Hey people! It’s Darrin your starting over coach
I’m here to discuss childhood
obesity. This is a topic that is not
getting enough attention and for the life of me, I don’t know why. Well, actually I do. We forgot how to take care of ourselves, so
how can we be expected to take care of our children? Who wants to admit that kind of failure?
This does not apply to everyone,
of course, but if you look at today’s stats, you can see that childhood obesity
is on the rise. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 18% of adolescents aged 12–19, 20% of
children aged 6–11, and 10% of children aged 2–5 are obese. Since 2010 over 43
million kids under the age of 5 have been
classified as overweight. This is a
widespread problem that has moved beyond any one socioeconomic group or
gender. We must ask ourselves, how did
this happen, and why is it continuing to increase?
All we hear now is “He’ll only
eat (insert fast food restaurant name…)”, or “She’s a grazer so we just have to
set (insert fast food name here…) out for her, and she’ll eat when she’s ready
– all that matters is that she eats”, or “He’s such a picky eater, we can’t put
(insert HEALTHY food here…) on his plate”.
Just out of curiosity, if you said that to your parents, how would that
conversation have ended? A child can
only be a finicky eater if they’re given too many options, and it’s the child
who is allowed to pick and choose those options! The developing body of a young person can’t
handle fast food every day.
It has been proven beyond doubt
that a diet heavily laden with fast food has dire consequences for adults. Why on earth would you think it would be any
less detrimental to our children? In
many instances, the consequences prove to be a lot worse. This is a serious problem that directly
impacts adult interaction in society.
How can it not have a negative effect on the fragile emotional,
physical, and social and well-being of our children?
According to an article written
by Julie DeJean Marks, MEd, LCES, for the Obesity Action Coalition, “Adults who
have been obese since childhood and developed low self-esteem are more likely
to face discrimination in educational settings and the workplace, thus
achieving lower educational status. They
are also less likely to marry. [Among
this population,] a greater decrease in activity, including walking, shopping,
attending movies and parties, and increased feelings of sadness and
hopelessness are found in adults between the ages of 51 to 69.”
Depression isn’t our only
concern when it comes to childhood obesity.
Diabetes, for example, was once believed to affect only adults, and used
to be referred to as “adult onset diabetes”, but with it frequently showing up
in obese children, it has now been re-titled as ‘Type 2” diabetes. Metabolic
syndrome—elevated blood pressure and insulin levels, excess body fat around the
waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels occurring together—has become a common term in recent years. This cluster of
conditions increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes (according
to the Mayo Clinic, 2009) and is strongly correlated with obesity. The syndrome was formerly associated with
adults, but pediatric metabolic
syndrome is now routinely diagnosed, although with less specific criteria
(Jessup & Harrell 2005). Obstructive
sleep apnea also occurs in children and adolescents who are severely
obese.
With all of this, I am baffled,
because obesity, in both children and adults is totally and absolutely preventable. It all comes
down to lost structure. We have no game
plan for what we want to do health wise.
We pacify our kids with video games and fast food, just to keep them
quiet. If we have bad habits, our
children will have bad habits. If we eat
poorly, we teach our children to eat poorly.
Let’s get real. We must lead by
example. If we want our kids to get
active, they need to see Mommy or Daddy being active, and any form of play can
be considered exercise. You go from a
baby bottle right into a fast food restaurant and you wonder why little Susie
is 50 lbs at 2 years old. Take a look at
your food choices. Better yet take a
look at yourself…
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