Jobs in the $120 Billion Dollar a Year Childhood Obesity Prevention Industry

March 7th, 2021 by dayat No comments »

According to recent government sources America spends over $120,000,000 (that’s Billion with a B) dollars annually on childhood obesity and related issues. That is to say we spend about the same on obesity as we’re spending on the Iraq war and we’re losing because the problem is getting worse not better. Not only that, we can’t pull out of this one even if we wanted to, which means we have to take a stand and fight.

Only One Percent

In this light I’d like to suggest that we take a mere ONE PERCENT of that $120 billion dollars and REDIRECT IT INTO A WAR ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY designed to naturally immunize kids against obesity for life, eliminate this plague within one decade, save the American taxpayer trillions over the same time period, immediately create 20,000 GOOD PAYING JOBS (400 per state), and improve the life quality and productivity of millions of kids from sea to shining sea.

Let’s Do the Math

Check out the math. One hundred twenty billion times one percent equals $1,200,000,000 (one point two billion dollars). If we paid each childhood obesity prevention specialist an average of $60,000 each we could hire 20,000 of them nationwide. This works out to be an average of 400 new childhood obesity specialists per state who would in turn work with schools, park districts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YM/WCA’s, and churches who are interested in helping their kids naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life.

Starting With Kindergartners

If we did nothing more than start with kindergarten classes across each state using simple height adjustable pull up bars together with a technique called leg assisted pull ups to help students learn to physically pull their own weight, 90% of all kindergartners would be naturally immunized against obesity for life by the end of the school year because kids who can do pull ups are NEVER OBESE. The other 10% would also be well on their way toward natural self immunization. Repeat this scenario for 10 straight years and childhood obesity would be ancient history like polio or the black plague.

2,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity

Let’s examine the possibilities in a little different way. Let’s say that each new specialist worked with (supported) only 10 other adults (teachers, park district, Boys and Girls Club, or pre-school employees) who in turn worked directly with at least 10 kids. Under those conditions we would naturally immunize 40,000 kids (10 X 10 X 400 = 40,000) against obesity for life in each state annually against obesity for life. Nationally that figure would be 2,000,000 kids who would be naturally immunized annually.

10,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity

But these figures are very conservative, the worst case scenario. Let’s say instead that each new specialist worked with 10 schools each week (one in the AM and one in the PM), and each school averaged 50 kindergartners. Under these conditions the number of kids naturally immunized against obesity for life annually explodes to 200,000 kids per state and 10,000,000 nationally.

And under those conditions childhood obesity would be completely eliminated in one decade or less, saving American taxpayer trillions, and making the lives of millions of American kids meaningful and productive in a way that they currently are not.

Meaningful Work Instead of Meaningless Repetition

One final note here is that the 20,000 jobs that we could create immediately with NO NEW MONEY, by redirecting what we’re currently spending in a productive direction, would create meaningful jobs that not only pay well and produce a humongous return on our nation’s investment in the personal infrastructure of our kids, but the childhood obesity prevention specialists themselves will know they’re doing something worth doing, something important, something that will make a difference in the lives of kids and parents across the USA, and maybe the world.

P.S. Dedicate 2% instead of 1% and you automatically DOUBLE these numbers!!

P.S.S. Can you imagine a stronger foundation for a prevention oriented American healthcare system than the elimination of childhood obesity within one decade?

Rick Osbourne spent 17 years as a physical educator and coach. He currently serves as Executive Director of Operation Pull Your Own Weight, (http://www.pullyourownweight.net) an informational website whose claim to

Childhood Obesity Prevention Studies Set in a New Context

March 7th, 2021 by dayat No comments »

As a nation, we’ve spent billions and billions of dollars on studies in the name of discovering a practical antidote to childhood obesity.

For example…

We have studies indicating that childhood obesity is related to our modern fast food diet.

We have studies indicating that the odds of childhood obesity are increased in a couch potato generation of kids who prefer TV and video games over riding bikes and climbing trees.

We have studies indicating that the odds of beating obesity are better for kids who have access to daily PE than for kids who lack access to daily PE.

We have studies relating childhood obesity to poor sleeping habits, to green neighborhoods, to a child’s social circles, to parents who take responsibility for their kid’s diet, and to the presence of super markets in economically challenged neighborhoods to mention only a few.

What we have yet to discover in any of our studies is a simple, implementable, documentable, and affordable solution to childhood obesity. We’ve found no magic pill, no silver bullet, no way to inspire and motivate kids to eat better/less and exercise more.

On the Other Hand…

On the other hand, think about this. Show me ten kids who live on a fast food diet, but who can do one single pull up and I’ll show you ten kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids who love TV and video games but can do one single pull up, and I’ll show you ten more kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids who never get PE in school, but who can do one single pull up, and I’ll show you ten more kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids with bad sleeping habits, who live life in gray concrete neighborhoods, with no supermarkets, and who have miserable social circles, but who can do one single pull up and I’ll show you another ten kids who are NOT OBESE. In other words kids who can do pull ups are NEVER OBESE, so why don’t we just help all kids learn to physically pull their own weight?

You see helping kids to learn to do pull ups is “simple, easily implemented, easily documented, and affordable,” according to the American Society of Exercise Physiologists. So maybe that practical solution to childhood obesity prevention has been hiding in plain sight all along, but in searching high and low for complicated, high tech solutions, we’ve overlooked the obvious. Yes, kids who can do pull ups ARE NEVER OBESE! Let’s help them all learn to physically pull their own weight.

Rick Osbourne spent 17 years as a physical educator and coach. He currently writes for a living, and serves as the Executive Director of Operation Pull Your Own Weight, (www.pullyourownweight.net) an informational web site that’s dedicated to eliminating childhood obesity in one decade. Osbourne is also a public speaker, and he’s recently published a b