Children and Obesity
Children are facing the perils of obesity at an alarming rate with 17% of kids between the ages of 6 to 19 being overweight or obese, according to researchers.
Unfortunately, a lot of these overweight kids are victims of a lack of balanced home prepared meals due to the busy lifestyles of parents, whom are probably not eating wisely themselves.
Fast food style restaurants are more concerned with their bottom line rather than feeding the consumer with an inexpensive, healthy, low calorie tasty meal. Kids and parents keep going back for more since it fills you up, taste good and it's affordable.
The poor are really in the grips of fast food eating, since you can fill up on belly, butt and thigh busting foods for under $5.00.
The adolescence of today are facing the perfect storm for becoming overweight or obese with the poor eating habits and the absence of daily vigorous activity. Parents need to prevent their kids from ever needing to lose weight so they aren't faced with health and social problems later on in adulthood.
If parents don't lead by example and find a way to teach their children the importance of exercise and healthy eating, the chances of them forming good healthy eating and fitness habits are pretty slim.
When the babyboomer generation was growing up, extracarricular activity generally involved some sort of athletic, vigorous calorie burning sport, now it's TV, computers and video games. And the generations before were out in the fields, growing and harvesting the food for their families, or working usually at a physically demanding job. Obesity was not a problem.
With half of American families not having a sit down meal, many kids have to make their own food decisions when they get hungry, so they are left to the mercy of what ever is in the fridge or cabinets, or have money for a five dollar meal. If there is one stay at home parent, then providing consistent balanced healthy food and physical activity is essential.
One bright spot is that the schools are finally beginning to realize they can play an important role in curbing the childhood obesity epidemic and have made tremendous progress in offering more healthy, nutritional foods according to the results of the 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) released October 19, 2007.
What the schools are providing now can give the parents some suggestions as what to offer at home with more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less high fat foods such as deep fried potatoes. Also, An average of about 85% of schools teach nutrition education.
Some Tips: Parents need to try and prepare more healthy food for the kids and themselves, such as cold whole grain cereals or hot oatmeal to start the day and fill up on more large low calorie salads for example and fruit for dessert. Prepare meals for the week on the weekend so when the kids reach for something to eat it will be of nutritional value, and don't leave out protein...Cut way back on the five c's, candy, cookies, cakes, cola and chips, unless their made of whole grain products.
The formula for maintaining a healthy weight is no different for children than it is for adults. Burn more calories than you take in and you have the best chance possible for weight control. School sports or sports outside the class room is one surefire fat burning activity, but if this isn't feesible encourage the kids to start the day with some aerobics and stretching that will counteract all the TV and computer sitting, or 10 minutes of exercise for every hour they sit.
Kids today rely on their parents and the school system to provide them with the tools and knowledge they need to make good choices and avoid heart disease, cancer, diabetes and the other perils of poor eating and inactivity.
Research: One study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children and if being overweight begins before the age of 8 years, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe. Source: Centers For Disease Control (CDC)
Another study shows that a child's weight may be influenced by the mother even before the child is actually born, and is more likely to become overweight at a very young age - 2 or 3 years old - if the mother was overweight or obese before she became pregnant. Source: National Insitutes of Health (NIH)
Balancing the calories from foods and beverages and the calories being used everyday is paramount for health and wellness.