Is Child Obesity Worse Than Child Illegitimacy?

I was thinking about this today. Whenever a President is inaugerated, his wife always has her own project to work on. For Mrs Reagan it was "Just Say No," the war on drugs (which didn't work too well, unfortunately). Michele Obama chose to go after childhood obesity.

But what should she have gone after? 75% of all black kids are born out of wedlock. Of those, I'd say 70% of them are born to teenage girls who can't afford to keep themselves, let alone their babies, and so mom and kid(s) will live in poverty and on welfare their entire lives.

And no, it's not just a black thing. Latinos are second on the list, but illegitimacy rates for whites are rising faster than anyone's. [Indeed, all of my Uncle's step-grandchildren are illegitimate - the step-son has never had a job, and has five kids now from at least three different women, I think, so the fact he doesn't have a job and doesn't wear a condom is apparently attractive to a lot of women..]

That's a national crisis, and that's what should be addressed by Mrs. Obama. But if she did, there'd be a firestorm. The religious right doesn't want anyone given condoms, apparently, because their religion says thou shalt be fruitful and multiply (even if multiplying condemns you to live in poverty for your whole life). And women's groups will say that a woman has a right to have a child. Well, she may well do, but not on someone else's dime!

Supposedly, poor kids are more obese than middle class or wealthy kids. Why is this? Well, the poor can't afford to eat "well." They have to go to McDonalds for 1,000-calorie Big Macs, instead of eating sirloin steak at home. Or they bypass nutritional food for Twinkies and candy, comfort food to help them feel better amidst their poverty.

So eliminating poverty would go a long way toward elimiating obesity, and eliminating illigitimate births (or at least, cutting them way down) would go a long way toward solving that problem.

How to do it though? The Christian dictum of "no sex before marriage" will not work. But how about a dictum about ethics? "Thou shalt stand on your own two feet and use a condom while having sex until you have a decent education and a job and can afford to pay for a child on your own, so that your child won't be a burden to others.'

and 'It's easy to have a baby. Anyone can do it. Stay in school and get an education and a job, then you'll be someone special.'

That sounds good to me.

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