[Madelaine Amee]

I think it has a lot to do with the way technology has changed our lifestyles. When I was a child we ate meals at (basically) set times, helped with the dishes and then went out to play with our friends. We played street hockey, jumped rope, skated for hours up and down the street, rode our bikes to the store or for fun, raced each other up and down our small side street - at the same time we were expected to help with the house and yard work.

By comparison look at the difference in our grand children's lives. Eat whenever they see something they want, most households have both parents working so there is not too much supervision at home. In most homes the TV is on all day, the children have cell phones, ipads, computers, electronic toys. You rarely, if ever, see children out playing, climbing trees, running and jumping around. As for doing dishes, load the dish washer!

It is quite normal nowadays for us to have people mow our lawns and weed our yards, we pay someone to do our housework, we get pre-cooked foods for supper, our pantries are loaded with scrumptious snacks and we eat out or send out for food. I know from my own experience that my children pay to go to a gym to keep slim .............. unheard of in my day! But, times have changed and with it obesity. I am not saying one way is any better than the other, just a fact of life and I have no idea where it will all end.