  There are some children playing outside my house tonight. They are skinny, basically just a bag of bones. You know how children can be when they are young. I always see these kids playing outside, and they always seem happy, energetic, and...skinny. There is another girl who lives across the street. The only time I ever see her outside is walking home from school. I never see her out playing, or even going to get the mail. She is a little on the larger side.
When I do see her, she seems sad, sombre and a little depressed. Not to mention...large. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity is a growing problem in the US, with one in ten pre-schoolers considered clinically obese. So. What do the powers that be do? They create a drug. That's right folks, a diet pill for children. This new drug is called Pedia Loss, and they berry-flavoured tablets supposedly address "the crowing healthcare issue in children 6 years of age and older" (Good Housekeeping, July 2003, P. 157). While I won't deny that child obesity is a significant North American problem, I hardly believe this is the way to control this problem. And besides, it is just that. A North American problem. Instead of breeding a generation of pill-popping, medication-reliant, slim-fast drinking children, why don't we do the obvious.
Turn off the TV, unplug the X-box, and send the children outside to play. Sure, at first, they may notice that their pasty skin has taken on a bit of a brown tone, and they may feel a little fatigued after breathing in that fresh air, but these are merely side effects of the best diet-aide known to man: ACTIVITY! ! 
