We're all trying. In some way, shape or form, we're all doing what we can to stay healthy. But, let's face it, it's not always easy. If you were to break down how much it costs to eat healthy versus eating a bunch of junk, you'll find that it's much more inexpensive to eat the unhealthier stuff. Therein lies reason number one: It has become cost prohibitive to eat healthy. Reason number two deals with time. Our workdays are longer than they have ever been, and the average commute to work is around forty-five minutes. So, by the time you're finally getting home -- after working ten hours or so -- you simply do not have time to exercise.

And the list of reasons for the worldwide weight gain for adults goes on and on and on...

What about kids? Their school day is the same length as yours or mine was. The commute is basically the same bus route. So why is it that research demonstrates a significant rise in childhood obesity, especially among girls? Before I attempt to answer, allow me to first point out just how much of a rise I'm talking about.

Swedish researchers found that in 2002, the average ten-year-old girl was 2.1 percent taller and 13.4 percent heavier than her 1982 counterpart, with a 13.3 percent increase in BMI. Boys were found to be about 1.1 percent taller and 7.6 percent heavier, with a 5.1 percent increase in BMI.

What the hell is going on?!!

Personally, I think it has to do with two things: 1) What these kids are eating, and 2) The lack of emphasis on physical activity. With respect to the former, you know as well as I do that those damn Lunchables aren't healthy. You know what I'm talking about; the fake pizza thing you make on a cracker. And it certainly doesn't end there. The cookies, the soda, the potato chips, the Doritos, the candy -- it's all to blame. Only recently have schools finally started to take steps in the right direction, with some offering healthier options in vending machines and cafeterias. As for the latter, the lack of emphasis placed on physical activity, I feel there are two separate points to be made.

The first has to do with how damn protective everyone has become with their kids. What happened to the days when kids would come home from school, change into their play clothes, and then vanish until dinner time? You see, all that time these kids were playing hoops, or touch football, or racing on their bikes. It's called exercise, and until recently, kids used to do it all on their own. Now, kids are lucky if they get exercise in gym class -- that is if they are allowed by their parents to take it. And speaking of gym class, it seems to have become so guarded, so structured that kids don't even play games anymore. A friend of mine, who is a gym teacher, told me that parents are becoming so overly concerned about the potential "dangers" of some games (i.e. Red Rover, Tag, etc.) that gym class may someday soon be reduced to an hour of calisthenics. Not a bad thing, but not exactly fun, either.

Now for the second point -- kids are spending far too much time in a virtual world instead of the real world. They IM instead of speaking to someone in person, they play video games instead of actual sports games in the playground, they surf the internet instead of swimming in the local pool. It's a dangerous path that is leading our kids to sedentary lifestyles, well before they are forced to live them because of our adult responsibilities.

It is incumbent upon us, the adults and so-called adults (the second is the category in which I think I fit best) to prevent our kids from having healthy and active young lives.