Telling Parents their kids are fat/ Letter to Legislator

[Guest guest]

Dear Brave Souls: Old ceep is watching over things and reading, many of your

discussions. You all took my heart with your discussion of children. I took

time away from work this morning to write this for you. It is a letter written

by C.P. Kubin, (my married name) for use to sign and send to your local and

federal representatives if you so wish. Add whatever thoughts you have as you

wish, but don't make it too long. I wrote this because I know it often takes a

long time to compose a letter to a legislator, and sometimes personal passion

occludes the message, and then, by the time it is finally written it is ten

single-spaced pages long, (and won't get read by even a busy staffer) and you

can't find a stamp, and a year later you wrap fish bones in it.

Just my two cent's worth, but you are voters, you have power to be heard.

Legislators want to know they have " voter blocs, " " demographics. " They can't

know

you are voters if they never hear from you. It is always important to tell

them you VOTE.

Although in many cases, writing a letter of just a few lines is the way to

gain your representative's attention, this particular letter about “scoringâ€

children on report cards with regard to their weights, is a letter of education,

not just one of proactivity. If you send this letter and hear back from your

senator/congress person, I would like to hear what they wrote back to you, if

you would like to share it. Many legislators have their staff compose their

letters to you, and sometimes they miss the mark and sound like an absurd form

letter, and other times they are right on. You can email me at lacorona@....

This comes with love and care,

ceep g-mom

Date

TO: the Honorable Congressman, Congresswoman, Senator__________,

FROM:

Dear Honorable_____________

It has come to my family’s attention that there may be a bill put forth

requiring school districts to score a child’s health with emphasis on the

child’s

weight, and to make this a part of their report cards. Our votes are No.

We are always appreciative of any legislator’s interest in children, and

thank you for any past support you may have given. However, please consider

these:

1. Does the government really want to be in the business of what is normally

considered a private family matter?

2. The cost for yearly or quarterly health and weight assessments for

children would be enormous. School districts are already strapped for funds. Do

tax-payers really want to pay extra for something that belongs in the private

sector?

3. What issues of HIPPA and student and family confidentiality law would

apply to such a proposal, and how much would it cost to administrate such a huge

new bureaucracy?

4. Would such a proposal if it became law, leave the school districts open to

lawsuits for invasion of privacy, breach of confidentiality, and

discrimination?

5. Would the school districts have enough money set aside in their legal

funds to deal with frivolous law suits? Does the AG’s office really have the

funds

to defend a state-wide suit?

These are just a few of the very serious considerations we as taxpayers would

be highly concerned about.

There are however, three areas that you could inquire into and that would

help children be as healthy as possible at school--if currently destructive

school district policies were changed:

1. If one were trying to stamp out illegal drug use at schools, would you

post a drug pusher in every hallway and in every cafeteria— and then say,

well,

the pusher gives the school a kickback that they use to make up for budget

shortfalls, so it is all alright? No, of course you wouldn’t.

Yet high-sugar and dense fat-glutted drinks and processed foods are available

at every school. They are often defended by the school district by saying

they need the money from these vending machine concessions. But what they are

selling is chemically dense, sugar and fat-larded food to the very population

they say they want to help.

Please think about what you can do to change THIS.

2. If one were trying to make a plant grow and flower, would you pour lard on

it? Would you salt the ground it grew in? Would you pour flour paste over

it? Of course you wouldn’t.

However, in school cafeterias across the nation, the menu is dense with fat,

grease, lard, frying oil, soups thickened with gobbets of cornstarch, bread

fillers, sugary condiments, pizzas loaded with high fat cheese and high fat

processed meat, and so on.

Please think about how there can be good nutritious food at decent cost, so

the schools are not buying at the bottom of the food chain because it is cheap.

Please think about what you can do to make food, good high quality food

available to school cafeterias at the same price as artery-clogging and

brain-slowing, highly over-processed food.

3. There is an incipient idea still in our culture, contrary to modern

science, that all body weight is an issue of will power. For many children and

adults, this is not so. We know now, for instance, that glucose metabolism is

often

different from person to person; it is something each is born with, and it

has nothing to do with character. There are many factors in obesity that are

becoming clear, including early feeding of children high starch and high sugar

foods that destroy the body’s equanimity and distort hunger and satiation.

We know your job is not to be a researcher, but to be informed. Whether you

rely on a dietician, nutritionist, pediatric doctor or researcher to advise you

, choose those with the expertise about these newest scientific studies and

outcomes as well as those who have lived it, and most importantly, who have

compassion, rather than anyone who has something to sell, including themselves.

We are always appreciative of legislators who are willing to be on the

cutting edge rather than on the same old gravy train.

If you convene a committee with citizen representatives to look into the

matters of children’s health, we would like to participate in that and will

make

ourselves available to you. Please see below, our address, telephone numbers

and email addresses. And let us know.

Thank you for your very kind attention.

We are your constituents who DO vote in every election,

Family member #1

Family member #2

Family member #3

etc.

Family Address

Telephone (not a cell unless you have it on and charged all the time)

Fax (if it has to be shared with phone talk line, leave this line out)

E-mail Address

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/2/2003 12:58:38 PM Central Daylight Time,

lacorona@... writes:

> you are voters, you have power to be heard. Legislators want to know they

> have " voter blocs, " " demographics. " They can't know you are voters if they

> never hear from you. It is always important to tell them you VOTE.

> ------------------------------------------

A refrain I have shouted from the rooftops for over 40 years. So few seem to

hear, though. Change was never effected thru apathy, unfortunately.

Carol A