May 19, 2025 • 35 mins
The devastating reality of childhood obesity in America demands our immediate attention. With a staggering 20% of our children—nearly 15 million kids—suffering from obesity, we're facing a generational health crisis that's cutting lives in half before they've truly begun.
This episode dives deep into the shocking statistics and life-altering consequences of childhood obesity. When severely overweight children face four times higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and triple the risk of heart disease by age 39, we can no longer pretend this isn't an emergency. The most heartbreaking statistic? Severely obese children face a 50% reduction in life expectancy. We are literally watching half their lives disappear before our eyes.
I examine the myths surrounding healthy eating, particularly the persistent belief that nutritious food must be expensive. By breaking down real costs and nutritional value, I demonstrate how this dangerous misconception perpetuates unhealthy choices, especially in lower-income communities where obesity rates soar highest. The government's role comes under scrutiny too—from ineffective school lunch programs undermined by food industry lobbying to SNAP benefits that currently enable junk food purchases with taxpayer dollars.
Beyond policy failures, we confront the uncomfortable question: Is allowing a child to become morbidly obese a form of child abuse? When parents introduce infants to soda and processed foods, establishing lifelong unhealthy relationships with nutrition, are we not setting them up for shortened, compromised lives? The solution requires action on multiple fronts—government policy reform, complete overhaul of nutrition education, parental accountability, and consumer choices that drive market change.
Join me in this crucial conversation and share it widely. Our children's futures depend on us recognizing this crisis and taking immediate action. Through our votes, our wallets, and our voices, we can create the change needed to save our next generation.
Learn More at: www.Redefine-Fitness.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello and welcome to Health and Fitness Redefined.
I'm your host, anthony Amen,and today we have another great
episode for all of you.
Diving into the weeds againtoday with a topic I think every
single person should listen to,not only listen to share with a
friend blow this up.
This is something, especiallyover the last six months, that
(00:29):
has become extremely personal tome and I feel like it's my
calling to fix this, solve thisissue and really dive into the
root cause of what is going onin our society.
What is that topic?
That topic specifically ischildhood obesity and, more
(00:51):
specifically, morbid obesity.
I think there's a fine line todraw here, and not that I really
believe in scale weight oranything, but just because it's
easy for people to understand.
I'm not talking about a kidthat's 5, 10, or even 15 pounds
overweight.
I'm talking about kids being 40, 50, 60, 100, 150 pounds
(01:12):
overweight.
That's where we're going tohave a big issue.
That's where a lot of this iscoming from, and I'm really sick
of society telling people it'sokay, telling kids it's okay
because it's not.
It's not, and I'm just going tosay that up front.
Your kid being 100 poundsoverweight is not okay.
There's no excuse for it.
(01:33):
It needs to be fixed.
And someone needs to say thereis a slim minority of people,
like a quarter percent of thepopulation, that have underlying
issues that they can't controlit.
That's fine.
That is a quarter percent ofthe population that have
underlying issues that theycan't control it.
That's fine, that is a quarterpercent.
So not everybody.
I don't want to hear it.
This needs to be fixed.
(01:53):
We need to figure out why.
We're going to dive intoeverything about what needs to
be fixed, how it should be fixed, why it needs to be fixed.
So you better hold on tightbecause we're going deep.
So let's start 2024, 20% of USchildren, adolescents ages 2 to
19, are considered obese.
For reference, that is about14.7 million kids, for reference
(02:20):
sake.
In 2014, it was 17%.
In 2004, it was also around 17crazy 20, ridiculously high
number.
All around the turn of thecentury as well, to start
climbing.
Uh, you never saw obesity rateslike that back in the 80s and
90s.
So absolutely mind-boggling.
And why?
(02:43):
The question is everyone'sgoing to ask is why are rates so
high?
And I think it's firstimportant.
We're looking at the whole ofit.
So 20 of kids being obese.
This is a multi-faceted approach, so let's start by something
that a lot of you will bring up,which is income level, right?
(03:03):
So if you just break this outby the federal poverty line, you
have 24.1% of kids being obesebelow the FPL, the federal
poverty line.
Those that are immediate areabout 21.2, and those that are
way above are 11.5.
So right off the bat, you see ahuge discrepancy to those how
(03:24):
much money the parents aremaking, to how obese their kids
are.
This, I think, has a lot to dowith, one, education and, two, a
misalign of understanding ofhow healthy food can be cheaper,
(03:44):
which, again, it's probablyjust miseducation.
But when you look into it andyou really start diving down of
the cost of food, like everyonealways brings up, well, I can
only afford certain amount ofthings, and studies have even
shown that the average servingcost of, let's say, healthy food
(04:05):
is 60 cents versus unhealthyfood, which is around 31 cents.
So that in and of itself statesthat what we see as healthy
we're already implying is twicethe price of that being
unhealthy.
So it makes easy decisions forthose that can afford it to say,
hey, I'm going to go theunhealthier options.
We tie that in with 46% ofAmericans believing healthy food
(04:28):
is too expensive.
And yeah, why, why, why, whyand this is I wanted to have one
of my trainers on Devin, so I'mgoing to shout him out real
quick, because we had a niceconversation about this.
We had a nice conversationabout this.
His biggest belief is thatincome level drives obesity, and
(04:49):
he showed me all these studiesthat show healthy versus
unhealthy.
I just read it to you now,where it's double the price for
healthy versus unhealthy.
My argument is when you look atstudies for healthy foods, they
mislabel what is consideredhealthy.
And here's an example If I wentto the grocery store right, I
walk in, got my shopping cartand I see blueberries.
(05:10):
I see organic blueberries andthen I see regular blueberries.
Those organic blueberries caneasily be 20% more than those
regular blueberries.
Well, here's the kick Neitherone is healthier.
Well, here's the kick.
Neither one is healthier.
(05:31):
Like organic versus non-organicdoesn't really make a difference
, and this might be shocking topeople except my farmers.
Why?
Because you have organic farmsnext to inorganic farms.
When the inorganic farms arebeing sprayed with pesticides
and all the fun stuff, there'sthings called wind, and that
wind blows it to the organicfields On top of that.
For any of you that still havewells, like myself, that seeps
(05:53):
into the water supply and thengets easily spread to all the
farms in the local area, ends upin the rain.
So does it really make adifference if it's straight
organic or inorganic?
Maybe by a couple percentage,but as far as the nutritional
value of that blueberry, no.
Therefore, studies might saythat healthy food is more
(06:16):
expensive because they could belooking at organic-based
products.
Another argument you look atdrinks.
There was a lot of thingsshowing the cost of soda.
My argument is the cost ofwater.
Water is free.
In most restaurants.
You can walk in and get waterfor free.
If you're getting water fromhome, it's like a tenth of a
(06:38):
cent for a glass of water, asopposed to soda, which can cost
a dollar, 20 cents, 20 cents, 30cents still a lot more
expensive than water.
So if I took a healthier drink,for example, and then compared
that to soda let's say, notalcoholic beer just because I
had one earlier, but like not,that's a horrible example
(07:00):
because it's not even healthy,but you know what I mean if I
took, like, a coconut water andcompared that to water, yes,
coconut water would be moreexpensive than soda, but water
is free.
So right off the get-go wateris cheaper than soda.
Now take that break down rice.
A lot of people consider riceto be either unhealthy we're not
(07:21):
really sure somewhere in themiddle I'll tell you rice is
actually extremely healthy foryou and it's super freaking
cheap.
You can buy like a 50-pound bagof rice for like 50 bucks at
Costco.
