Sweets, sodas, junk food, inactivity: obesity in children is a worry. What can we all do about it? I am a 14 year old boy myself, and from a young age I have been not forced, but positively encouraged by my parents to eat a healthy, balanced diet whilst taking regular exercise.
I find that it does not only stimulate me physically, but it promotes my well being and mental stature. The only problem is, I can easily look around in my community and see other people my age and younger who obviously follow different guidelines and the effects show.
My brother has a friend of whom shall remain anonymous, and he is extraordinarily overweight for his 12 year age. I never ask him directly about his habits, but our families are good friends. Whilst I eat salads, home made food and low sodium, fat and other reduced 'badness' foods on a regular basis he is given an oven mini pizza snatched from the shelf of ASDA. He takes no exercise whatsoever and he waddles around. Honestly. He is small for his age and constantly looked at when he walks through the town centre as he looks so young. When he has meals at our house, he eats like some sort of barbarian; he chews with his mouth open, breaths through his mouth and just gets it all in at once. His father passed away last year, so I can only suspect that he, his mother and his six year old brother (who is also the same) do not eat together, rather they eat on their laps in the front room. When we take trips to the local park for a kick around, he has zero stamina and cannot keep up with the rest of his friends in PE. I worry because I know this can only lead to massive problems in later life both socially and physically.
My brother follows the same routines as me, but takes much less exercise and it sort of shows; he has a much larger abdomen than me. I am an active football referee, swimmer and participator in school sports days. I have a paper round, which take me half an hour each day, which I walk, totalling up to about 10 hours of exercise a week. I enjoy what I do and participate in The Duke Of Edinburgh award which I am in the process of getting my silver status.
In all, I feel that the key to tackling obesity is to maintain regular, healthy eating habits with other family members to help social skills, gain better relations (going away from possible depression, which could lead to comfort eating) with family and of course lots of exercise. I follow these simple rules, and I am 14 years old, 6ft 1" and 11 stone, with a muscled, athletic build. I very, very rarely eat fast food but as a man I cannot resist the odd kebab every few months. I am proud of who I am as I know I make the right decisions and I only wish everyone else could. I love what you're doing at the moment doctor, and I am fully behind it.
Thank you,
The Famous Peter Children follow by example so if they see their parents and other adults around them enjoying a healthy diet and exercise then they will do the same.
If you start off giving children a good diet that includes lots of fresh fruit and vegetables then they will continue to eat them as they get older. I never give my daughter convience food, junk food, anything with additives especially colours and sweeteners. She is four and has never had sweets, but doesn't feel that she misses out as she has dried fruits, homemade cakes and biscuits and very occasionally chocolate instead. She happily drinks water, fruit juice, milk or smoothies in place of fizzy drinks or squash. I would never stop treats altogether, I am just very careful about what her treats are and how often she has them.
She enjoys swimming, ballet, soft play centres and does lots of walking. I am sure once she starts school in September she will take part in more activities like these.
One thing I have noticed is the number of children that are still pushed around in pushchairs or buggys at the age of 3 or 4. There are a couple of children that are starting school with my daughter who are 4 who are still in pushchairs. There is no need for this; my daughter came out of her pushchair 2 months after her second birthday and walks everywhere. When my older children were babies (now 19 and 20) it was very rare for siblings to go into double buggys, once the second one was born the eldest starting walking everywhere. I am sure this new trend hasn't helped with the obesity problem. As we are talking about children i would not advise introducing any EXTREME diets on them that may restrict or even cut out important food groups, a many adult dieters seem to think is the answer.
Children are still growing and need all the nutrients they can get in order to grow efficiently.
I would suggest introducing children who tend to eat too many sweets or chocolate to healthier sweet options such as fresh or dried fruit. Making the food intresting, colourful and appetising is also important. Chop up fruit in a fruit salad for example and keep it in the fridge where they can nibble on it whenever they like, and even have a bowl of it with their favourite yoghurt.
Same applies to all other foor.. making it as interesting and appetising to a child as possible.
Making junk food something that is not kept in the house and only counts as the odd treat or exception will also put temptation out of sight for children.
Personally, i wouldn't say deprive children of anything, as they will only want it more, but teaching them that junk food isn't good for us in excess but can be enjoyed as the odd treat is important, as they will learn to eat food in moderation and enjoy their food.
