What age to go without a push chair at theme parks? - Page 2

[meemee]

Totally OT here...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitchensqueen 

But I was just pointing out that there seems to be a pattern in this country of people using strollers for older children routinely, which I think does contribute to that kind of problem. 

I am not sure that regular stroller use for older kids has anything to do with obesity. however i dont really see that many older kids in strollers where i am either. if you banned strollers for anyone 4 and above i doubt it would have an impact on obesity. imho obesity these days is nothing but food addiction and the only time we will see some impact on that social problem is when there is will be obesity rehab camp and the corporations dont get to decide what people should eat.

being the mom of an older kid though the stroller has taken on a whole different definition for me. stroller at the store means a peaceful shopping experience for me on those days dd does not want to go to the store - when she is tired and zapped and yet we dont have a choice.

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by meemee 

Totally OT here...
 

Quote:

I am not sure that regular stroller use for older kids has anything to do with obesity. however i dont really see that many older kids in strollers where i am either. if you banned strollers for anyone 4 and above i doubt it would have an impact on obesity. imho obesity these days is nothing but food addiction and the only time we will see some impact on that social problem is when there is will be obesity rehab camp and the corporations dont get to decide what people should eat.

being the mom of an older kid though the stroller has taken on a whole different definition for me. stroller at the store means a peaceful shopping experience for me on those days dd does not want to go to the store - when she is tired and zapped and yet we dont have a choice.

I guess what I was trying to point out was that stroller use for able bodied older kids is part of teaching an attitude that exercise and fitness aren't important, which is a big factor in the obesity problem. Not that stroller use will directly cause obesity. But as a PP pointed out, that wasn't exactly the question posed by the OP, so I guess I just put it out there as food for thought for everyone. When it comes right down it, we're all just doing the best we can to make the best decisions for our kids and families. 

[redbirdlady]

We went to Disney World a few months ago.  Almost brought a stroller for DS, who was 3 1/2, but figured that the kid runs circles around us on normal days, so what would we need a stroller for?

On day 2, we got tired of carrying him off and on through the day, drove to Babies R Us, and bought a stroller.  (We were due for a new one anyway.)

It's worth mentioning that we only go to theme parks in the off-season, when lines are short (the standing in line happens without a stroller in most cases) and we're not struggling to squeeze everything into one day.

I will bring out the stroller for outings like the aquarium or the zoo, and 9 times out of 10, DS will want to be up and running around.  But for a theme park, we learned our lesson.  ;)

I can't imagine how one would be able to find a stroller that would comfortably hold a 10 year old, to be honest.

[meemee]

hey i jumped on it because of the food for thought issue. you dangle that carrot in front of me and hey i'll just go for it.

i still dont think stroller has anything to do with fitness and exercise either.

i really do think obesity is a class issue. if you look at where the majority issue of obesity is a problem - you see its a social issue - not of a family being lazy (i know you didnt mean that). look at the areas where obesity is an issue and you will find no parks or very few, tiny backyards, lots of fast food, and pathetic grocery stores offering low quality fresh and processed food. it isnt just a poor issue anymore but a middle class issue too. but unfortunately the middle class is full of the working poor - that group that gets the worst of the lot. if you look at those schools - yes they do have a playground but no PE. AND the playground is not available after school for a multitude of reasons.

i mean people have already lost the knowledge of what healthy food is. look how fast it happened. 2, 3 generations.

when you dont provide the space for kids to run around and play - not even courts, how do you expect people to have a sense of fitness and exercise. it is much more normal to do 'exercise' than not. but when you dont provide the space then 'than not' becomes the norm. it blows my mind that when one talks about being fit and exercise one mainly means the gym. no one really means the bike ride, walking or running. again if you take jogging does that activity happen (in general - not the exception and most of the members here fall into the exception category) when there is no park?

this is very much on my mind because of the 3rd grader that was removed from his mom because of his weight issue. he was removed because she didnt do enough according to their books.

yeah i have no clue how i am going to find anything for a 10 year old  either . i am sure they wont allow bicycles or skateboards or even roller skates. that is why i thought of a stroller.

[Polliwog]

When we get to go to Disney, I will have no problem renting one of their awesome strollers.

DD;s 4 3/4 and we bring her stroller sometimes on long outings. It doesn't have a tray and she doesn't buckle in, so she can hop in and out when she wants. She might ride for a few minutes and then hops out to look at things.It's no different than resting on a bench but allows us to keep moving when we need to.

