Letisha White, The kNOw
In a modern society, there are several difficulties. Along with the murders and diseases, obesity ranks as one of the chief problems in today’s communities. Childhood obesity is very serious and it seems as if nobody wants to take responsibility for it. There has been plenty of controversy of who is to blame for the epidemic. Whether it is the government, fast-food restaurants, parents or even the children, none of these groups seem willing to account for the predicament. In a 2002 Sacramento Bee column, “The Battle against Fast Food Begins in the Home,” Daniel Weintraub demands parents should be held accountable for their children’s excess weight. Weintraub is correct. Parents should take responsibility for this growing epidemic.
A parent’s job is to look after their kid and keep them from harm’s way. How is it that parents can be liable for everything else regarding their children, yet not this? “We have laws against leaving a loaded weapon with our children, why should food be any different?” Weintraub asks. This lack of protective laws is changing, as some legislators are crafting laws to guard the health of children. SB 622, authored this February and currently moving through the Calif. legislature, would institute a state soda tax. The proceeds of this tax would support obesity prevention.
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