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Comment by fermienrico | Hacker News Reader

The way this article is written is very off-putting.

For instance, "We run around chasing our kids to eat cookies and drink juice, and then wonder why we have a childhood obesity crisis. Good job, everybody, good job."

I am not sure if I understand this: "The median daily intake duration (the amount of time people spent eating) was 14.75 hours per day. That is, if you started eating breakfast at 8am, you didn’t, on average, stop eating until 10:45pm."

I certainly spend may be 1 hour eating everyday including breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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The author means time between first and last food intakes of the day, not total time spent eating.

I see. So then this statement is not correct "The median daily intake duration (the amount of time people spent eating) was 14.75 hours per day.".

It should be "The time between first and last meal during waking hours".

"The amount of time people spend eating" statement is totally wrong.

Each year the average person starts eating at 8am on January 1st and doesn’t stop until about 7:30pm on December 31st!

Yes, taken literally, it is incorrect. But being familiar with the thesis, I understood what the author meant. Definitely an example of sloppy writing.

It’s common terminology when referring to fasting, and it’s pretty clear from context. Apply the principle of charity: it’s highly unlikely that the author is making the ludicrous claim that people on average are literally eating food constantly for 14.75 hours a day.

> "We run around chasing our kids to eat cookies and drink juice, and then wonder why we have a childhood obesity crisis. Good job, everybody, good job."

I literally have seen this happen, where parents chase their kids around cookies and Juice in hand, Literally.

As a parent, I have done this.

It’s hard when an active kid is constantly distracted. It has been a big exercise in discipline (for me) to say that food is eaten at the table at specific times and if she’s hungry, then she can eat more at the next meal. (Obviously baring force majeure etc.)

I have to agree on the writing style. I think it's pretty anecdotal that it's "...almost considered child abuse to deprive your child of a mid-morning snack or after-school snack."

I suspect the author has first hand exposure to helicopter parents at soccer games, but should realize that inserting such experiences might get in the way of their main point.

This talk has a nice information about circadian habits if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erBJuxVR7IE

From first to last bite is 14.75 hours

Your body is in a 'fed' state long after eating.

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