That rice, when you bring itdown to per serving, costs a few
(07:42):
cents per serving and I meanthis is how people live for
thousands of years.
Off of rice.
These are rice grain fields.
They're super easy to make,super cheap.
Then you don't use that asprotein.
Your proteins are where you'regonna get more expensive.
There are ways to go about it.
Let's say, buying a whole cowif you have the finances for it,
(08:04):
or just going to a localbutcher.
You can sometimes get cheapermeat that way.
As long as you're buying bulk,it does add up.
But I don't know what theunhealthy alternative is to
buying meat.
I mean, maybe if you're goingto Taco Bell and you're buying
grade D ground beef from TacoBell compared to going to Costco
(08:26):
and getting a tube of groundbeef from there, maybe
theoretically that's whereyou'll see that it's cheaper.
But if you put it all togetherand you take, let's say this is
theoretical purpose to statethat meat is twice the price.
So let's say that meat iscoming in at five bucks if I'm
getting the healthy option, orcompared to 250 if I'm getting
(08:47):
the unhealthy option.
The unhealthy option they'readding soda that bumps to 350.
They're adding fries that bumpsit to 450.
You go over to the unhealthyoption.
You're at 350.
You're adding water, which iszero rice, which is about 25
cents, so at the 375.
So you can actually see thatit's how you're eating.
(09:11):
It really determines if ameal's cheaper as opposed to not
cheaper.
But the lack of education thatwe push in our society really is
what's driving people tobelieve that unhealthier options
are actually cheaper thanhealthier options.
Because it's easier to go toMcDonald's.
Even take a McDonald's example.
Right, so it might be a littlecheaper to get a burger and
(09:35):
fries, but it's a lot healthierto get two burgers.
If you go up the dollar menuand you get a cheeseburger, it's
cheaper, it's better for you toget two cheeseburger deluxes
than it is to get a Big Mac andfries.
Fries are one of the worstthings for you, so you just
avoid that.
You're already doing better,don't get the soda and then
(09:57):
you're even better than you werebefore.
So the argument that it'scheaper, I just don't believe.
Now I'm going to break that intoSNAP benefits.
Who don't know what SNAPbenefits are?
Basically, it's benefits givenby the federal government to
help people pay for groceries.
That's the simple version forthose that don't understand what
it is my issues with SNAPbenefits.
(10:17):
It really plays a lot and it'sreally coming to limelight now
about what they are.
That's because just this yearalone, texas is one of the first
states to ban junk foodspurchased with SNAP benefits and
it's getting a lot of kickback,which to me is weird.
This is how I see it and insociety we need to see it as a
whole.
We can all agree if thegovernment's paying for it, they
(10:39):
can restrict it, period.
If you're paying for it out ofyour own pocket, meaning if I'm
going to the grocery store, Ican buy whatever I want.
People can't tell me what to dowith my money.
That is my choice to determinewhat I want to buy Honda,
healthy, healthy, etc.
If the government meaning thegovernment taking from my tax
dollars right, it doesn't justcome from the money for the
(10:59):
government.
It means I'm paying forsomebody else.
I want that person to eathealthier.
One they're going to be aburden on society if they don't
take care of their health.
And two, if they're going tofeel better.
Three, they're going to livelonger.
Four, they're going to be ableto work more.
So many benefits.
Five they'll be happier.
So many things and reasonsabout why I want that person to
(11:20):
eat healthier.
So I want to tell thegovernment hey look, listen, if
you're giving SNAP benefits topeople, there needs to be bans
on certain things.
It took years to ban cigarettesand alcohol off of SNAP
benefits and that finally wentthrough.
But now you can still go in andyou can still buy junk food
with all of your SNAP benefitsand call it a day.
Why can't the government stepin, like Texas is trying to do,
(11:44):
and say hey look, listen, youcan't buy junk food off of these
SNAP benefits.
We'll give you more moneythrough your SNAP benefits if
you need it to help cover thatcost.
But you need to buy healthierfood so that in and of itself,
can help teach people what'shealthier.
Right If they go into the storeand they don't understand
nutrition from a hole in a wall,but they know that their SNAP
(12:07):
benefits only cover certaintypes of foods.
They're going to have to startslowly learning.
Oh, this must be good for you,because this is what I'm getting
covered through my SNAPbenefits.
So could childhood obesity be agovernment-solving issue by
putting restrictions on SNAPbenefits?
(12:29):
Absolutely, I think that is agreat place to start.
I think Texas trying to banjunk food with SN snap benefits
needs to pass and go throughacross the us.
Federally needs to be done 100all for it.
Anthony, you're very passionateabout this.
I know why.
(12:50):
Well, there's a few reasons.
Let's talk some stats.
Let's go back right.
We mentioned 20.
Let's talk some stats.
Let's go back Right.
We mentioned 20% of kids areconsidered obese.
Did you know the health risks ofchildhood obesity?
I mentioned them, but I didn'treally mention them.
So let's talk about them.
You are four times higher todevelop type 2 diabetes.
(13:15):
You know type 2 diabetes is aslow, grueling death.
Do you know that?
Think about that next time yousee somebody that's working
their way on insulin and loses aleg and has blood sugar issues.
It's not fun to lose theireyesight.
That's something I really wantto do the rest of my life.
Did you know there are three anda half times higher risk of
(13:35):
developing heart disease by thetime they're 39, not 60,.
39, you have a 50% reduction inlife expectancy for severely
obese children.
50% it is higher actually inwomen.
(13:56):
That is absurd.
You are basically telling yourkid I am going to cut your life
in half because I'm not going toteach you how to eat healthy,
or the government because I'mnot going to restrict to make
sure you're eating healthy yourfoods.
50% On top of all the other funrisks of risk of asthma, sleep
apnea I have it, it sucks.
(14:17):
Liver disease.
Risk of asthma, sleep apnea Ihave it, it sucks.
Liver disease.
And, of course, the kicker ofall, mental health issues,
because we all know obesityleads to depression and, in
severe cases, suicide.
So not something I really wantto go around pushing that I'm
okay with my kid being 100 or140 pounds overweight.
(14:39):
It's just crazy.
It's crazy to think about.
You don't want to restrict whatyour kid's doing.
You don't want to go out ofyour way to teach your kid, so
you're going to take theirlifespan from potentially being
80 to cut that down to be 39years old, have a heart attack
(14:59):
at 39 and die, Die.
I couldn't imagine setting myson up for that.
I really I want my son tooutlive me.
I want my son to have a greatlife.
I want to be able to do thingsthat I've never been able to do.
I want him to be better than Iever was, and I know every
parent wants that for theirchild, and if we share this and
(15:23):
we blow this out and we getpeople to start talking about
this issue, we can slowly,slowly, start to change.
It is, my feel, hard, this ishard.
This is hard.
This is why I keep jumpingaround.
This is hard to talk about.
All right, we talked about snapbenefits, we talked about the
(15:44):
health issues.
For what?
What else has the governmentdone?
You've heard me talk about thisfor and I have to make a slight
correction in something I saida while back I I was
misadvocating for the group thatwas sued back in 2011, so let
me talk about that in 2011 forthose that don't know.
So it all started in 2010.
It was Michelle Obama, and asmuch as you care about politics,
I'm going to say this aboutpoliticians they have good
(16:06):
policies.
They have bad policies,irregardless of what aisle
they're from.
This is a great policy,michelle Obama started the let's
Move campaign and the HealthyHunger, free Kids Act of 2010.
