The U.S. has been the most obese nation on the planet for over two decades now. Food is pumped with unnecessary sugar and empty calories, the average lifestyle is more sedentary than active and seeing overweight people everywhere has become so normalized that we hardly notice it. Despite that normalcy, most people agree that this epidemic is deeply unhealthy. Therefore, we need to start paying more attention to diets and fitness.

Unfortunately, our approach to the obesity epidemic has been horrendous on many fronts. Diet industries and fad supplements promise quick weight loss only to disappoint their customers. Gym memberships can be expensive, and fitness influencers give the impression that a person needs to spend a lot of time exercising to be healthy. Some social movements even try to convince overweight people that they are already healthy. But the most harmful approaches may be toward child-

Editorial Board

Mason Hickok | Editor-in-Chief Editor@paisano-online.com

Laynie Clark | Managing Editor Manager@paisano-online.com and Gauri Raje | News Editor News@paisano-online.com

Jake Mireles | Opinion Editor Opinion@paisano-online.com

Riley Carroll | Arts & Life Editor Arts@paisano-online.com

Luke Lawhorn | Sports Editor Sports@paisano-online.com

Chloe Williams | Web and Social Editor Web@paisano-online.com and Socialmedia@paisano-online.com

Dustin Vickers | Photo Editor Photo@paisano-online.com

Grace Robinson | Graphic Editor Graphic@paisano-online.com

“The handling of artists’ estates by record labels has led to many deceased artists releasing posthumous music.”

Are weight loss shortcuts viable?

hood obesity. It is no surprise that in such an overweight country, children make up a fair portion of the statistics.

One in five children in the U.S. are overweight. That is well over five million young boys and girls who face health complications due to their weight. While obesity is a problem in adults, who have control of their own food and exercise choices, it develops into a much more extensive set of issues in struggles, whatever they may be, is a cold, hard one: A song still makes money after the artist is dead. The handling of artists’ estates by record labels has led to many deceased artists releasing posthumous music. While this has resulted in good music being delivered to fans in cases like Mac Miller’s “Circles” and MF DOOM’s “Super What?,” it can also feel like a cash grab with no regard for the fans or the artist’s legacy. The culture surrounding hip-hop and rock has always had ties to drugs, and unless there is a cultural change, musicians will continue to feel pressured to fit into the tortured-artist mold that society expects. Drug abuse and mental health in the music industry needs to be addressed before more stars burn out in their prime. The music left behind by these artists is their gift to the world — and they get paid back with everything but happiness.

Marcela Montufar Soria | Multimedia Editor Multimedia@paisano-online.com

Jenna Taylor | Magazine Editor Magazine@paisano-online.com

Genevieve Vega | Distribution Manager Distribution@paisano-online.com

Luke DeMario | Buisness Manager Buisness@paisano-online.com

Staff

Grace Robinson/The Paisano

minors, since they are often not old enough to make these choices for themselves.

Parents should be feeding their children good food and encouraging them to play outside or participate in sports at school. It is their job to ensure their kid is happy, healthy and productive by helping them build good lifelong habits. Far from employing such time-tested techniques, however, some parents are turning to shortcuts they can use to circumvent the attention they should be paying to their kids’ health and wellbeing.

One of these shortcuts is weightloss medication. Instead of controlling the portions of the food they give to their children, parents are putting them on medications like semaglutide — also known as Ozempic — which tricks the brain into thinking they are full. Why teach them to control how much they eat, a lesson that will help them throughout their lives, when you can medicate their hunger away? This is lazy parenting at its finest and sets up dangerous precedents for the future.

If a child is taught that they can depend on medications for problems that can and should be approached through discipline and good choices, what else will they try to change through unnecessary substances in the future? And if we teach the younger generations that healthy diets and exercise are unnecessary, how can we expect the obesity epidemic to improve?

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