I would also advise family outings for a day out or even just to the park, where the whle family can be active together and encouraging this with children. Thisis not only great for combating obesity but also building relationships.
Also, if posible, get your children into clubs and young sports teams as early as you can. This encourages yound individuals to become part of extra-curricular activities and becoming fit and healthy in their own leisure time, as well as building new relationships and introducing them to new social skills.
xxxxx First and foremost must be to remove Aspartame from the diets of everyone.
This chemical causes kids to become lazy. That in turn causes obesity because the kids only want 'easy to eat' junk food swilled down with artificially sweetened fizzy drinks.
It is a nasty downward spiral and something should be done to highlight the dangers of chemical sweeteners, not just in the kids but in the adults that feed the kids.
The list of side effects related to aspartame is quite long, the FDA had to release this list some years ago. There were 92 symptoms on that list, including weight gain & death. Heaven knoiws how many real problems can be linked to aspartame poisoning.
Take a look at Sweetpoison.com and see what Dr. Janet Hull has to say about the stuff, after all she is a doctor and it nearly killed her. Ultimately it's down to the parents to instil family values in their kids. Problems arise when the parents themselves are lacking those values, or when trauma is placed on the family (e.g. a death). I think more needs to be done to educate and support parents.
I don't have kids of my own yet, but have grown up with a Mum as a childminder for over 20 years. We've seen kids of all sizes and shapes, from various backgrounds. The common trend in obese kids is some sort of family dysfunction.
In answering the question, it's obvious that diet and exercise attitudes need to change. Parents should feed to their kids a balance of foods, and eat as a family. Discussion should be encouraged at the table, to allow an open relationship with them.
Parents should also initiate an active lifestyle for their kids from a young age. Listen to their interests and get involved with them. Use family holidays and weekends to get active.
It's an important topic, and more needs to be done than just said. Parents need to lead by example. To start with if the Mother and Father are large to start with this could be very hard,unless they are trying to lose those pounds themselves .Of course exercise will be of benefit to them all,good food is a must but that is to be sorted out by the family,it is possible to do and very enjoyable to all.Even if the odd spices are added (not to much for very young of course)but it does change the food flavors of course to make even things like mince or veg even a lot more appetising .
I am sure that ether in town or country you can get cheap veg and meat to make a very nice meal for the family.
Exercise,yes turn that TV off for an hour or so.And go for a little walk. Some children will eat just for the sake of eating. I have never told my son to eat everything up he stops when full. Nor would i ever say no desert if you dont finnish that. My son helps himself to treats ,snacks odd fizzy drink nothings banned. I believe boredom is a major factor of obesity in children. Yes its hard but let them play out, the fear nowadays of abduction or something terrible happening is real no one could dispute that. However the health problems they face now and in the future are also a very dangerous matter. By keeping them safe and more than well fed damge is being done. Just my own opinion , when my son aged 12 and his friends dissapear for hours on bike rides I do worry, until they come back ravenous and empty the fridge! Give our children good healthy food intermingle it with plenty of exercise but allow them rest time even if this means in front of the TV for short periods.
A little of everything brings happiness in life.
You know obesity in children seems to be more prevalent since competitive sports became politically incorrect in schools and after school activities disappeared. To be honest I hear about obesity all the time in the news but have the opposite problem with my daughter. She is 5 and painfully thin, she eats normally and is normally active. She has had medical checks to find out why she is underweight. I have tried everything I can to fatten her up a bit but to no avail. In addition, childrens foods (indeed all foods!) seem to be 'low fat', 'fat free' etc making it even more difficult to give her extra calories. Perhaps we should also see this from the other side, I cannot be the only parent with this problem. Perhaps if we had a TV she would put on weight - we do not so my kids tend to be more active, and also I see that when kids sit in front of the Tv they want to eat snacks such as crisps and pop whilst they are doing it. I try so hard with my daughter who looks like a skeleton I'm not sure how kids do get obese! I was quite a heavy kid for a while. I just had to deal with it on my own. My mother was quite overweight and depressed herself.
When I was about 13 I put myself on a strict diet and exercised (jogging, exercise DVDs, going to the gym, swimming and kickboxing). I think alot of it comes down to giving your kids the drive they need to exercise. There is also a "mouse potato" culture that seems to have set in with my 13 year old sister. The internet wasn't quite as important as it was when I was a young teenager.
