Childhood obesity is on the rise in America. As adults, it is our responsibility to become educate on how to prevent it. The number of overweight children in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. Approximately 10 percent of 4 and 5-year-old children are overweight, double that of 20 years ago.2 There are so many ways to prevent childhood obesity from happening. To all the parents and/or guardians, it starts with you!
One way to prevent childhood obesity is proper nutrition. Give your children healthy meals and snacks everyday. This will give them the nutrients they need for a healthy, growing body. Kids do not know what's good for their bodies, they just know that the cheeseburger from McDonalds tastes good. As parents you should also educate your children about nutrition. Nutrition education helps young children develop an awareness of what good nutrition is and healthy eating habits for a lifetime.2 One important thing you should teach you kids is portion control. It helps to prevent overeating. There is a website called ChooseMyPlate.gov that is great for learning about proper portion sizes, daily food plans,healthy eating on a budget, as well as nutritional tips. By giving them healthy foods at a young age and teaching them basic nutritional information, children will develop proper eating behaviors and be able to recognize and choose foods that feed their body, not harm it.
In addition to proper nutrition, exercise is essential in preventing childhood obesity. Get outside and get active. All children age two and older should participate in at least 30 minutes of enjoyable, moderate-intensity physical activities every day.1 Doing physical activities helps with weight management and reduces future health risks. Make these activities fun. Some kids hear exercise and shut down and want to go inside and play video games. A tip for this would be to just say we have some activities we are going to go do. Do it as a family and have a variety of activities (shooting hoops, bike riding, walking together, etc.) so you can figure out what interests your kids. T.V., computer, and videogame time should be limited. It is recommended that there be no more than two hours of daily media exposure for children ages two and older.1 Limiting the amount of time kids are on electronics gives them more time to be active and outside.
These are just a few things that parents and/or guardians can use to get their kids eating right and physically active. This will not only help the parents but the kids as well, they will grow up with the right mind set and have the right eating habits.
1Motivating Kids to Get Fit. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/parents/food-and-fitness/sport-and-fitness/motivating-kids-to-get-fit/
2Preventing Childhood Obesity: Tips for Parents. (2012, June 1). Retrieved September 22, 2014, from https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/nutrition/resources/obparnts.htm
This is an excellent article!! It is terrible that children as young as age six are obese. These children aren't even old enough to make decisions on what they eat, they just eat what is placed in front of them. Adults and parents do have a responsibility to ensure that what their kids are eating are nutritious and not junk. It is also a responsibility to t\ensure amount of physical activity get your kids off the video games and outside for some exercise then cook them a healthy dinner. Stopping this epidemic is as easy as that. Cut the just fix nutritious foods, increase amount of physical activity its tough love but, will create a much healthier individual in the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree, parents have become lazy over the years by just feeding their children what's "convenient". It is a parent's responsibility to provide proper nutrients young bodies need to grow and develop. Of course it is hard when we all lead such busy lifestyles, but buying the healthier snacks and groceries is a choice. Many kids would actually enjoy healthy snacks, if given the opportunity. Finding out which healthy foods kids enjoy is important, also we should let them know why it's important as well.
ReplyDeleteNow a days, children are always inside playing video games. Its become rare that they will actually get outside, and its even more rare that they eat healthy food. So childhood obesity is definitely on the rise.
ReplyDeleteI think that every child should be required to "workout" every day, I know that when i was younger I enjoyed physical activity. Not only to get rid of energy but it made me feel better for the entire day.
ReplyDeleteChildhood obesity is one the biggest problems today in the U.S. It seems to get worse, and something needs to change. While I was in grade school I did notice how the food items on the menu at school had changed from junk food to healthier foods, even though the food didn't taste as good, it had to be done to help fix this issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what this article says about childhood obesity, and that the guardian of the child should have the child work out daily. They can have the children do different activities each day to make it fun for the them, but child obesity doesn't just have to do with inactive kids. It also deals with what the kids eat, there are plenty of kids who don't work out everyday or at all and are not obese. I think we need to make sure the kids eat right and also get the same amount of exercise daily.
ReplyDeleteEating healthier and incorporating moderate exercise can help to increase your immune function.
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