Why Our Kids Are Fat

I have no scientific proof. I don't have much anecdotal proof either.

But we have moved to a house in a great neighborhood. Not suburbia, it's my kind of 'hood. It's in the middle of town and near the university. It's diverse and quiet. The houses are small and tidy, on the whole. I see lots of established trees and gardens in this neighborhood. Our oak tree out front towers over this small house that we're renting. We moved in at the beginning of April.

All the houses around here have large backyards and ample front yards as well. It's great.

Deedee loves going outside. Oh boy, does she ever! Bugs, bunnies, birds, dirt, a little clubhouse for her to hang out in...we've named that little clubhouse 'Deedee's Lab'. It's a paradise for her.

So it's a cute little neighborhood. It's quiet. Nothing ever happens here.

So where are the other kids?

The neighbor kids almost never come outside. There is not a child to be seen outside on this block almost ever. The three kids next door almost never come outside. They're always in the house. It might have something to do with the big screen TV and the Xbox I glimpsed in their living room at the girls' birthday party last weekend. I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems unnatural.

Why are children almost never outside? This is a very safe neighborhood. Nothing ever happens around here. Dee is outside almost all the time...she lives out there and she loves it. She's got dirty knees and dirty hands, and I confess, *I* love it too. It feels like her being outside is the way it ought to be, not just the way it is.

Perhaps my daughter is outside more than most because we don't have cable or an antenna. She doesn't have video games, except for one Pokemon game on her little GameBoy Advance that the Makistani got her.

I'm not tooting my own horn. I'm asking...why aren't kids playing outside? This is crazy. And we wonder why there's a childhood obesity epidemic? This has got to be at least part of the answer.

Sometimes it can be scary with Dee; her boundaries aren't that great. It's hard to keep her in the yard, and I mostly do not succeed. My social butterfly is off up the street or across the street making friends. I fear child predators and when I call her, I get nervous if she doesn't come right away. But I am not going to keep her in the house because of that fear. She needs socialization, she needs some freedom...not overprotection and video games. My Dee is out there reaching out, trying to make friendships. She doesn't need me around her every minute, accompanying her everywhere in the neighborhood.

Common parental wisdom dictates that I ought to be out there watching her every second...and I would die if something happened to her. I am thinking of getting her a two-way radio or something.

But consider for a moment what a miracle this is for Dee. She's been in one home for two years and she's finally got a yard of her own. And she's actually *trying* to make friends. Even after all that's happened to her in her short seven years, my Dee is out there trying to make friends.

I look at her dirty hands and her dirty knees with pride and joy. My Dee is out there having fun and discovering life. Success! I have provided a safe house and a quiet neighborhood for her to grow up in!