The Healthy Hungry, free KidsAct was a big push to Congress
to say hey, look, listen, weneed to increase the amount of
(16:27):
vegetables that we have inschool lunches.
Congress was being lobbied.
Congress is being lobbied by abunch of different groups.
I have them over here.
Here we go.
So we have the american frozenfood institute, as well as the
con agria foods and shawain foodcompany.
(16:47):
They were lobbying congress tosay hey, congress, don't pass
this.
Why?
Because it's going to cost us alot more money and we don't
want to change what we're doingbecause making money in public
schools.
So here's a bunch of money foryou to make sure you kill this
deal.
If you don't think that washappening that, then that's not
true.
Instead, what they went publicto tell them is hey, congress,
what's up?
I want to let you know my name,this guy's name I'm going to
(17:12):
call him out Corey Henry.
I am the AFFI's Vice Presidentof Communications and I want to
let you know that we can't addmore tomato paste to our pizza
because no kid's going to eat it, and that's the only way that
we can increase the amount ofvegetables that kids get through
school is by increasing thetomato paste that you serve on
(17:35):
pizza.
So they convinced Congress tokill the act because they didn't
want to overdo the tomato pasteon pizza.
They didn't want to overdo thetomato paste on pizza, and this
is where the running joke camefrom that pizza is now a
vegetable because it has tomatopaste on it, because it does
count as a serving as vegetableA kid's lunch.
Think about that next timeyou're giving them food there.
(17:59):
So all these companies pushedback to say, hey, we want to
keep serving this really shittyfood.
I remember personally in highschool it was pizza on
Fridaysidays.
It was fried chicken.
Uh, the vegetables were dousedin shit, ton of sodium as well
as like who the hell knows.
It just tasted like jarred.
Nothing about it was appealing,and the only time I ever wanted
school lunch was the pizza andwas the fried chicken.
(18:20):
There was nothing that, as faras I can remember, that was
considered healthy.
There was meatloaf some days,but who knows how that was
cooked.
I mean, it's meatloaf, it'sliterally just a mix of
everything, right.
And then we had our options ofjuice, milk and soda.
For those who listen to theshow.
No, juice is just as bad assoda, but they were pushing it
as being healthier because theythought the food pyramid was
(18:44):
viable back then, as we learnedthat it is not.
It is a load of shit.
So just crazy.
So that got killed back in 2010, thanks to the American Forest
and Food Institute.
Just call them out one moretime so everyone knows.
After that, the Trump admin camein and then later wrote back
(19:06):
those standards in favor ofthose groups, and I think this
is like mind-blowing how likepeople look at politics right
and they say I hate this guy, sohate all his policies, or I
love this guy, so love all hispolicies, but when humans I love
some things, when humans I lovesome things people do and I
hate some things people do.
(19:26):
And he comes from the sameexact person.
So why not politicians?
I think it's the same exact way.
So Michelle Obama pushing areally good act, and then Trump
came in and rolled all that back, and now that we're in 2024,
with Trump being president again, he's actually doing the exact
opposite of what he did in 2017,with throwing an RFK and now
actually physically attackingthe school lunches coming after
(19:48):
petroleum-based food diets thatwe talked about a bunch in this
show and really trying to raisethe bar of nutritional standards
of what we're serving our kids,because he sees as much as I
see it, we're literally killingour future.
We're destroying what we set upas a country.
If we don't take care of ourkids, we're fucked like that's
(20:09):
it.
Our nation is going to fallapart.
I mean social security of itswhole, like just to take a big
argument going on now.
Everyone wants their socialsecurity benefits.
Social security was designed tohave the people that were
working always be a greaterpopulation than those that
weren't working, and that's howthey got funded.
(20:29):
Well, now people are havingless kids and all the people
less having these kids arehaving sicker kids, they're
having fatter kids, they'reliving shorter lives, so that
work population is now way lessand becoming even greater, less
than those that are going onsocial security benefits.
And that's why it's going torun out right, because we're
we're treating our kids like soif they die by the time that
(20:50):
they're in our attention,crippling disability issues by
telling them their 30s, they cannever join the workforce and
fish social security issues.
Obesity of itself is 186billion dollar a year problem in
america alone that could fixour deficit right, or it would
help $186 billion a year justfixing our obesity.
(21:10):
I think we need to start withthe kids.
I think that needs to startwith education.
So to start wrapping up thegovernment side, because I
really think this is a twofoldargument One, the government
needs to step in and change ourfood standards.
On snap benefits, you shouldnot be able to buy junk food.
You should not be able to buyuh petroleum-based food diets at
all period, and so we're goingto change snap.
(21:33):
We're going to change certainingredients that we're serving
in our food period.
Trans fat needs to be banned.
It was banned seven years agoand it's still in the final
peanut butter today.
They just relabeled it aspartially hydrogenated oils.
The government's are going tostand in an up-theater
curriculum in schools.
It shouldn't be.
Nutrition, shouldn't be aquarter of a year and that's all
you get in high school.
(21:54):
And on top of that it's oldscience Like wake up, change the
textbooks, change what we'reteaching people.
Nutrition should be its entirecourse that you learn in high
school.
I just find it more importantthan calculus.
I find it more important thanphysics.
I find it more important thanso many other avenues for the
(22:14):
entire population to learn.
I understand that people wantto go above and beyond with a
certain curriculum, but you knowwhat.
They can take those courses ifthey'd like.
I think a requirement needs tobe an entire year of nutrition
and that needs to start inmiddle school and then do
another year again in highschool, at a bare minimum.
On top of that, the governmentneeds to step in to public
schools and change how often PEis Every other day and then to
(22:38):
make PE a year full of tests andI'm talking about physical
education here for those thatdon't know is disgusting.
Pe is about activity.
It's about getting us out of it.
It has to be every single day.
It has to be 45 minutes a dayperiod and you can't miss it,
barring severe issues.
You have to participate, youhave to be physically active
period no getting out of it, noparents complaining that the
(22:58):
kids can't get out of it.
You need to do this as a whole.
So that's the government side.
I'm going to jump into theparental side of this.
I think this is important, theparental side.
I was running for those thatfollow me on Instagram and
Anthony Amon Fitness.
I had two polls that I put outthat week One was what age do
you think is right to give yourkids your first junk food?
(23:22):
Junk food meaning candy soda,whatever.
Was it zero to two or three tofour, or five to six or seven
plus?
12% of people said zero to two,25 said three to four, 25 said
45.
And then everybody else saidseven plus.
(23:46):
I have gone to stores likerestaurants and I've seen
newborns and I mean like noolder than three months parents
feeding kids soda because theythink they want it.
Kids, three months old kiddoesn't know what he wants,
can't talk, can't speak andyou're feeding them.
Study, you're literally wiringtheir brains at that age and
(24:09):
you're wiring them to beaddicted to sugar before they
even know how to say mama ordada.
I don't get it.
I really don't get it.
I don't get thinking your kidwants junk food when they can't
even speak.
Thinking your kid wants junkfood when they can't even speak.
It's all about teaching, it'sall about educating and we are
(24:32):
here to educate our kids andshow them how to live a life.
I don't think that junk food andprocessed food needs to be
locked away in a fridge and putaway with a special key.
I think it's something that weneed to introduce slowly to our
kids' lives, but their lifedoesn't have to revolve around
it.
It could be given as a treat,it could be given as a reward,
but not every single day, likewe do for ourselves, right?
(24:54):
We talk about treat meals whenwe're working out with clients.
Treat meals mean six days aweek.
I'm really freaking good.
I'm on point that seventh dayI'm going out for dinner.
