Quoted Text

Childhood obesity solution lies with family, not taxman

    I had to chuckle, even before I watched Michelle Obama on “Larry King Live,” when I saw New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines theorize that a tax on sugary beverages like soda and juices would help fi ght the childhood obesity epidemic. Is this the state of New York’s sole solution for all what ails us? Another tax? That’s like saying if we tax food enough, maybe people will stop eating.
    Are we heading to the same place George Harrison of The Beatles referred to in the song “Taxman”? “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street; if you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat; if you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat; if you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.” This may be a bit of an over-exaggeration, but not by much.
    I think it’s great that the Obama administration is trying to make a dent in the childhood obesity situation with the “Let’s Move” initiative, but unless there are some major changes in the lifestyles of parents, kids and our leisure activities, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there is no hope for success. The “everything is all right” attitude of this generation, hours behind a computer screen, texting on a cellular device, electronic games, digital television, Netflix, You-Tube, Facebook, Twitter, need I go on? Pretty much, kids don’t have to leave the house at all, other than go to school when and if they do that. No wonder they’re blowing up like balloons.
    A Feb. 11 Gazette editorial [“Attack big cause of obesity epidemic”] said, and I quote, “. . . such a tax would produce badly needed revenue for the state and federal governments. . . ” Come on, enough with just a few cents here and a few cents there. All those few cents put us into the predicament we all face today. Raising taxes, by the way, has nothing to do with the childhood obesity epidemic we now face. It’s all about behavior modification.
    Having lived as an obese child, losing over 100 pounds twice in my life, I can assure you there are no buzzwords or quick fixes to the problem. At age 57, fighting the demons of keeping the weight off and fighting off those builtin habits that brought me to become an obese child never subside.
    I applaud the efforts of Michelle Obama and the push for change. However, unless the initiative to change comes from within the family unit, we all know that another government social program is just a lot of hot air. There is no substitute for the family instilling values to achieve, change and motivate.
    It can’t come from Washington, and certainly not from the state of New York, with its overwhelmingly single solution to every problem: another tax.

    BOB BELIVE
    Glenville

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r03003&AppName=1

CHA-CHING!!!! not to mention health class/biology and basic human development classes in THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS........we already pay a tax for this information.....

GET OFF MY BACK AND FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I can see it now....dad's sitting in his recliner, beer in hand, tv remote in the other. Mom laying on the couch, a bag of potato chips in one hand and a cigarette in the other, watching tv. YUP....I'm sure they will be telling their kids to 'start moving'!