By Jose Antonio PhD FISSN – Here’s a quote from the textbook “Exploring Lifespan Development” (3rd edition) by Laura E. Berk. It is from Chapter 11, page 289. Are you ready? Because it’s a gem.
“Among boys, athletic competence is strongly related to peer admiration and self-esteem. Some adolescents become so obsessed with physical prowess that they turn to performance-enhancing drugs. About 8 percent of U.S. high school seniors, mostly boys, report having used creatine, an over-the-counter substance that enhances short-term muscular power but carries a risk of serious side effects, including muscle tissue disease, brain seizures, and heart irregularities (Castillo & Comstock, 2007).” It goes on to say that “Coaches and health professionals should inform teenagers of the dangers of these performance-enhancing substances.”
Shitfire I think I had a seizure after reading that. Just when you thought you’ve seen it all, you haven’t. Sometimes the most dumbass comments emanate from the highly educated. It goes to show that being educated and being smart can mutually exclusive. How can a textbook (supposedly based in science) just fabricate such nonsense? The answer: WTF knows?!
There is so much data on creatine that I’ll be honest, at times it’s kinda boring reading another study detailing how well it enhances performance. Heck, I know that water’s wet. I don’t need another study to show me that. But then again, Masters degree students need a project, right?
Then one of my good friends passed along a story in which the Connecticut state legislature is considering a bill that would ban day care centers from serving whole milk or two percent milk to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity: http://www.koco.com/national/no-what-unusual-banslaws/14412446#ixzz30HauacNA
Really? Ban milk? Replace it with what? Soda? Yoo Hoo? It always amazes and frustrates me when the do-gooders in government try to control aspects of our personal lives that they have no f’in business getting involved in. What next? Will they require that everyone drink 8 glasses of water a day? Do 20 push-ups before reciting the Pledge of Allegiance?
And in New York, there is a concerted effort to ban big sodas (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9520201). “The National Alliance for Hispanic Health and nine other entities filed a brief Monday. They’re calling the rule a “reasonable and measured attempt” at stemming a tide of obesity, diabetes and other illnesses. The group says those problems are prevalent in minority communities where beverage companies target their marketing to particular ethnic groups.” I have an idea. Stop drinking the frickin’ sodas! And here’s a brilliant one I discovered. EXERCISE!!! I swear these two things work. Scout’s honor.
The growth (and the tacit acceptance) of the nanny state is more annoying that stepping in cow shit on a hot day in Iowa. Are people so ill-equipped that they need the government to tell them not to drink too much sugar-filled sodas and that exercise is actually good for them?
And what does it say about the do-gooders in government that they feel compelled to regulate serving sizes? I can see it now. Some dope will call for a reduction in the size of the Big Mac. Too much fat, too many calories, blah blah blah. Useful idiots.