Getting kids out of the house and joining in activities is the best way to get them exercising. My daughter who is 3 months old at the moment will be joining me in hill walking, skating, swimming and other activities when she is older! I introduced my children to healthy snacks from the very beginning, they only ask for things they know like carrot sticks or cucumber slices healthy sandwiches, fruit kebabs/smoothies. I also cook from scratch all the time and freeze meals for when I know I will be too busy to cook.
If my kids have sweets and crisps and junk, it's only ever at parties and because they are used to healthy stuff most of the time they actually turn it down! I think that combating obesity starts from the day your children are born.
Both of my children are in the healthy range for their age and height, but i dont obsess about it.
From when they started wanting snacks, i made sure that they snacked on foods like cut up peppers, carrots, cucumber, and any type of fruit.
i have never denied them sweets and chocolate either, as i think that kids always want what they cant have (and i hate the idea of them buying loads of sweets with pocket money when they get into their teens), so we always have Pudding and sweets/chocolate every Sunday after our roast dinner.
Obviously, children learn by example, so when my kids were born, i had to overhaul my lifestyle to include healthy foods, and cut out the junk(sweets/choc, fried foods, fatty cuts of meat, processed foods etc).
I thin that exercise is vital to combating obesity, whether its for adults or children, and again, i think kids learn by example.
My kids see me playing tennis every week, and also walking as much as possible. I often take them to the field around the corner, and we play frisbee, football, even cricket occasionally.
On a personal note, i get fed up with people thinking that because i am a sinlge mum on benefits, my kids get fed nothing except sausages/burgers/chicken nuggets and chips! My kids eat healthy vegetarian organic foods. I tell them all the health benefits in each foods. I say you need carrots for eyes, greens for blood and immunity. We grow and cook our foods and they show great interest. We tell them the dangers of eating bad foods, occasionally it ok but we need to eat good foods most of the time. We tell them food is for our body and don't need to take pleasure from food. We need pleasure from playing and being happy. We encourage them to play more outdoors and they usually want some snacks, so we give them fruit and dried fruits, nuts. We go to farm and get fresh milk and see whole process of cows in the field, being milked, see the calf's. I never eat any sweets or junk food and this creates a good impression on them. We tell them to shop for their favourite vegetables and we give them a choice of various healthy foods. Stop feeding kids crap, plenty of fruit and veg and home cooking, and excercise; i know people worry about their kids playing out with all the crap the goes on in the world, my wife and i don't let our daughter play out but she is in various sports clubs at school and we have long family walks on a regular basis.
A lot of it starts when kids are little and are dumped in front of the tv all day, some people need to do more with their kids; i know someone who plonks her kids in front of the tv every morning and goes back to bed! Get rid of all the mind numbing computer games and get kids outside playing like when I was younger. I'm only 26, but when I was little we would come home from school, get changed and go outside and play. We'd run about, play on our bikes or skipping or whatever, but we'd be active until it was time for dinner, and then depending on the time of the year we'd go back out to play again after if it was still light. We also did structured exercise, we went to gymnastics and to a running club, and we went to Brownies/Guides etc where they still played physical games etc. well here is an idea ok,
why not get obese children and adults to exercise, but to generate there own electricity to power applicances such as tv, comuters etc not only is it combating obesity its being more eco friendly, however there are major problems, such as other health obesity related disease, such as lungs and heart problems
so this idea probably wouldnt go any where but its a thought???? I find exercise is the key. The recent childhood obesity epidemic has few parallels in history, and thus I can only conclude that our modern lifestyle carries the lion's share of the blame for this predicament.
Consequently, I take parental advice from times gone by - specifically, Victorian England. Eschewing chocalatey treats, I feed my child a thin, watery gruel, and send her to work up the chimneys of the well-heeled. In my family they take the lead from us the parents-they have eaten fresh homemade food from when they were babies-no tinned baby food and never had juice etc when they were thirsty it was water.
Now they are older it continues as we sit down for family meals, go swimming and on long walks together and generally have fun( dune surfing is hilarious together)
Yes they have the occasional sweet but it is occasional and to be honest they don't want it and the likes of McDonald's etc they wouldn't thank you for. Luckily my kids are uber active, and we manage to steer them away from junk foods.
