honey - we're killing the kids...

tlc has this new show called "honey - we're killing the kids." the show's concept is to take two parents of a set of over weight, lazy, spoiled children, and show them an animated age progression of what the children will look like as they grow from the current age up to the age of 40. the family then spends the next 3 weeks working out of a binder of rules to change their lifestyles for the better. at the end of the show, the parents are shown NEW age progressions that show how much better the children will be as adults if they continue down the path that they've started in the past 3 weeks.

each week the family is given 3 "rules" to follow - which are really more like goals. they are about the same for each family. i think it's so they don't have to print up new little magnet things for the rules.

i've watched a few episodes of this show and made a few observations that i want to share.

1. how do they really know that having a life of pizza eating and coke drinking will lead the child to pierce her nose and dye her hair green at the age of 18? and how do they know that eating tofu burgers will lead them toward a life without holes in body parts and normal hair styles? And a goatee verses no goatee??

2. isn't it a little hypocritical for a TV SHOW to tell a family that they each have to limit their tv watching to 1 hour a day? each family gets this rule and then there's a big spectacle about taking the kids tvs out of their rooms where they cry and fight and act like their 2. how is the show supposed to get ratings and succeed if people only watch tv for 1 hour a day? adults everywhere might use that 1 hour to get the weather forecast and news updates and then the show would fail! it doesn't seem like it's a very productive method of making your show succeed.

3. each family has a "get moving" type of rule where they send the kids out to some sort of activity/class for a week to make them want to exercise. they sent a 200 pound 12 year old boy and his overweight 8 year old brother to boxing lessons. the bigger boy hated it - with the exception of the fact that he liked to repeatedly hit stuff. like the bag. so - let's look at this in a logical way for a second. you sent a 200 pound 12 year old adolescent boy to boxing where he could learn to enjoy pounding things and the proper techniques to beat up people - such as his little brother and other peers who made fun of him. you gave him the ammunition he needed to become a bully. yeah - THAT'S smart...

4. they always send the parents out on a special date to a nice place for dinner. and i always wonder - where are the kids?? cause they usually aren't old enough to be watching themselves. and how come the places they eat are healthy but if i go out to eat it's impossible to find a meal that has less than 1000 calories?

5. it's a jump to expect ANY person to switch from meat to tofu after less than a week. and meat can be good for you in proper quantities you know. and just introducing a child to a pig farm isn't really going to deter them from eating bacon. i mean if they really like bacon - they're going to wanna eat bacon. meeting wilbur in person isn't going to stop that...

6. there's always that one child that refuses to eat the new food until 2 weeks into the program. how exactly is the child surviving in the meantime if they are sitting there refusing to eat the food at all meals?

7. why is it that plain, flavorless, bland oatmeal is the only healthy breakfast that they know? mix a little jelly in there - it tastes better.

8. vegetarian does not equal a healthier lifestyle. one can be healthy without tofu and bland foods...

someone pass the pork steaks please!