With Hartz IV cutbacks against overweight proceed?

The President of the German Teachers' Association Josef Kraus demands "in the last resort" to make cuts in child benefits or Hartz IV, if deliberations and explanations are not fruitful.

(04.06.2010) The President of the German Teachers' Association Josef Kraus has sparked outrages at Hartz IV initiatives. To tackle the overweight of children, proposes the teacher head of association "in the last instance" also cuts in child benefit and the Hartz IV rule sets. Kraus told the online photo: "Neglecting the world to the point of being neglected is an offense, and if parents do not care about their children's healthy diet and exercise, this is in extreme cases the beginning of child abuse." If the parents do not follow the instructions of the doctors, the youth welfare office should also be informed. In the last instance, the child benefit and the Hartz IV salaries should also be reduced, according to Kraus. Furthermore, "regular mandatory counseling with weight control" should be performed by physicians in schools.

The "Jobless Forum Germany" sharply criticized the statements made by the teachers' association chief and even called for a resignation. Martin Behrsing said: "We even accuse Josef Kraus of going near dangerous social racism and black pedagogy, and he demands nothing more than punishing overweight problems with poor people through starvation." Behrsing added: "A resignation from Kraus is in our view the least".

Also the Hartz IV critical initiative "gegen-hartz.de" sees in the expressions of Kraus, defamation against the parents in the Hartz IV reference. Thus, the set too low set of rules for children is responsible for the malnutrition. Just 215 euros per month are available to the children. "A healthy diet today is closely linked to the wealth of the parents - children receive only 60 percent of the parents' standard rate of Hartz IV - that's just € 215 a month", says Sebastian Bertram from "gegen-hartz.de".

The criticism of the two initiatives is not entirely unfounded. Low-cost foods are often processed with artificial flavors and additives. Low earners in particular depend on the cheap finished products. Through the constant supply of artificially produced flavors, the consumer loses control over his eating sensibilities. The result: You need more and more in greater concentrations, a natural taste is thus almost completely lost. Without consciously noticing it, one becomes an "aroma dependent". Nutrition explains this connection as follows: The aromas virtually trick the body. For example, when flavors signal artificial flavors from cattle, the human organism assumes that the consumer actually eats beef. As a result, digestive glands are activated, which set the entire system to process cattle. But instead of eating beef, you only consume artificial flavors. The body is cheated by it and demands more food. As a consequence, the paradoxical phenomenon of civilization appears, people become overweight at the same time and yet are malnourished. (Sb)

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