Parenting, the National Debt, & Healthcare

My post today was inspired by this story concerning how kids are snacking so much that they are moving towards "constantly eating" and that this is a big contributer to childhood obesity rates. Here's the quote I centered in on.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote a commentary calling for taxes on sugary drinks and junk food, zoning restrictions on fast-food outlets around schools and bans on advertising unhealthy food to children. "Government at national, state, and local levels, spearheaded by public health agencies, must take action," he wrote.

Sounds expensive and intrusive to me. Should this stuff be dealt with? YES. By the government? Well, I have a suggestion, PARENTS! Let's think about this. If parents would really parent; tell their kids no, restrict what they can watch, buy, eat, do. Given them bed times, meal times (around the family table), internet monitoring & restrictions, restrictions on how much they can watch of anything, study discipline and school involvement, etc, can you imagine how much money the government could save? Some ideas. FCC (Federal Communications Commission)would need to spend less time and money trying to control what garbage gets put on tv because the garbage's ratings plummet since parents aren't letting their kids watch it. Money Saved. Health care: Less obesity, more active kids, healthier eating habits, less time sitting in front of a screen watching/playing/surfing. There, we've started controlling health care costs without one senator or bureaucrat. In fact, all those people who are trying to regulate McDonalds, video games, and fight childhood obesity can find work as coaches, umpires, and gym attendants since many more will be needed. When we stop asking or making it seem necessary for the government to take care of us like a big overspending parent, we can save a lot of money. So let's spend less time railing against the government and more time parenting and helping/encouraging/teaching others to parent as well. Just a thought. :)