Moms Talk: Are Your Kids Getting Fat?

It seems to be an obsession lately that children are too obsessed with food. Some lawmakers are even considering taking kids away from parents who may be perpetuating over-eating habits.

Today (Oct. 5) the Mind Exercise Nutrition Do it! (MEND) program is holding a press conference in Los Angeles to discuss some of the issues. They offer free services for families to make a difference for their health. (See the video above).

They say the percentage of overweight children and adolescents in the United States has nearly tripled since the early 1970s. There are now one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 that are now considered overweight.

With childhood obesity there is a direct link to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and poor academic performance.

So kids like to bike; kids like to watch TV – but can time-challenged youngsters engage in both and stay fit? A concerned mother and successful businesswoman, Margie Mullen, CEO and President of KidExerciser, Inc., announces the launch of 123GoTV, a high-tech mix of entertainment and exercise, where kids get to enjoy two of their favorite pastimes: watching television and bike riding. It's as simple as kids pedaling their cycle in front of a TV set. Here's how this innovative bike TV controller works: Just place the child's own bicycle into the secure training stand provided, connect it to the TV and the cycle takes control of the TV signal. Kids pedal their bike to watch favorite TV program or videos.

Stop pedaling, the TV goes blank. It’s designed for children age’s 6 to 11 and it retails about $199.

“My son likes to bike, and he loves to watch TV,” says Mullen. “We often found ourselves saying, ‘Ride your bike outside when the sun is shining, and then you can view TV later. Daily exercise for youngsters is a crucial part of a child’s life, but it should be fun, as well.” 

Blogs like kidshealth.org report that active children have stronger bones and muscles and leaner bodies, but the Kaiser Family Foundation has reported that youngsters aged 8 to 18 spend four hours a day watching some form of passive screen time whether it’s TV shows, video games, or social networking on their computer. 

The Physical Activity Guidelines for America recommend at least one hour of daily exercise for children and teenagers.

The 123GoTV package is available at 

There’s also the Fresh Healthy Vending Co., the healthy food vending machine company on a mission is to replace 2,000 junk-food vending machines with healthy food machines, and they are allocating $100 for each referral that results in a replaced machine.

“This is a great way for organizations and companies to earn money by replacing their present machines,” explains Jolly Backer, the chief executive officer of Fresh Healthy Vending (www.freshvending.com), a company specializing in vending machines that are stocked with all-healthy options. “They can also take comfort from knowing that they will be taking a step in the direction of helping combat the obesity issues in the country.”

Those interested should log onto freshandhealthy.org.

Do you think there needs to be concern about childhood obesity? Weigh in on the Comments board below.