The Childhood Obesity Blame Game: PARENTS Are the Key!

When you walk past an elementary school, or day camp, or food court at the mall, the chances are that most of the kids you come across will either be overweight or obese.
What are parents of already obese 8-10 year old kids thinking when their children are gorging on 1/2 pound burgers with onion rings and fries, massive amounts of sugary soda, super-boxes of candy, and buckets of movie popcorn slathered in butter? Don't they have even a moment's concern or worry about the potentially life-threatening medical conditions that their kids will develop in the future---or way before!---if they continue to pile on fat? Don't they care about the emotional, psychological, and social effects that their children will have to bear? It's not like these parents can say with a straight face, "Oh, I didn't notice," especially when they have an 8-10 year old kid weighing 100-125-150 pounds or more. "My child's pediatrician never said anything to me," many have said to me (and, truth be told, unfortunately too often pediatricians don't). Oh, really?! Well... how 'bout getting your kid a new pediatrician?!
There are those who like to blame the usual suspects: fast-food restaurants, the environment, genetics, desserts, aggressive marketing of junk foods to children, the lack of exercise in schools, the design of our cities and on and on and on. All these factors, we are told by many, can be addressed through government action and policy, more and more social engineering, banning commercials or food items, taxing certain so called junk foods to make them more prohibitive. This is a fallacy. It's PARENTS who have the most important role in seeing that their kids eat right. PARENTS can't be replaced by government policy when it comes to the physical and emotional health of their children. A society can't be regulated into slim and healthy.
If I asked the parents of an overweight child, "Would you be willing to mortally wound your son or daughter?," they would probably be stunned. If I then said, "Well maybe not mortally wound them but enough to put them in a hospital for a few years?," they would think I was crazy. Yet... knowing full well the connection between obesity and deadly diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and fatty liver disease, not to mention the emotional aspects of being fat when you're a kid---(socialization issues, early onset puberty, breasts in young boys and teens, low self esteem, and much more)---many parents still continue to actively feed their children or passively stand by while their kids eat themselves to illness and early death.
Kids don't become obese overnight. It takes years of parents GIVING their kids bad food habits. So when parents notice their children storing a lot of fat, packing on the pounds, and they know that it's not good, and even after this they encourage (or do not discourage) junk food and all the other habits making their kids fat, what is it if it's not criminal negligence? Child abuse? What divine intervention do these parents need to make them start telling their kids about the importance of good health?... to make them start putting into practice in their own lives the eating and lifestyle habits they want their kids to emulate?
If you're an overweight or obese parent, do something about it.
If your kids are overweight or obese, do something about it.
Shame on you if you don't.

Weight No More Diet Center, Inc. has been providing private weight loss and diet/lifestyle counseling for over 25 years. We must be doing something right!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9135120

How Do We Fight Childhood Obesity?

Obesity is one of the fastest growing diseases to affect children today. Being an overweight child can contribute to many other health issues. The American Academy of Pediatrics has determined that there is a high probability that an overweight child will become an overweight adult. It is the job of our local communities and national organizations to educate and prevent future health problems stemming from Obesity from occurring.
Diseases, such as Hypertension and Diabetes, have been directly linked to Obesity. Other disorders, like Hypothyroidism and Asthma can also contribute to Obesity in children. If their thyroid gland if not functioning correctly, then their overall body functioning will be decreased. A respiratory disorder can also decrease the proper functioning of the human body, causing children to breath with difficulty and move sluggishly. If children are too tired to exercise or complete their daily activities, they will gain weight. An overweight child has probably already been diagnosed with or will be diagnosed with these health disparities in the future.
Children should live active lifestyles to stay physically fit and remain healthy throughout adulthood. The American Medical Association recommends people get at least thirty minutes of continuous cardiovascular exercise everyday. This includes children, who actually spend the majority of their day in front of a screen, such as a computer or video game. Daily exercise, not only keeps kids fit, but it stimulates their immune system to fight off infections and other diseases that can plague their bodies. Encourage your children to join a sports activity, such swimming, jogging, or playing tennis to increase their metabolism, so they can burn calories to lose weight.
Proper eating habits also decrease the risk of childhood Obesity and lower their chances of becoming an overweight adult. Everyone should eat the proper servings from the five basic food groups daily and refrain from cooking their foods in grease and oils. Eating the correct portion sizes will reduce excessive caloric intake and makes you accountable for the foods you consume from each food group. It is best to cook your foods with natural seasonings, such as bell peppers, garlic and onions to reduce adding extra salt to your meals.
We can overcome childhood Obesity with proper education and motivation. Parents should also take their children to the Pediatrician for their regular check-ups to make sure their health is improving. This can reduce the rate of adult Obesity, thereby lowering their overall cost of medical care and increasing their value of life. We can make a difference in the future of our children by making changes to their exercise and eating habits today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9114887

