Results tagged “memeroth”

After the NY Times article about Upper West Side mother—and anti-obesity crusader—MeMe Roth, Roth has appeared on local and national television to spread the word against cupcakes distributed at schools and other similar scourges. On Good Morning America, Roth, who has tangled with P.S. 9 administration over sweets given out during classes, said, "Just because... you send your child to school and they're in someone else's care, that does not mean you're forfeiting your rights as a parent," and doesn't want her 4th grader son and 2nd grader daughter to be touched by "second-hand obesity," since Roth bears emotional scars as the daughter and granddaughter of obese women. She told WCBS 2, "Can't kids go from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. without a donut, without, you know, just candy and cookies? It's school. It's not the carnival." While a pediatrician says some sweets in moderation are okay, Roth demands, "Show me the piece of research that says a child performs better at school and behaves better at school having eaten junk food and I will shut my mouth." Researchers, that's your cue!

Obesity, especially childhood obesity, is an issue that the city takes seriously. But one Upper West Side mother's tactics at P.S. 9 have caused the school—and many other parents—to become frustrated and weary. MeMe Roth, an anti-obesity activist who gets upset by "special occasion" junk food ("cupcakes that come out for every birthday, the doughnuts her children were once given in gym"), tells the NY Times, "I thought I was sending my kid to P.S. 9, not Chuck E. Cheese. Is there or is there not an obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country?”