I'm going to have baklava, I'mgoing to have ice cream, I'm
going to have soda.
It's fine, and we can teach ourkids those exact habits and do
it with us.
Monkey see, monkey do is thename of the game, especially for
(25:17):
those that have young kids.
So kids are going to pick upyour habits as a parent.
So therefore, if you want yourkid to replicate certain habits,
you need to be doing that as aparent.
Exposing your kid to a gym at areally young age is freaking
awesome.
Getting them in there, gettingthem to see the environment so
they're not embarrassed, towalking in and doing it with
them, or doing things at home.
(25:39):
I love videos.
I can see a line like dad'sdoing push-ups and and the son's
like two, three years old andhe's not doing it right, but
he's trying to, like, dopush-ups with dad because he
sees how cool dad is.
Because, right, when a kid'stwo years old dad is the coolest
person in the world and he justwants to imitate him.
Or a six-month-old, like hecan't speak but he reaches for
(26:05):
food that we put in her mouth,like he doesn't want his own
food, no, no, no, he wants thefood you're eating.
He doesn't know what that foodis.
He doesn't.
Sometimes doesn't even grabreal food, it's just inanimate
objects like napkins.
But he sees you put in yourmouth, so then he says I'm going
to put that in my mouth.
So if you, as parents, areputting good food into your
mouth, your kids visuallygetting that feedback and then
(26:26):
over time they could actuallystart eating the same way that
you eat, because they'reattracting you.
Your kids want to be you andthat's the beauty of having kids
is they want to mimic mom anddad.
Mom and dad are their lives.
So if you teach them good,healthy habits, if you show them
how to reward themselves we'renot doing it by neglect or
(26:46):
starvation, just literally yeah,once in a while we can have
this You'll teach them that whenthey go out on their own that
it's okay.
This is the argument that kidsalways have with their parents
when they're 18.
And for those that don't knowwhat I'm talking about yet, it's
alcohol.
It's some parents want to givetheir kid a beer at 16, 17, 18,
because they know when the kidgoes to college they're just
going to drink a shit ton andthey want to teach them what
(27:07):
alcohol does to the body at home.
I'm not saying getting your kidtrashed, but showing them how
to actually enjoy a drink orshowing them what alcohol
actually does to you like, toyour mental state, to your
physical state.
I've actually been shown toprevent that kid from abusing
alcohol in college.
It's those that are told atthis young age stay away from it
, don't touch it, it's the devil, don't touch it, it's the devil
(27:28):
.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
They go to college, they getboozed, they get trashed the
first time they're in the ER.
So it's really just having arelationship with it, kind of
like it's having a relationshipwith Not an unhealthy stuff when
you're facing the couch orwatching TV.
So I see a lot of that asapparent, as imitation.
(27:49):
On top of that, it gears into areally big question and I want
you to think about this beforeyou answer.
So I'm going to do a littlepause after I ask this question.
But is childhood morbid obesityand I'm going to clarify like I
did in the episode, I'm talkingabout 50 pounds plus overweight
(28:15):
considered child abuse?
I'm going to repeat that justso you can think about it,
because I really want you tojust sit there and think Is
morbid childhood obesityconsidered child abuse?
I asked this question onInstagram.
A lot of people just ignored it, but I did get about nine
(28:36):
answers.
I know it's not a good samplesize, but the majority was yes.
I did have some people privatemessage me a kickback of no, but
majority of people think itdoes, which is interesting, and
there's arguments to both.
One it could be lack ofeducation, the argument of lack
of education.
Before I dive into that, Itotally think it is.
(28:58):
So I think I should state whatside I'm coming from.
But let's talk about a lack ofeducation.
I am not educated in how tofeed my kids, so I underfeed my
kid.
They end up starving.
They end up in the hospital forhaving issues of malnourishment
.
They look very anorexic.
Is that child abuse Starving mykid?
(29:21):
A lot of you would have jumpedto yes than that one right,
because you're physicallycausing harm to your child?
Maybe you don't know better?
Is giving a kid a weapon,letting them play around with it
and without properly teachingthem, just handing it to them,
walking away that child abuseyou, I don't know.
(29:49):
I think that's something thatsociety we have to think about,
because I really do believe thatyou need to educate your kids,
the actions your kids take,especially as the age is
obviously their own, but itcomes from an understanding of
educating those parents.
And obviously accidents happenall avenues and if a kid just
something, that's a kid justdoing something, because kids
(30:12):
are stupid, especially teenagers.
But we need to take it as anunderstanding that there's
certain risk factors and we needto help our kids.
A good example if I see my kidgetting bullied, I'm going to
take every avenue I can to helpmy kid get over that depression,
to get over that anxiety.
I'm going to just show him andeducate him in ways that I know
(30:36):
to get over that.
So that should be the same forseeing my kid becoming obese.
I'm going to do what I can tohelp that kid.
I mean, maybe I can't Ifthey're old enough to go grab
food and shove it in their mouth.
I can't physically block themfrom doing that.
I don't know if it's a healthyway of doing it anyway, but
there are avenues that you canget them around for more
(30:57):
physically fit people.
I mean law of averages.
If you just put them with agroup of four active people,
they're going to start gettingmore active.
If so, just go to the gym, gowork out with your parent.
Create a positive relationshipwith food with your parents.
I don't want my kid to just cuthis lifespan in half.
I'd rather him double it.
So I don't see how it's okay toallow parents as a whole to let
(31:22):
your kids get that overweight,and I think it's something we
need to really sit down andthink about as a society, about
whether or not we're going toallow it to continue, because
I'm not okay with it.
It really sits me like sits thewrong way with me.
I really think that people needto step in.
People need to say something.
(31:43):
I mean, it's one thing for anadult to eat themselves to death
, but it's another thing for akid who just doesn't know better
.
Anyway, this is hitting hard.
I know that I'm kind of feelingit, so I'm going to end on that
note, but I think it'ssomething to think about.
We went through a lot.
We talked about where we arewith, uh, childhood obesity,
(32:07):
where we're going with it.
We talked about controversies,talking about it's income level
driven.
We talked about the health riskassociated, snap benefits,
things the government could doto help change, and I just think
it's important as a takeawaynote for summarize this episode
in one sentence.
There's two ways we couldchange society.
(32:27):
One in a free market market.
It's with our wallets.
If you buy healthier food,company is going to be forced to
sell more healthier food.
If you stop buying shit foodand bringing it around and
thinking that you're going to abirthday party so let's just
bring junk food and desserts,maybe try to start changing the
culture of parties to bring avegetable or a fruit or
(32:50):
something along that nature.
Just don't make it all dessertbased.
I don't know.
Just an idea.
But anyway, if you stop buyingchip food, company's going to
start selling it.
If you start buying the morethe peanut butter without the
trans fat in it, companies aregoing to stop selling it.
So you can talk with yourwallet, so you do have a say in
the society and a free market inthe us, and that's the one of
the best parts about thiscountry.
(33:12):
Second part you can vote.
You can go, have a say in whatyou want your kids to have and
don't have.
You can vote in local schoolboards.
You can show up at local schoolboards and lobby to serve your
kids healthier food.
You can vote for congressmen,congresswomen, you can vote for
governors and presidents, andyou have to just consider.
(33:34):
Unfortunately, this is the wayit works.
We have to consider thepolicies that you think are the
most important for the peopleyou're voting for.
You might not like some otherthings they're saying when it
comes to their fiscal policiesor their social economic
policies or their social issues,but you find the things that
are the most important to youthe most impactful in your life
(33:57):
and the lives of those aroundyou.