5 Reasons to Start Strength Training With Your Kids Today

What is safer for children? Weight lifting or watching TV? Some might argue that watching TV is safer because the child isn't moving and risking injury. However, studies show that strength training, when done under qualified supervision and appropriately sized workout equipment, can provide immediate and long-term positive effects. Let's dive into the reasoning and assume that children engaging in strength training are doing so in a supervised environment with appropriately sized equipment.
1) Decrease the risk of injury while playing sports. Like the weekend warrior, if you take a child from doing relatively nothing to playing a sport where they put forth a real effort without the proper muscle development or coordination, the child will more than likely end up hurt. Strength training will help that child develop coordination and develop the growing muscles. Strength training could also enhance sports performance which could lead to more activity from the child outside of the sport.
2) Increase bone density. We all heard growing up to drink your milk for strong bones, well strength training does the same thing. Strength training adds stress to the bone so the body responds by increasing the density of the bones making them harder and less likely to break.
3) Better body composition. We all know there is a severe obesity problem in today's world. Too much easy food and not enough moving around. A good way to combat this is strength training. Strength training = more muscles which helps burn calories even when the exercise itself is done. Even though the child might not have the best diet, the muscles they have developed can help with keeping the child in a healthy weight range.
4) Self-Esteem. As a parent, you always want your child to not fall into depression and have a positive outlook on life. Reasons 1 and 3 above are a good starter for a life of positive self esteem. Who wouldn't like to be the fastest kid in class or the highest jumper in a basketball league.
5) Developing good habits. What better time to make a change in the future then to get to the people that will eventually run this world? Teaching children how to be the best through proper eating, thinking positively and hard work sets them up for success throughout their lives. This all can be accomplished by strength training. In order to recover properly from lifting weights you need a balanced diet. In order to progress to lift heavier weights you need to think positively and want to succeed. And finally it will show children that when you put in hard work, good things will come.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9101516

Childhood Obesity and Carbohydrate Intake: Review of a Recent Study

I think it's safe to say that we all know obesity is a problem in this country. Sometimes we might be in denial about what an enormous problem it is, but once you pay attention and look around, you realize we have an epidemic on our hands. This is going to cripple our nation in terms of rising health care costs, inability to work, and general lack of joy and vitality in one's life. It's not just costly, it's just sad.
The even scarier situation on the horizon is the thousands of kids who are now facing this terrible scenario at such a young age. Children are now being diagnosed with pre-diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This is often in direct correlation to their weight. It's not just the older children either. Kids as young as 3 or 4 are seeing these elevated numbers on their lab results. The question is: what do we do about it?
I worked in WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) clinic for some time after graduating from grad school. My job was to counsel parents with their young children as well as high risk pregnant women about healthy nutrition. For some, this was the only time they would ever receive such one-on-one education. It was a rewarding experience. Unfortunately, we did often see young children climbing quickly on their growth charts. The system would flag these individuals and we would be reminded at each visit to discuss ways to reduce caloric intake. Often it was a recommendation to switch to lower fat milk, or cut down on portion sizes, or drink less juice. Sometimes these answers worked, and sometimes they didn't. Honestly, we didn't always know what the right solution was. The main goal was to somehow get through to these parents that something had to change. A simple directive such as "eat healthy" wasn't going to cut it.
That is why this new study that recently came out caught my eye. It brought me back to those WIC days and made me think about how I would approach these clients differently if I had known a more direct and positive recommendation to make with known health outcomes. You see, people often forget that when you work in public health, the recommendations need to be simple and easy to remember. I am not saying people are dumb or don't care, but they aren't necessarily in my office out of their own will and volition. They have to be there, and so I have them captive for a few brief minutes. If we can convince them simply and firmly with solutions that will work, that is a take-home message they might employ.
So back to the study. The premise was to see if changes in the types of sugars being ingested, with no change in overall macronutrient or caloric composition of the diet, could affect basic biochemical markers on health. Some of the markers they looked at pre- and post-diet included fasting blood glucose levels, fasting insulin levels, cholesterol levels, and the liver enzymes AST and ALT.
The study design was this. They took a group of kids, ages 6-18, with high BMI, and at least one other co-morbidity (hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, impaired fasting blood glucose, hyperinsulinemia, elevated alanine aminotransferase, or severe acanthosis negricans) and evaluated their typical macronutrient and caloric intake. The goal was to keep this, along with their weight, stable throughout the study.
Fasting blood samples and an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test were administered on day 1 of the study. Afterwards, they were to start on a diet of foods provided solely by the clinic. These foods matched, as stated before, their precise macronutrient intake. The only change was swapping out added sugars, mainly fructose, and substituting other types of carbs from things like bagels, cereal, fruit, pasta and bread. Total dietary sugar and fructose was reduced to 10% and 4% of total calories, respectively. Would this be enough to see any changes in overall health?
As I am sure you can guess, there was a significant impact. Not in 3 months, not in 1 month - but in 10 short days. That was why this study so quickly caught my attention. If this is true, as I assume it likely is (hopefully follow up studies will continue to confirm this), this is an immediate and easy take home message we can give to parents and to older kids themselves. Reduce added sugars, eat other types of carbs instead (with colorful handouts included, of course), and see improvement in your risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Additionally I found it interesting that the researchers had a hard time keeping the study participant's weights perfectly stable, namely they did lose a small percentage of weight overall, which the researchers noted may have skewed the final results ever so slightly. You have to wonder in a real world setting then, with implementing the diet but not being told they had to so closely control for identical macronutrient intake, if weight loss would not be a natural byproduct of simply altering the types of carbs one consumes.
I won't dive into all the precise numerical findings here, but do feel free to peruse them and the entire study yourself via the link provided at the beginning of this article. It is worth the read.
I think the take home message is this. The types of carbs we consume do matter, and they definitely matter in our young children. We have got to get the added sugars out of our diets. I am not saying bagels and cereal are the answer, but we cannot ignore what a problem refined sugar has become in our diets and especially in the foods and products promoted to our youth. For those of us in public health, we can use this study as a clear example of a simple, tangible way to make a difference in someone's health. You may not solve every problem, but you might empower a client to get on the path to better health.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9232904

