I was a very skinny kid, that's not to say my parents didnt feed me well. It was the Sixties, fast food as we know it didnt exist, most of the time meals were consumed at home, everyone present, around a table. I say without reservation that if you know any families that do this regurlary today they will be a happy healthy family unit. I am not just talking about the food, I am talking about the emotional value of a family spending time in one place together. I have no doubt when the family unit started to slip many things came slipping right behind it. I guess I probably wasnt paying attention, those were the days where very few kids were overwheight,at least in the circles I traveled. We all played hard, I can remember these long winded, sometimes they would go for hours, games of progressive tag. the rules were that one person was established it he or she would allow a period of time for everyone to hide.we would sometimes have 20-30 kids playing in one game. When everyone had hid the searcher would commence to find just one kid because when he did that and was able to Tag that person now there were two searching and both would look for another. The rules stated you could not tag more than one kid at a time, but I will tell you what, things got reall interesting when 5 or more searchers would see a kid and run him down, it became a game of strategy and endurance and strength. Do kids play these sort of games any more? Is it any surprise at all that the exchange of good run out side for a television and munchies would result in this next generation being our fattest ever. I have also noticed these days that if the kid is fat more than likely the parents are as well. We dont live in the sort of communities we used to live, wouldnt it be great if the parents and the kid would get a bike and take long rides together, Or more simple yet, running shoes and go on long regular walks, How would that be for strenghthening the family unit, you could always talk along the way, The family has ideed slipped and it saddens me.

With love always
Tony.