The only true way of illiminating it is to make junk food illegal, than the people who live off it would have to eat something else.
Lets face it, why do people reach for junk food? because its easy,a lazy persons deam come true! Instead for sweets and crisps give them fruit as a snack and dont be lazy yourself take them to the park or for a nice walk or play games outside with them, a child needs you to show them the way be strong and cut down the sweets and crisps and takeaways. They'll be angry and crabbit for a while but all you need to do is persevere!!! well i dont have kids but my brother basicly feeds my neice ,
cereal (mainy rice crispys) for breakfast
then crisps or a sausage roll for a snack
then chips or a sandwich
and then what ever everone else is eating for dinner
but the thing is , it seems like she eats alot of fatty foods , but she is really skinny becuase shes active.
Kids need to get active . Even if it isnt sport , it could be just going to the park and running around for a bit. my kids aren't obese so i don't have to 'combat' it. Its always better to not allow them to get obese in the first place. I believe in the 80/20 principle ie good food 80% of the time with treats 20% of the time. This has worked for me and mine are healthy and happy. Eating healthily works for everyone no matter what their age. Stop all sugar! Stop eating junk! If you cannot pronounce the ingredient, don't eat it! Limit pasta and bread...don't offer it....don't eat it yourself!
Limit sedentary activities....TV, etc! Turn it off!!
Pick out 3 bad habits and choose one....stop it for 21 days. Make it a family affair! Support each other...Make it fun!
Drink ONLY water!!!...or herbal teas.
Get active!...Find something fun that the whole family enjoys...Get out and DO it!
To Your Supreme Health,
Super Mom
http://www.kidsfoodsolution.com
http://www.kidsfoodsolutions.blogspot.co... i would not allow them to be sucked in by media ie,fashion,phones,celeberities,and all that hullabaloo,that creates anxiety which then leads to constant grazing usually unhealthy foods.why do some parents allow very young children to walk around dressed up as adults . I don't have kids, but it would be eating full proper meals made from scratch at home and exercise when going out to play etc, and i would like to hear less about the obesity talk and more about the Anorexia in children nowadays, i think this is being ignored. Parents need to turn off the TV and video games and get their kids outside!
Schools need to stop cutting down gym time for kids!
and another thing..... something needs to be done about the constant rising cost of foods...especially fruits and vegetables. A family on a low income is more likely to by a 2 dollar pack of hot dogs than a 10$ pack of chicken breast....oh wait...a 6 pack of chicken breast cost me over 20 dollars the other day!!!
I bought one tomato ...it was 2 dollars! No wonder poor people are filling up on cheap junk! I was a really obese child.I went to dance classes and that didn't work. Many factors contribute to it.Yes children are sitting behind a computer screen more (wasn't my excuse far to old ).My parents basically feed me the wrong foods.As soon as i left home i went on a controlled diet (Slimming world).I went from a size 24 to an 8. My Dad now has gestational diabetes !!!.His fridge is still full of cakes.
My answer to your question is keep banging education maybe the kids might teach the parents a thing or two.My dad was brought up on rations and i think he has been trying to make up for it ever since (Bless).May be give out cook books with quick health recipes in them.But most of all we have forgotten the word moderation ....e.g Christmas where we all become Chocolate Monsters.....Our kids are seeing it and copying it.Parents are the answer.But nobody is perfect ! My lad was really fat, so I beat it out of him and put the fear of god in his soul.
I took all his bad food away, and it was like boot camp I worked him like a slave all day and night and said that God would reject him and he would go to hell and burn.
He's now fit as a fiddle! well we dont have big meals every evening eg roast dinners etc and we hardly ever have puddings. we live in a small close so we let our kids play out a lot but a trampoline would be great if u cant do that. the kids r always on there as well. fizzy drinks r a no no most of the time.
pleanty of fruit and veg and breakfast to start them off!
also swimming is good cause it keeps ur kids fit and is also a lifesaver. When I was at school we had to do PE lessons . Children of today are too protected . Exercise should be compulsory . And education of their parents about how much and what to feed their kids should be a priority . Exercise and more education on the correct foods to eat.
Start at an early age, get the children to participate in making healthy foods. |
