Preventing Obesity in Children
Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. Is it based purely on genetics? It’s clear that lack of physical activity is a key contributor to the global obesity epidemic, and in turn, to rising rates of chronic disease everywhere.
Causes of Childhood Obesity
Some obesity may be impacted by genetics, but the truth is, a lifestyle can be adjusted to be more healthy and small changes are key to successful weight loss.
In a recent USA Today article written by Susan Bloom, experts offer tips to parents on combating childhood obesity.
Dr. Paul Schwartzberg, program director for pediatric residency at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, acknowledges that healthy foods are not always so easy to find.
He says, “Sadly, in many areas, access to nutritional foods is not as accessible as it is to fat foods.”
Controlling Obesity With The Right Food
It’s difficult for people to make reasonable choices on food and portions in today’s ‘supersize’ age, and people are often not educated on the concept of calories and how many calories certain foods contain.”
Adria Magenheim, a nutritionist, agrees that when it comes to childhood obesity, junk food is a key culprit. She says, “The amount of processed food, sugar and corn syrup that kids eat today amounts to nothing but empty calories, from a nutritional perspective.”
When junk food is combined with the mostly sedentary lifestyle of many children, it leads to becoming overweight and obese, explaining the epidemic our country is now struggling to reverse.
Schwartzberg also noted that a genetic component does often come into play. Estimates reveal that children who have one obese parent stand a 50 percent chance of being obese themselves. If both parents are obese, the risk for the child becomes 80 percent.
Role of Physical Activity and Exercise In Obesity Prevention
Schwartzberg is striving to make a difference locally. As the medical director for the Neptune-based Let’s Improve Fitness Together (LIFT) program, he regularly works with overweight and obese children and teens to help them establish better eating habits and activity levels.
The program teaches kids how to read food labels and count calories, while promoting fun, easy ways to exercise both indoors and outdoors.
Parents are also targeted by the program, who need to be involved and educated to help their children become successful.
Obesity Prevention Programmes
There are many conditions of our unhealthy nation of today that are being transferred to our children too.
Being obese is the most common cause of type 2 diabetes, and the only way to prevent it is to shed those pounds and cut back on the unhealthy foods.
While looking for obesity prevention programmes, you could make your own measures of prevention of course, but there are some important aspects of preventing obesity and how to go about implementing them that you pay attention.
1. Cut back on sodas
2. Eat your breakfast – people who have a breakfast generally weigh less. They also have more control of what they eat throughout the day.
3. Do not eat in front of the TV – Eating like this can cause mindless eating. That way you are not aware of the amount you are eating and therefore makes it easier to over eat.
4. Limit the time of your children to sit in front of TV – Eating like this can cause mindless eating. That way you are not aware of the amount you are eating and therefore makes it easier to over eat.
5. Eat together as a family – Eating the same meals at the same time createa routine, and you also spend time with your family
6. Plan ahead simple, easy to prepare meals with fresh foods and avoid processed food!
7. Be physically active and get more exercise – . The best way to do this is to slowly build yourself up to the idea of exercise. Start by walking short distances, take the dogs for longer walks or walk to a friend’s house that isn’t far.
All these not only will build your confidence but your mental state will improve. Exercising like this gives us time to reflect and think.
- Try to make some time for a little bit of activity, keep it simple but work at it. Maybe for 30 minutes every the music channel goes on while you clean, get the kids involved and make it active.
- Or even if it’s just making sure you’re getting up and moving each time the adverts are on.
This is a sample of an obesity prevention programme that you should set while tackling obesity and helping your kids lose weight.
