Prevention Of Childhood Obesity
As the overweight child gets older, obesity tends to increase. Between the ages of six and eleven, nearly one fifth of all children are overweight. The amount of severely obese children has doubled in the course of the last two decades.
This common problem is most likely the result of poor exercising habits as well as bad eating. As these habits take root in early childhood, beginning to live a healthy life from the very outset can help curb overweight and obesity in children, enabling them to lead a healthy life.
It is not the parent who should determine whether their child is overweight or not, but a physician. This is because young children tend to grow in spurts, which might have an effect on the individual child's body structure and growth pattern. A qualified doctor should be able to assess the child's proper body mass by evaluating his or her weight and height in relation to the child's previous history of growth.
Parents should keep in mind that weight loss is not a healthy or proper method for young children to employ, as their bodies are still developing. Unless a doctor assigns your child to be put on a diet for specific medical reasons, dieting should not be encouraged in young children, as it could deprive them of the nutrients and energy they need to grow.
Rather, the aim should be for the child to maintain their current weight while waiting to grow in to their normal height. By reducing fat and increasing physical activity, the vast majority of overweight children will eventually grow in to their normal weight.
The key to combating obesity seems to lie in energy balance - that is controlling the amount of calories that are consumed versus the amount of calories that are expended. So in other words, when we talk about fighting obesity, we have to talk about both eating and physical activity. This might seem pretty simple, but the fact is eating and physical activity are caught up in a number of complex social and environmental forces.
In the last three decades that have seen the epidemic of obesity balloon out of proportion, the society has undergone major changes. Children now spend more time on activities such as watching television and playing video games rather than playing sports or exercising. What's more, in a society that is increasingly "on the go," children rarely eat at home now with their parents, and when they do, fast food is often the solution for those who are time challenged.
Parents can provide their children with better options by promoting a healthy lifestyle, encouraging physical activity and healthy eating, rather than focusing their children's energies on attaining a specific weight.
Related Tags: obesity, diet, dieting, lose weight, overweight, fat, child obesity, teen obesity, teenager obesity
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