I think this this is one of themost important topics that's not
even talked about in the media,but I think it is should be.
I think this is somethingthat's to be blown up more than
everything else going on in thenews right now, because this is
our future, and then, if we killour kids and we hurt our kids,
we're screwed as a country.
(34:18):
We're screwed as a species.
So it's time to start now.
Share this comment post, talkabout it.
Don't stop until everyone istalking about it.
Go vote for those that aregoing to make a change and don't
buy shit.
That isn't good for you.
That in at least some whole bigpurchase orders.
(34:40):
Start buying healthier options.
Start making your change.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this episode of Health and
Fitness Redefined.
Don't forget, hit thatsubscribe button and join us
next week as we dive deeper intothis ever-changing field, and
remember fitness is medicine.
Until next time, thank you.
(35:14):
Outro Music.
Hello and welcome to Health and Fitness Redefined.
I'm your host, anthony Amen,and today we have another great
episode for all of you.
Diving into the weeds againtoday with a topic I think every
single person should listen to,not only listen to share with a
friend blow this up.
This is something, especiallyover the last six months, that
(00:29):
has become extremely personal tome and I feel like it's my
calling to fix this, solve thisissue and really dive into the
root cause of what is going onin our society.
What is that topic?
That topic specifically ischildhood obesity and, more
(00:51):
specifically, morbid obesity.
I think there's a fine line todraw here, and not that I really
believe in scale weight oranything, but just because it's
easy for people to understand.
I'm not talking about a kidthat's 5, 10, or even 15 pounds
overweight.
I'm talking about kids being 40, 50, 60, 100, 150 pounds
(01:12):
overweight.
That's where we're going tohave a big issue.
That's where a lot of this iscoming from, and I'm really sick
of society telling people it'sokay, telling kids it's okay
because it's not.
It's not, and I'm just going tosay that up front.
Your kid being 100 poundsoverweight is not okay.
There's no excuse for it.
(01:33):
It needs to be fixed.
And someone needs to say thereis a slim minority of people,
like a quarter percent of thepopulation, that have underlying
issues that they can't controlit.
That's fine.
That is a quarter percent ofthe population that have
underlying issues that theycan't control it.
That's fine, that is a quarterpercent.
So not everybody.
I don't want to hear it.
This needs to be fixed.
(01:53):
We need to figure out why.
We're going to dive intoeverything about what needs to
be fixed, how it should be fixed, why it needs to be fixed.
So you better hold on tightbecause we're going deep.
So let's start 2024, 20% of USchildren, adolescents ages 2 to
19, are considered obese.
For reference, that is about14.7 million kids, for reference
(02:20):
sake.
In 2014, it was 17%.
In 2004, it was also around 17crazy 20, ridiculously high
number.
All around the turn of thecentury as well, to start
climbing.
Uh, you never saw obesity rateslike that back in the 80s and
90s.
So absolutely mind-boggling.
And why?
(02:43):
The question is everyone'sgoing to ask is why are rates so
high?
And I think it's firstimportant.
We're looking at the whole ofit.
So 20 of kids being obese.
This is a multi-faceted approach, so let's start by something
that a lot of you will bring up,which is income level, right?
(03:03):
So if you just break this outby the federal poverty line, you
have 24.1% of kids being obesebelow the FPL, the federal
poverty line.
Those that are immediate areabout 21.2, and those that are
way above are 11.5.
So right off the bat, you see ahuge discrepancy to those how
(03:24):
much money the parents aremaking, to how obese their kids
are.
This, I think, has a lot to dowith, one, education and, two, a
misalign of understanding ofhow healthy food can be cheaper,
(03:44):
which, again, it's probablyjust miseducation.
But when you look into it andyou really start diving down of
the cost of food, like everyonealways brings up, well, I can
only afford certain amount ofthings, and studies have even
shown that the average servingcost of, let's say, healthy food
(04:05):
is 60 cents versus unhealthyfood, which is around 31 cents.
So that in and of itself statesthat what we see as healthy
we're already implying is twicethe price of that being
unhealthy.
So it makes easy decisions forthose that can afford it to say,
hey, I'm going to go theunhealthier options.
We tie that in with 46% ofAmericans believing healthy food
(04:28):
is too expensive.
And yeah, why, why, why, whyand this is I wanted to have one
of my trainers on Devin, so I'mgoing to shout him out real
quick, because we had a niceconversation about this.
We had a nice conversationabout this.
His biggest belief is thatincome level drives obesity, and
(04:49):
he showed me all these studiesthat show healthy versus
unhealthy.
I just read it to you now,where it's double the price for
healthy versus unhealthy.
My argument is when you look atstudies for healthy foods, they
mislabel what is consideredhealthy.
And here's an example If I wentto the grocery store right, I
walk in, got my shopping cartand I see blueberries.
(05:10):
I see organic blueberries andthen I see regular blueberries.
Those organic blueberries caneasily be 20% more than those
regular blueberries.
Well, here's the kick Neitherone is healthier.
Well, here's the kick.
Neither one is healthier.
(05:31):
Like organic versus non-organicdoesn't really make a difference
, and this might be shocking topeople except my farmers.
Why?
Because you have organic farmsnext to inorganic farms.
When the inorganic farms arebeing sprayed with pesticides
and all the fun stuff, there'sthings called wind, and that
wind blows it to the organicfields On top of that.
For any of you that still havewells, like myself, that seeps
(05:53):
into the water supply and thengets easily spread to all the
farms in the local area, ends upin the rain.
So does it really make adifference if it's straight
organic or inorganic?
Maybe by a couple percentage,but as far as the nutritional
value of that blueberry, no.
Therefore, studies might saythat healthy food is more
(06:16):
expensive because they could belooking at organic-based
products.
Another argument you look atdrinks.
There was a lot of thingsshowing the cost of soda.
My argument is the cost ofwater.
Water is free.
In most restaurants.
You can walk in and get waterfor free.
If you're getting water fromhome, it's like a tenth of a
(06:38):
cent for a glass of water, asopposed to soda, which can cost
a dollar, 20 cents, 20 cents, 30cents still a lot more
expensive than water.
So if I took a healthier drink,for example, and then compared
that to soda let's say, notalcoholic beer just because I
had one earlier, but like not,that's a horrible example
(07:00):
because it's not even healthy,but you know what I mean if I
took, like, a coconut water andcompared that to water, yes,
coconut water would be moreexpensive than soda, but water
is free.
So right off the get-go wateris cheaper than soda.
Now take that break down rice.
A lot of people consider riceto be either unhealthy we're not
(07:21):
really sure somewhere in themiddle I'll tell you rice is
actually extremely healthy foryou and it's super freaking
cheap.
You can buy like a 50-pound bagof rice for like 50 bucks at
Costco.
That rice, when you bring itdown to per serving, costs a few
(07:42):
cents per serving and I meanthis is how people live for
thousands of years.
Off of rice.
These are rice grain fields.
They're super easy to make,super cheap.
Then you don't use that asprotein.
Your proteins are where you'regonna get more expensive.
There are ways to go about it.
Let's say, buying a whole cowif you have the finances for it,
(08:04):
or just going to a localbutcher.
You can sometimes get cheapermeat that way.
As long as you're buying bulk,it does add up.
But I don't know what theunhealthy alternative is to
buying meat.
I mean, maybe if you're goingto Taco Bell and you're buying
grade D ground beef from TacoBell compared to going to Costco
(08:26):
and getting a tube of groundbeef from there, maybe
theoretically that's whereyou'll see that it's cheaper.