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by meemee 

hey i jumped on it because of the food for thought issue. you dangle that carrot in front of me and hey i'll just go for it.

i still dont think stroller has anything to do with fitness and exercise either.

i really do think obesity is a class issue. if you look at where the majority issue of obesity is a problem - you see its a social issue - not of a family being lazy (i know you didnt mean that). look at the areas where obesity is an issue and you will find no parks or very few, tiny backyards, lots of fast food, and pathetic grocery stores offering low quality fresh and processed food. it isnt just a poor issue anymore but a middle class issue too. but unfortunately the middle class is full of the working poor - that group that gets the worst of the lot. if you look at those schools - yes they do have a playground but no PE. AND the playground is not available after school for a multitude of reasons.

i mean people have already lost the knowledge of what healthy food is. look how fast it happened. 2, 3 generations.

when you dont provide the space for kids to run around and play - not even courts, how do you expect people to have a sense of fitness and exercise. it is much more normal to do 'exercise' than not. but when you dont provide the space then 'than not' becomes the norm. it blows my mind that when one talks about being fit and exercise one mainly means the gym. no one really means the bike ride, walking or running. again if you take jogging does that activity happen (in general - not the exception and most of the members here fall into the exception category) when there is no park?

this is very much on my mind because of the 3rd grader that was removed from his mom because of his weight issue. he was removed because she didnt do enough according to their books.

yeah i have no clue how i am going to find anything for a 10 year old  either . i am sure they wont allow bicycles or skateboards or even roller skates. that is why i thought of a stroller.

You're misunderstanding what I've been saying. I don't believe strollers cause obesity. As I clarified up thread, it's the attitude around repeated stroller use in older able bodied children that I think contributes to the obesity problem via lack of adequate training on good exercise and fitness. But we should let this thread get back to it's original topic. Might be an interesting thread in and of itself though. :-) 

[Alphaghetti]

When we did Disneyworld the first time, DS was almost 4. DH ended up carrying him on his shoulders most of the day, and it was uncomfortable for him to say the least. All the walking was a bit much for DS at that age. We would have done much better with a stroller for that day. By the time DS was five, he could do parks without one. My older two were between the ages of 6 and 9 and could walk through the parks of Orlando quite easily, although we had a few complaint sessions, and ended up taking a few breaks.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by kitchensqueen 

You're misunderstanding what I've been saying. I don't believe strollers cause obesity. As I clarified up thread, it's the attitude around repeated stroller use in older able bodied children that I think contributes to the obesity problem via lack of adequate training on good exercise and fitness. But we should let this thread get back to it's original topic. Might be an interesting thread in and of itself though. :-) 

oh i get you  what i am saying is i disagree with you. even with the attitude. when one does not have the adequate space for fitness and exercise how can one develop an attitude for it?!!!!

[Mom2M]

I am going to use a wagon when my DD is no longer young enough to justify a stroller for really long days at parks or whatever. All my kids walk a lot and will walk for long times at places like that but then there is usually a point where they need to sit down and we need t o keep walking. Most of the time, the stroller is used to hold bags and whatever we bring with us because I do not like having to carry everything in a backpack, especially when it's hot.. Right now, we still use a carrier and bring the stroller as back up and for our stuff. Some places have wagons to rent if you don't have one or can't fit it in your car.

[leighi123]

Originally Posted by Mom2M 

I am going to use a wagon when my DD is no longer young enough to justify a stroller for really long days at parks or whatever. All my kids walk a lot and will walk for long times at places like that but then there is usually a point where they need to sit down and we need t o keep walking. Most of the time, the stroller is used to hold bags and whatever we bring with us because I do not like having to carry everything in a backpack, especially when it's hot.. Right now, we still use a carrier and bring the stroller as back up and for our stuff. Some places have wagons to rent if you don't have one or can't fit it in your car.

It would be nice to be able to use a wagon (more to carry "stuff" than anything else), but theme parks don't allow wagons, at least not Disney/Sea World here.  The zoo allows them, but he has never ridden in anything there, he'd walk the whole zoo no problem by the time we moved here when he was 18months old. 

We have to pick up Grandma from the airport so are planning on going to Sea World this week, I'm going to see how he does walking.  I plan on mostly going to shows (they have a lot of holiday shows), so there will be plenty of down time too.