who watch this show should realise that a lot of what Nigel says may go against what they have been socially conditioned to believe, and that as parents they may be stirred to recognise that they have a far greater influence on the health and wellbeing of their child than they ever thought possible.
Perhaps some of Lattas’ comments might seem insensitive or even objectionable to such parents, and in this case I can only suggest that the show be viewed in light of its essentially tounge-in-cheek nature, but also that the underlying messages expressed may well appeal to the underlying concept of what parenting is all about - being good parents to good kids.
So dont take offence. Take action!
In The News
- A 2009 OECD Health Data report has suggested that New Zealand is the third ‘fattest’ nation in the world, after Mexico and the US.
http://www.heha.org.nz/assets/sm/NewsItem692/attachments/r3cof6fas2/NZ%2...
%20from%202009%20OECD%20Report.pdf
Obviously this is of significant concern, as all forms of obesity generally tend to originate in the formative childhood years - even those which may be exacerbated by other underlying medical conditions such as Prader-Willie, Fragile-X, Down Syndrome etc.
Dr Robyn Toomath, a diabetes specialist and Fight the Obesity Epidemic spokeswoman, said overseas doctors were “stunned” at the rate of Type 2 diabetes (a well-recognised complication of obesity) in New Zealand.
"In the middle of the swine flu epidemic, the people having most difficulty getting on top of their chest infections are the obese individuals people for whom coughing and keeping their lungs clear is a real mechanical problem..."
"There are myriad effects of obesity ... [The Government has] ignored advice and gone one step further and actually reversed minimal nutritional guidelines in schools...”
"Obesity rates go up and the response from Government is one of complete denial. All we have seen is an unravelling of efforts designed to stop obesity..."
Leigh Sturgiss, executive director of the Obesity Action Coalition, said the Government needed a “similar sort of campaign to the one against smoking to tackle obesity rates”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/national/2587332/
But herein lies a problem: Tobacco is not essential to the development and maintainance of human health, wheras food (including dietary fat) is. There will need to be a lot of untangling between the two in order to send an appropriate and nutritionally safe message to parents and families who may be concerned about the size and weight of their children.
I think the main issue here is that we must not allow ourselves to become too scared by these statistics. Sure, we need to be concerned, but we need to express this concern in a measured and controlled way: The last thing we need to do is to impose yet more radical government policies which are more likely to scare parents away from engaging in healthy eating and healthy action than encouraging them to participate!
- Not wanting to get political, I thought this was an interesting commentary around the issue of current rates of obesity in NZ by Green Party MP Sue Kedgely:
http://www.greens.org.nz/node/21473
Sue has used some strong words in this article, and, without agreeing or disagreeing with her sentiments I would like to challenge her to lay out a sound policy around how to address the issue of child obesity in NZ - taking into account such peripheral issues as parental accountability, social accountability, commercial imperatives and morality, and government imperatives and morality.
Again, this is not to demean or criticise Sue Kedgely’s comments. Anyone who can come up with a workable and effective policy to address all these issues will get a big thumbs-up from me - regardless of their political persuation or ideals!
Email your comments, ideas, thoughts, opinions, and questions to cospro
ymail [dot] com for publication in this newsletter.
You can also include any child obesity related news, topics of interest, or events that you or your agency may be involved with.
Contact COSPRO
Phone (04) 904148
Cell 027 3554553
Email cosproymail [dot] com
Website www.cospro.webs.com
Regards,
Chris Lakomy,
COSPRO
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