Anyone else see what’s missing in this?

"I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you".

Yup, Ronaldus Magnus was right about that.  Too bad the current crop of Democrats at the national level haven’t figured that out yet – they all believe that ONLY Government has the answers.  Sorry to report, but the NH branch haven’t deviated from that either.  

Obesity is all the rage now – adult, children, infants – everyone is fat.  Look, I certainly admit to carrying a few more pounds than I should.  The question is – are these set of Democrats taking the right road with childhood obesity?  A few comments….and then MY question to you, the reader.

NH Childhood Obesity Prevention Recommendations

(AP) The 14 recommendations made Tuesday by the New Hampshire Commission on Prevention of Childhood Obesity:

—The New Hampshire Board of Education should use its school approval rulemaking authority by October 2010 to support the sale and distribution of single-serving size, nutrient-dense foods in all schools.

OK, first we remove the power of the local School Boards – can you say "centralization of power"?  Here in NH, we have a history, a philosophy of local people making decisions for themselves – the NH Advantage. This?  Not so much…

—Implement menu labeling in chain restaurants to ensure that nutritional information is made available at point of purchase, especially for children’s menus.

For all of the talk about creating jobs by Gov. Lynch, here we have his wife, Dr. Lynch, basically saying the opposite by basically saying "Let’s make it more expensive for businesses to do business – in a deep recession, that’s ALWAYS a great idea"!  The problem is, how many stores makes a chain?  Right now, this same deal is happening at the Federal level and all the major chains are trying to make that number just as small as possible.

Why?  Doing the lab work is not cheap and the majors, once again using the coercion of Government in rule making, will be making sure that their competition at the low end will be wiped out.

Let’s just keep telling businesses how to do their business – and spend their money!

—Qualified school personnel should complete comprehensive fitness assessments and provide health fitness reports to children and parents every year.

Most everyone in America is already asking the question "Why can’t Johnny do math and why Jane read"? Now, more time spent away from the academics and MORE overhead expense (is the State going to fund what seems to be one more mandate?  Aren’t we all decrying the cost of education (NEA excepted)?  Governor Lynch, are you willing to PAY for this extra?

— All schools must adhere to the state requirement to implement written policies that recommend developmentally appropriate daily physical activity and exercise.

More PE -

I’m betting more gyms are going to have to be built….you wait – the mandates will be comingl Yet, today we hear that the Legislation is already thinking of delaying State Educational  Building Aid for a bit – heck, do THEY ever read the papers?

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A legislative panel’s interim report on New Hampshire’s school construction aid program will recommend that lawmakers suspend aid, but not before June 30.

The special committee voted earlier this month to make that recommendation. The panel’s interim report is being released Tuesday. Committee members had agreed that withdrawing state aid now could doom projects that would be considered this spring because the state pays up to 60 percent of the project costs.

Right hand?  Left hand?  Heck, do these ever meet correctly?  Do they even know the other exists? 

—Reinstitute the PE and health coordinator position within the education department to help schools implement their health and wellness programs and to share best practices.

Like I said, if positions have been cut, it has been local people looking at local needs from a local priority basis.  Here we have another slice of "those on high and from away" making a "distance decision".

—All licensed and licensed-exempt after-school programs should serve and/or promote healthy snacks and provide for some physical activity.

OK, for once, a suggestion – as long as the emphasis is on "promote"; too often I have seen "should" turn into "shall". 

Also, notice the change from the Government schools to now be "inclusive" of private businesses – after all "it’s for the kids!"

—Child care licensing rules should include specific language promoting physical activity, limiting sedentary time.

TMEW and I ran a daycare center – regulations up the wazoo!  We haven’t run it for over 8 years now and we did a pretty good job.  The problem is that the State Inspectors, instead of giving a helping hand, turn adversarial in a "checkoff" kind of way.  Not just with us, but with pretty much most of the daycares in the area (yeah, we all talked and we knew who were the helpful ones with the carrots and which ones would bring the sticks. 

This has "bad news" written all over the paperwork.  The margins are SO thin that just the compliance cost may just make it impossible for the small to mid-sized daycare operators to say "this ain’t worth it anymore".  Or is that the intent….

—The state Department of Health and Human Services should develop guidelines and an accountability procedure that ensures that all children in direct care of the state receive BMI assessments, at least one hour of daily physical activity and meals that meet dietary guidelines.

If the State wants to set its own regs for itself, I’m ok with that but there is ALWAYS that hated phrase of "cost/benefit"…

—Increase the number of schools in the New Hampshire Farm to School program.

—Address the importance of making communities places where people can easily and safely enjoy walking and bicycling.

And the cost of this last one will be?  Will this morph into a mandate for sidewalks all over (remember, most of NH is pretty much rural areas)?  Already, most places bus students to school because of a lack of [expensive] sidewalks – afraid of the threats of being sued.

—All insurance carriers in New Hampshire (both Medicaid and private insurers) should allow a minimum of four registered dietitian visits, if clinically recommended, for all children with a BMI-for-age percentile equal to or greater than 85 percent.

Here we go – let’s make a higher cost for families already struggling to make the monthly health care insurance premium.  Mandates mean costs – but remember, it’s not their money their spending!  For them, apparently, your money is not their object!

Er, well, maybe in this case, they have made it their object….

—A continuing medical education unit should be made available for physicians, registered nurses, dietitians and other health providers who work with children.

—All pediatric primary care providers should assess the BMI percentile-for-age for everyone between 2 and 20 years of age as part of their annual visits.

And when the heavily muscled high school football lineman comes in, what then?  BMIs can be problematic at that point….and, one more thing to add to costs…

—BMI should be assessed every year in school by a qualified individual and enforced through a school accreditation process.

What does that mean – enforced? Enforced on the school system or that each child will have a consequence of not falling within a standard deviation or so of the "ideal" BMI range?

 

OK, now for that question I promised at the top of the post.  Before I do so, let me warn all the Statists that have already decided to condemn me to purgatory: "Oh, you hate kids", "we just want to help", "you’re such a moron", "Obesity is such an epidemic", "You’re overweight too! [ooh - that hurts - but true] – the litany could go on for quite some time but time’s awasting!

Let me ask this:

What about parents taking care of their own kids?

Some of you may be thinking – what a trite question?  No, it’s not.  In this case, Government has basically said "Parents, we cannot trust you to raise your children properly.  You have abused the trust that we have placed in you to raise your kids."

Thus, Government has decided, in all of its brilliant thinking – WE know better than parents! Once again, I see the heavy hand of Government stepping through the home portal ready to take over the responsibility of parenthood.

Look, having run a daycare, I can tell you that there ARE some parents that are just horrible parents – but they were far and few between.  Frankly, I see this as an intrusion into private family life – yet another camel nose under the tent.

In and of itself, these recommendations do not "do" much.  However, it is the next few steps that I fear as Government never seems to know when to stop.  Each step that it takes is insufficient – it must always take yet another step into the private lives of its citizens.  And every time that it does, our freedom of choice, the liberty to do what we want, is diminished.

This is Government ready to tell us how we will raise our children in a micromanagement fashion.  Is this what we really want?  Or will we wait until we end up like Japan, where they measure adult waistlines to see if you are too fat as a function of Government

Your children are OUR responsibility – at least that is what Governor and Dr. Lynch are telling you.  Is this the proper role of Government?  At what point will Government crossed that "line in the sand"?  Or do we keep retreating, drawing line after line after line….