Pay Kids to Eat Veggies? Junk Science!

"Science Says You Should Pay Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies" is the headline of an article in the September 10, 2015, issue of the New York Post (see link to article below).
This so-called scholarly scientific study actually recommends that if you want your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, you gotta show them the money! What a bunch of crap. Nothing but junk science.
So these researchers conducted an experiment in six Utah elementary schools, offering one group of several hundred students cash prizes and another group of several hundred other students praise by teachers for eating fruits and veggies. A third group of children got no incentives at all (the poor things [sarcasm]). So, of course, fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly higher in the group of students who got cash rewards. Noooo... what a shock! They called this "cash prizes" program FOOD DUDES, which used role modeling, repeat tasting and rewards for eating fruits and veggies.
I couldn't disagree more with this concept IN ITS ENTIRETY. In the first place, know how I would have done this? How 'bout instead of calling a program Food Dudes, calling it Food: Fat or Fit, and just show kids two pictures: a slim kid and a fat kid, and the insides of both. The slim kid, instead of internal organs, can shows pictures of fruits, vegetables (lean meat, whole grains, etc.); and the fat kid's insides can show nothing but crap. Now THAT is a visual that kids of all ages will understand... and they will understand very clearly that what they put in their mouths has an effect on whether they will be fat or fit.
I especially disagreed with the point made by one of the researchers that in addition to cash prizes for eating fruits and veggies, "The children still need strategies for managing healthy eating choices outside the cafeteria and when the rewards stop."
Wrong. Sorry folks, but young children don't know from 'strategies' other than how they can get out of going to school or doing their homework, and kids don't 'manage' anything: Parents do. Barring extraordinary circumstances of course (allergies, illness, psychological issues), poor eating habits and childhood obesity are products of adult behavior. Let me repeat that: Poor eating habits and fat kids are a result of adult behavior. Parents need to create the right environment at home and in the kitchen, follow the examples they want to set for their children as relates to a healthy eating (and fitness) lifestyle, and that's the environment in which their kids will grow. Period.
There are thousands of different vegetables in the world. Do we all like all of them? Of course not, and neither will our kids. But, try new vegetables all the time until you identify the ones they will enjoy, or the ones they will tolerate. You're the parent. You set the ground rules.
In our house, as our now-teenage daughter was growing up, and using dinner as the example, there was a nightly menu with two choices: Column A = you eat. Column B = you starve. Very simple. Was there compromise? Yes. But we set the ground rules. We always had two vegetables on the table (and sometimes one of those vegetables was one that my husband and I didn't like, but we forced ourselves to eat some at that meal and pretended we enjoyed it!). She had to choose at least one, and eventually, as she grew, she still disliked some vegetables, but she tolerated others more and more, and now has a well-rounded array of veggies that she likes, some more than others. We did the same thing with the various fruits we kept in the house.
I'm not a psychologist, but I don't need to be one to know the difference between teaching a kid right from wrong, and the importance of their being guided, with structure and discipline, towards any actions and behaviors they need to take NOT because they're getting a reward or a prize, but ONLY because those actions will give them results of growing into healthy and happy, physically, mentally, and socially, teens and young adults.
Giving a 'reward' to kids for eating something is like giving a treat to a dog for bringing the ball back. Kids aren't pets.

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