But if you put it all togetherand you take, let's say this is
theoretical purpose to statethat meat is twice the price.
So let's say that meat iscoming in at five bucks if I'm
getting the healthy option, orcompared to 250 if I'm getting
(08:47):
the unhealthy option.
The unhealthy option they'readding soda that bumps to 350.
They're adding fries that bumpsit to 450.
You go over to the unhealthyoption.
You're at 350.
You're adding water, which iszero rice, which is about 25
cents, so at the 375.
So you can actually see thatit's how you're eating.
(09:11):
It really determines if ameal's cheaper as opposed to not
cheaper.
But the lack of education thatwe push in our society really is
what's driving people tobelieve that unhealthier options
are actually cheaper thanhealthier options.
Because it's easier to go toMcDonald's.
Even take a McDonald's example.
Right, so it might be a littlecheaper to get a burger and
(09:35):
fries, but it's a lot healthierto get two burgers.
If you go up the dollar menuand you get a cheeseburger, it's
cheaper, it's better for you toget two cheeseburger deluxes
than it is to get a Big Mac andfries.
Fries are one of the worstthings for you, so you just
avoid that.
You're already doing better,don't get the soda and then
(09:57):
you're even better than you werebefore.
So the argument that it'scheaper, I just don't believe.
Now I'm going to break that intoSNAP benefits.
Who don't know what SNAPbenefits are?
Basically, it's benefits givenby the federal government to
help people pay for groceries.
That's the simple version forthose that don't understand what
it is my issues with SNAPbenefits.
(10:17):
It really plays a lot and it'sreally coming to limelight now
about what they are.
That's because just this yearalone, texas is one of the first
states to ban junk foodspurchased with SNAP benefits and
it's getting a lot of kickback,which to me is weird.
This is how I see it and insociety we need to see it as a
whole.
We can all agree if thegovernment's paying for it, they
(10:39):
can restrict it, period.
If you're paying for it out ofyour own pocket, meaning if I'm
going to the grocery store, Ican buy whatever I want.
People can't tell me what to dowith my money.
That is my choice to determinewhat I want to buy Honda,
healthy, healthy, etc.
If the government meaning thegovernment taking from my tax
dollars right, it doesn't justcome from the money for the
(10:59):
government.
It means I'm paying forsomebody else.
I want that person to eathealthier.
One they're going to be aburden on society if they don't
take care of their health.
And two, if they're going tofeel better.
Three, they're going to livelonger.
Four, they're going to be ableto work more.
So many benefits.
Five they'll be happier.
So many things and reasonsabout why I want that person to
(11:20):
eat healthier.
So I want to tell thegovernment hey look, listen, if
you're giving SNAP benefits topeople, there needs to be bans
on certain things.
It took years to ban cigarettesand alcohol off of SNAP
benefits and that finally wentthrough.
But now you can still go in andyou can still buy junk food
with all of your SNAP benefitsand call it a day.
Why can't the government stepin, like Texas is trying to do,
(11:44):
and say hey look, listen, youcan't buy junk food off of these
SNAP benefits.
We'll give you more moneythrough your SNAP benefits if
you need it to help cover thatcost.
But you need to buy healthierfood so that in and of itself,
can help teach people what'shealthier.
Right If they go into the storeand they don't understand
nutrition from a hole in a wall,but they know that their SNAP
(12:07):
benefits only cover certaintypes of foods.
They're going to have to startslowly learning.
Oh, this must be good for you,because this is what I'm getting
covered through my SNAPbenefits.
So could childhood obesity be agovernment-solving issue by
putting restrictions on SNAPbenefits?
(12:29):
Absolutely, I think that is agreat place to start.
I think Texas trying to banjunk food with SN snap benefits
needs to pass and go throughacross the us.
Federally needs to be done 100all for it.
Anthony, you're very passionateabout this.
I know why.
(12:50):
Well, there's a few reasons.
Let's talk some stats.
Let's go back right.
We mentioned 20.
Let's talk some stats.
Let's go back Right.
We mentioned 20% of kids areconsidered obese.
Did you know the health risks ofchildhood obesity?
I mentioned them, but I didn'treally mention them.
So let's talk about them.
You are four times higher todevelop type 2 diabetes.
(13:15):
You know type 2 diabetes is aslow, grueling death.
Do you know that?
Think about that next time yousee somebody that's working
their way on insulin and loses aleg and has blood sugar issues.
It's not fun to lose theireyesight.
That's something I really wantto do the rest of my life.
Did you know there are three anda half times higher risk of
(13:35):
developing heart disease by thetime they're 39, not 60,.
39, you have a 50% reduction inlife expectancy for severely
obese children.
50% it is higher actually inwomen.
(13:56):
That is absurd.
You are basically telling yourkid I am going to cut your life
in half because I'm not going toteach you how to eat healthy,
or the government because I'mnot going to restrict to make
sure you're eating healthy yourfoods.
50% On top of all the other funrisks of risk of asthma, sleep
apnea I have it, it sucks.
(14:17):
Liver disease.
Risk of asthma, sleep apnea Ihave it, it sucks.
Liver disease.
And, of course, the kicker ofall, mental health issues,
because we all know obesityleads to depression and, in
severe cases, suicide.
So not something I really wantto go around pushing that I'm
okay with my kid being 100 or140 pounds overweight.
(14:39):
It's just crazy.
It's crazy to think about.
You don't want to restrict whatyour kid's doing.
You don't want to go out ofyour way to teach your kid, so
you're going to take theirlifespan from potentially being
80 to cut that down to be 39years old, have a heart attack
(14:59):
at 39 and die, Die.
I couldn't imagine setting myson up for that.
I really I want my son tooutlive me.
I want my son to have a greatlife.
I want to be able to do thingsthat I've never been able to do.
I want him to be better than Iever was, and I know every
parent wants that for theirchild, and if we share this and
(15:23):
we blow this out and we getpeople to start talking about
this issue, we can slowly,slowly, start to change.
It is, my feel, hard, this ishard.
This is hard.
This is why I keep jumpingaround.
This is hard to talk about.
All right, we talked about snapbenefits, we talked about the
(15:44):
health issues.
For what?
What else has the governmentdone?
You've heard me talk about thisfor and I have to make a slight
correction in something I saida while back I I was
misadvocating for the group thatwas sued back in 2011, so let
me talk about that in 2011 forthose that don't know.
So it all started in 2010.
It was Michelle Obama, and asmuch as you care about politics,
I'm going to say this aboutpoliticians they have good
(16:06):
policies.
They have bad policies,irregardless of what aisle
they're from.
This is a great policy,michelle Obama started the let's
Move campaign and the HealthyHunger, free Kids Act of 2010.
The Healthy Hungry, free KidsAct was a big push to Congress
to say hey, look, listen, weneed to increase the amount of
(16:27):
vegetables that we have inschool lunches.
Congress was being lobbied.
Congress is being lobbied by abunch of different groups.
I have them over here.
Here we go.
So we have the american frozenfood institute, as well as the
con agria foods and shawain foodcompany.
(16:47):
They were lobbying congress tosay hey, congress, don't pass
this.
Why?
Because it's going to cost us alot more money and we don't
want to change what we're doingbecause making money in public
schools.
So here's a bunch of money foryou to make sure you kill this
deal.
If you don't think that washappening that, then that's not
true.
Instead, what they went publicto tell them is hey, congress,
what's up?
I want to let you know my name,this guy's name I'm going to
(17:12):
call him out Corey Henry.
