crappy meal

Mike and I were driving through McDonald's on Saturday morning and saw a mother and child going in... nothing strange, except the last thing this kid needs is more McDonald's. This kid should be eating some egg beaters and turkey sausage, not a happy meal (I'm giving him benefit of the doubt by saying he ordered a happy meal and not a value meal).

Here's an alarming statistic-
"Nearly one-third of U.S. Children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food every day, resulting in approximately six extra pounds per year, per child."

Granted, I realize the FAT issue cannot be completely blamed on fast food and poor parenting... I never see anyone riding bikes anymore. Schools are getting rid of physical education because of budget cuts. Video game sports have replaced actual sports and some people consider the Wii to be adequate exercise. The cost of healthy food has skyrocketed, leaving its less-healthy counterpart deliciously more affordable. I just feel bad for these little kids who are probably going to be tormented because of their weight and then face a lifetime of health problems. "By the time an obese child turns six years old, his/her chance of becoming an obese adult is over 50%."

We ended up passing on our McDonald's breakfast that morning, and this article will keep me from craving chicken buscuits for quite a while: SO What's in that Happy Meal Besides the Cheap Toy?,

Gross! Delicious, but gross!

To sum up this completely random rant, It will be nice to get out of Gainesville. Small town and swampy weather aside, MSN ranks Austin as the 10th healthiest city in the US (and it's still not that healthy!)-
"Austin earned one of the highest scores in the category of physical activity, but one of the lowest in health status. Residents had one of the highest scores for vigorous activity and in the number of gyms and health clubs per capita. But they also reported some of the highest rates of diabetes, hypertension and arthritis."
(I'll blame the diabetes on all that delicious Mexican food!)