Twenty years ago, Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure were virtually unheard of in children. Today, hundreds of thousands of American youngsters are being treated for these problems, which are byproducts of obesity. And they’re being treated by prescription medications usually reserved for adults.

I understand the seriousness of these problems and I fully support treating them, even in young children. But I think it is positively asinine to use medication to do so. Yes, some people have genetic predispositions to weight gain and its associated complications. More people, however, simply spend too much time in front of their XBOX and not enough time exercising. They eat processed foods and they live sedentary lifestyles. It makes me really angry when parents are too lazy or stupid to do the right thing for their kids and give them healthy foods and the encouragement to be active.

From the NYT:

Some experts have expressed concern that the increases in many of these obesity-related drugs reflect a systemic failure, with doctors and parents turning to them because they find lifestyle changes too difficult to implement or enforce.

You think? I mean, how hard is it to shut the TV off every once in a while, cook some veggies and lean meat, and encourage your kids to make the choices that will benefit them for the rest of their lives? Or, are we that lazy as a society that we’ll look for whatever quick fix there is, even if it’s not with the best interest of our children in mind?