I am the AFFI's Vice Presidentof Communications and I want to
let you know that we can't addmore tomato paste to our pizza
because no kid's going to eat it, and that's the only way that
we can increase the amount ofvegetables that kids get through
school is by increasing thetomato paste that you serve on
(17:35):
pizza.
So they convinced Congress tokill the act because they didn't
want to overdo the tomato pasteon pizza.
They didn't want to overdo thetomato paste on pizza, and this
is where the running joke camefrom that pizza is now a
vegetable because it has tomatopaste on it, because it does
count as a serving as vegetableA kid's lunch.
Think about that next timeyou're giving them food there.
(17:59):
So all these companies pushedback to say, hey, we want to
keep serving this really shittyfood.
I remember personally in highschool it was pizza on
Fridaysidays.
It was fried chicken.
Uh, the vegetables were dousedin shit, ton of sodium as well
as like who the hell knows.
It just tasted like jarred.
Nothing about it was appealing,and the only time I ever wanted
school lunch was the pizza andwas the fried chicken.
(18:20):
There was nothing that, as faras I can remember, that was
considered healthy.
There was meatloaf some days,but who knows how that was
cooked.
I mean, it's meatloaf, it'sliterally just a mix of
everything, right.
And then we had our options ofjuice, milk and soda.
For those who listen to theshow.
No, juice is just as bad assoda, but they were pushing it
as being healthier because theythought the food pyramid was
(18:44):
viable back then, as we learnedthat it is not.
It is a load of shit.
So just crazy.
So that got killed back in 2010, thanks to the American Forest
and Food Institute.
Just call them out one moretime so everyone knows.
After that, the Trump admin camein and then later wrote back
(19:06):
those standards in favor ofthose groups, and I think this
is like mind-blowing how likepeople look at politics right
and they say I hate this guy, sohate all his policies, or I
love this guy, so love all hispolicies, but when humans I love
some things, when humans I lovesome things people do and I
hate some things people do.
(19:26):
And he comes from the sameexact person.
So why not politicians?
I think it's the same exact way.
So Michelle Obama pushing areally good act, and then Trump
came in and rolled all that back, and now that we're in 2024,
with Trump being president again, he's actually doing the exact
opposite of what he did in 2017,with throwing an RFK and now
actually physically attackingthe school lunches coming after
(19:48):
petroleum-based food diets thatwe talked about a bunch in this
show and really trying to raisethe bar of nutritional standards
of what we're serving our kids,because he sees as much as I
see it, we're literally killingour future.
We're destroying what we set upas a country.
If we don't take care of ourkids, we're fucked like that's
(20:09):
it.
Our nation is going to fallapart.
I mean social security of itswhole, like just to take a big
argument going on now.
Everyone wants their socialsecurity benefits.
Social security was designed tohave the people that were
working always be a greaterpopulation than those that
weren't working, and that's howthey got funded.
(20:29):
Well, now people are havingless kids and all the people
less having these kids arehaving sicker kids, they're
having fatter kids, they'reliving shorter lives, so that
work population is now way lessand becoming even greater, less
than those that are going onsocial security benefits.
And that's why it's going torun out right, because we're
we're treating our kids like soif they die by the time that
(20:50):
they're in our attention,crippling disability issues by
telling them their 30s, they cannever join the workforce and
fish social security issues.
Obesity of itself is 186billion dollar a year problem in
america alone that could fixour deficit right, or it would
help $186 billion a year justfixing our obesity.
(21:10):
I think we need to start withthe kids.
I think that needs to startwith education.
So to start wrapping up thegovernment side, because I
really think this is a twofoldargument One, the government
needs to step in and change ourfood standards.
On snap benefits, you shouldnot be able to buy junk food.
You should not be able to buyuh petroleum-based food diets at
all period, and so we're goingto change snap.
(21:33):
We're going to change certainingredients that we're serving
in our food period.
Trans fat needs to be banned.
It was banned seven years agoand it's still in the final
peanut butter today.
They just relabeled it aspartially hydrogenated oils.
The government's are going tostand in an up-theater
curriculum in schools.
It shouldn't be.
Nutrition, shouldn't be aquarter of a year and that's all
you get in high school.
(21:54):
And on top of that it's oldscience Like wake up, change the
textbooks, change what we'reteaching people.
Nutrition should be its entirecourse that you learn in high
school.
I just find it more importantthan calculus.
I find it more important thanphysics.
I find it more important thanso many other avenues for the
(22:14):
entire population to learn.
I understand that people wantto go above and beyond with a
certain curriculum, but you knowwhat.
They can take those courses ifthey'd like.
I think a requirement needs tobe an entire year of nutrition
and that needs to start inmiddle school and then do
another year again in highschool, at a bare minimum.
On top of that, the governmentneeds to step in to public
schools and change how often PEis Every other day and then to
(22:38):
make PE a year full of tests andI'm talking about physical
education here for those thatdon't know is disgusting.
Pe is about activity.
It's about getting us out of it.
It has to be every single day.
It has to be 45 minutes a dayperiod and you can't miss it,
barring severe issues.
You have to participate, youhave to be physically active
period no getting out of it, noparents complaining that the
(22:58):
kids can't get out of it.
You need to do this as a whole.
So that's the government side.
I'm going to jump into theparental side of this.
I think this is important, theparental side.
I was running for those thatfollow me on Instagram and
Anthony Amon Fitness.
I had two polls that I put outthat week One was what age do
you think is right to give yourkids your first junk food?
(23:22):
Junk food meaning candy soda,whatever.
Was it zero to two or three tofour, or five to six or seven
plus?
12% of people said zero to two,25 said three to four, 25 said
45.
And then everybody else saidseven plus.
(23:46):
I have gone to stores likerestaurants and I've seen
newborns and I mean like noolder than three months parents
feeding kids soda because theythink they want it.
Kids, three months old kiddoesn't know what he wants,
can't talk, can't speak andyou're feeding them.
Study, you're literally wiringtheir brains at that age and
(24:09):
you're wiring them to beaddicted to sugar before they
even know how to say mama ordada.
I don't get it.
I really don't get it.
I don't get thinking your kidwants junk food when they can't
even speak.
Thinking your kid wants junkfood when they can't even speak.
It's all about teaching, it'sall about educating and we are
(24:32):
here to educate our kids andshow them how to live a life.
I don't think that junk food andprocessed food needs to be
locked away in a fridge and putaway with a special key.
I think it's something that weneed to introduce slowly to our
kids' lives, but their lifedoesn't have to revolve around
it.
It could be given as a treat,it could be given as a reward,
but not every single day, likewe do for ourselves, right?
(24:54):
We talk about treat meals whenwe're working out with clients.
Treat meals mean six days aweek.
I'm really freaking good.
I'm on point that seventh dayI'm going out for dinner.
I'm going to have baklava, I'mgoing to have ice cream, I'm
going to have soda.
It's fine, and we can teach ourkids those exact habits and do
it with us.
Monkey see, monkey do is thename of the game, especially for
(25:17):
those that have young kids.
So kids are going to pick upyour habits as a parent.
So therefore, if you want yourkid to replicate certain habits,
you need to be doing that as aparent.
Exposing your kid to a gym at areally young age is freaking
awesome.
Getting them in there, gettingthem to see the environment so
they're not embarrassed, towalking in and doing it with
them, or doing things at home.
(25:39):
I love videos.
I can see a line like dad'sdoing push-ups and and the son's
like two, three years old andhe's not doing it right, but
he's trying to, like, dopush-ups with dad because he
sees how cool dad is.
