How To Stop Childhood Obesity
The most concerning thing about the obesity crisis is the rate of childhood obesity. I was an overweight child and to be honest, it is very difficult to shake off those early habits. The main issue I find is the ignorance towards food and the importance of eating healthy. It is interesting how obesity is becoming the norm and eating well is seen as a struggle. This brings me back to my point, if we don't address the issue of obesity with kids, we will be paying the price later on once the habits are almost irreversible.
The question needs to be asked, do we indirectly encourage obesity in children? I believe the answer is yes in a lot of cases. The main one being the way food is handled. If we look at social norms, getting kids to eat healthy is often seen as real battle. As an overweight child myself, I certainly didn't need much encouragement to eat bad food. I get the impression that food is seen as "harmless" but it's the constant lack of discipline that causes excess weight gain in adults and children alike. Children can become obese because of the small daily treats that accumulate over a period of time. The more sugar and rubbish that children eat can cause energy levels to drop as well so activity is effected. It doesn't take much for anyone to sit in front of the TV or play a computer game which doesn't help burn calories.
I believe there are a few ways we can combat childhood obesity. The first of which is to accept that food is not harmless. We cannot keep giving sweets etc to children and expect it not to have an impact. Some kids may be really active and get away with it but on the whole, the increase in mass produced poor quality food is overwhelming the fast metabolisms in children and causing alarming obesity rates from an early age.
The second way is to use bad food as a treat and not a reward. It is quite easy to use sweets as a reward for good behaviour but this can create a cycle of sugar spikes and dips that mean you will always have to use this method. The possible result? Excess calories and potential obesity.
Whilst preventing childhood obesity is tough, it can be done. A little educate and discipline can go along way to help stop this potentially disastrous outcome for kids.
The question needs to be asked, do we indirectly encourage obesity in children? I believe the answer is yes in a lot of cases. The main one being the way food is handled. If we look at social norms, getting kids to eat healthy is often seen as real battle. As an overweight child myself, I certainly didn't need much encouragement to eat bad food. I get the impression that food is seen as "harmless" but it's the constant lack of discipline that causes excess weight gain in adults and children alike. Children can become obese because of the small daily treats that accumulate over a period of time. The more sugar and rubbish that children eat can cause energy levels to drop as well so activity is effected. It doesn't take much for anyone to sit in front of the TV or play a computer game which doesn't help burn calories.
I believe there are a few ways we can combat childhood obesity. The first of which is to accept that food is not harmless. We cannot keep giving sweets etc to children and expect it not to have an impact. Some kids may be really active and get away with it but on the whole, the increase in mass produced poor quality food is overwhelming the fast metabolisms in children and causing alarming obesity rates from an early age.
The second way is to use bad food as a treat and not a reward. It is quite easy to use sweets as a reward for good behaviour but this can create a cycle of sugar spikes and dips that mean you will always have to use this method. The possible result? Excess calories and potential obesity.
Whilst preventing childhood obesity is tough, it can be done. A little educate and discipline can go along way to help stop this potentially disastrous outcome for kids.