Because, right, when a kid'stwo years old dad is the coolest
person in the world and he justwants to imitate him.
Or a six-month-old, like hecan't speak but he reaches for
(26:05):
food that we put in her mouth,like he doesn't want his own
food, no, no, no, he wants thefood you're eating.
He doesn't know what that foodis.
He doesn't.
Sometimes doesn't even grabreal food, it's just inanimate
objects like napkins.
But he sees you put in yourmouth, so then he says I'm going
to put that in my mouth.
So if you, as parents, areputting good food into your
mouth, your kids visuallygetting that feedback and then
(26:26):
over time they could actuallystart eating the same way that
you eat, because they'reattracting you.
Your kids want to be you andthat's the beauty of having kids
is they want to mimic mom anddad.
Mom and dad are their lives.
So if you teach them good,healthy habits, if you show them
how to reward themselves we'renot doing it by neglect or
(26:46):
starvation, just literally yeah,once in a while we can have
this You'll teach them that whenthey go out on their own that
it's okay.
This is the argument that kidsalways have with their parents
when they're 18.
And for those that don't knowwhat I'm talking about yet, it's
alcohol.
It's some parents want to givetheir kid a beer at 16, 17, 18,
because they know when the kidgoes to college they're just
going to drink a shit ton andthey want to teach them what
(27:07):
alcohol does to the body at home.
I'm not saying getting your kidtrashed, but showing them how
to actually enjoy a drink orshowing them what alcohol
actually does to you like, toyour mental state, to your
physical state.
I've actually been shown toprevent that kid from abusing
alcohol in college.
It's those that are told atthis young age stay away from it
, don't touch it, it's the devil, don't touch it, it's the devil
(27:28):
.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
They go to college, they getboozed, they get trashed the
first time they're in the ER.
So it's really just having arelationship with it, kind of
like it's having a relationshipwith Not an unhealthy stuff when
you're facing the couch orwatching TV.
So I see a lot of that asapparent, as imitation.
(27:49):
On top of that, it gears into areally big question and I want
you to think about this beforeyou answer.
So I'm going to do a littlepause after I ask this question.
But is childhood morbid obesityand I'm going to clarify like I
did in the episode, I'm talkingabout 50 pounds plus overweight
(28:15):
considered child abuse?
I'm going to repeat that justso you can think about it,
because I really want you tojust sit there and think Is
morbid childhood obesityconsidered child abuse?
I asked this question onInstagram.
A lot of people just ignored it, but I did get about nine
(28:36):
answers.
I know it's not a good samplesize, but the majority was yes.
I did have some people privatemessage me a kickback of no, but
majority of people think itdoes, which is interesting, and
there's arguments to both.
One it could be lack ofeducation, the argument of lack
of education.
Before I dive into that, Itotally think it is.
(28:58):
So I think I should state whatside I'm coming from.
But let's talk about a lack ofeducation.
I am not educated in how tofeed my kids, so I underfeed my
kid.
They end up starving.
They end up in the hospital forhaving issues of malnourishment
.
They look very anorexic.
Is that child abuse Starving mykid?
(29:21):
A lot of you would have jumpedto yes than that one right,
because you're physicallycausing harm to your child?
Maybe you don't know better?
Is giving a kid a weapon,letting them play around with it
and without properly teachingthem, just handing it to them,
walking away that child abuseyou, I don't know.
(29:49):
I think that's something thatsociety we have to think about,
because I really do believe thatyou need to educate your kids,
the actions your kids take,especially as the age is
obviously their own, but itcomes from an understanding of
educating those parents.
And obviously accidents happenall avenues and if a kid just
something, that's a kid justdoing something, because kids
(30:12):
are stupid, especially teenagers.
But we need to take it as anunderstanding that there's
certain risk factors and we needto help our kids.
A good example if I see my kidgetting bullied, I'm going to
take every avenue I can to helpmy kid get over that depression,
to get over that anxiety.
I'm going to just show him andeducate him in ways that I know
(30:36):
to get over that.
So that should be the same forseeing my kid becoming obese.
I'm going to do what I can tohelp that kid.
I mean, maybe I can't Ifthey're old enough to go grab
food and shove it in their mouth.
I can't physically block themfrom doing that.
I don't know if it's a healthyway of doing it anyway, but
there are avenues that you canget them around for more
(30:57):
physically fit people.
I mean law of averages.
If you just put them with agroup of four active people,
they're going to start gettingmore active.
If so, just go to the gym, gowork out with your parent.
Create a positive relationshipwith food with your parents.
I don't want my kid to just cuthis lifespan in half.
I'd rather him double it.
So I don't see how it's okay toallow parents as a whole to let
(31:22):
your kids get that overweight,and I think it's something we
need to really sit down andthink about as a society, about
whether or not we're going toallow it to continue, because
I'm not okay with it.
It really sits me like sits thewrong way with me.
I really think that people needto step in.
People need to say something.
(31:43):
I mean, it's one thing for anadult to eat themselves to death
, but it's another thing for akid who just doesn't know better
.
Anyway, this is hitting hard.
I know that I'm kind of feelingit, so I'm going to end on that
note, but I think it'ssomething to think about.
We went through a lot.
We talked about where we arewith, uh, childhood obesity,
(32:07):
where we're going with it.
We talked about controversies,talking about it's income level
driven.
We talked about the health riskassociated, snap benefits,
things the government could doto help change, and I just think
it's important as a takeawaynote for summarize this episode
in one sentence.
There's two ways we couldchange society.
(32:27):
One in a free market market.
It's with our wallets.
If you buy healthier food,company is going to be forced to
sell more healthier food.
If you stop buying shit foodand bringing it around and
thinking that you're going to abirthday party so let's just
bring junk food and desserts,maybe try to start changing the
culture of parties to bring avegetable or a fruit or
(32:50):
something along that nature.
Just don't make it all dessertbased.
I don't know.
Just an idea.
But anyway, if you stop buyingchip food, company's going to
start selling it.
If you start buying the morethe peanut butter without the
trans fat in it, companies aregoing to stop selling it.
So you can talk with yourwallet, so you do have a say in
the society and a free market inthe us, and that's the one of
the best parts about thiscountry.
(33:12):
Second part you can vote.
You can go, have a say in whatyou want your kids to have and
don't have.
You can vote in local schoolboards.
You can show up at local schoolboards and lobby to serve your
kids healthier food.
You can vote for congressmen,congresswomen, you can vote for
governors and presidents, andyou have to just consider.
(33:34):
Unfortunately, this is the wayit works.
We have to consider thepolicies that you think are the
most important for the peopleyou're voting for.
You might not like some otherthings they're saying when it
comes to their fiscal policiesor their social economic
policies or their social issues,but you find the things that
are the most important to youthe most impactful in your life
(33:57):
and the lives of those aroundyou.
I think this this is one of themost important topics that's not
even talked about in the media,but I think it is should be.
I think this is somethingthat's to be blown up more than
everything else going on in thenews right now, because this is
our future, and then, if we killour kids and we hurt our kids,
we're screwed as a country.
(34:18):
We're screwed as a species.
So it's time to start now.
Share this comment post, talkabout it.
Don't stop until everyone istalking about it.
Go vote for those that aregoing to make a change and don't
buy shit.
That isn't good for you.
That in at least some whole bigpurchase orders.
(34:40):
Start buying healthier options.
Start making your change.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this episode of Health and
Fitness Redefined.
Don't forget, hit thatsubscribe button and join us
next week as we dive deeper intothis ever-changing field, and
remember fitness is medicine.
Until next time, thank you.
(35:14):
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