Childhood obesity an alarming crisis

Many parents today are concerned about their children’s weight, and rightfully so. Childhood obesity is cause for alarm, especially when you consider the health risks associated with this problem. The increased rate of obesity in North American children is serious.

There are many causes of childhood obesity. Certainly lack of physical exercise is at the top of the list. With the popularity of television, computers and video games, children spend a great deal of time sitting in front of the screen instead of being active. This sedentary lifestyle plays a significant role in putting on those extra pounds.

The second obvious contributing factor is diet. Children are eating an excess of high calorie foods. They are bombarded with advertising for fast foods, sugary cereals and high calorie snacks such as chips, chocolate bars, candy, pop and highly processed foods.

Although it’s true that genetics may play a role in overweight children and that if their parents are overweight it increases the likelihood of children becoming overweight, lifestyle choices are also a key factor.

For young children, those choices are predominantly made by the parents. Sometimes parents may cave in to requests for a special cereal or snack food, or may agree to take the kids to a favourite fast-food restaurant for a treat.

On occasion, that’s fine, but if you can build a solid foundation of maintaining a healthy lifestyle when your kids are young, there’s a better chance they will continue this role modeling as they grow up.

The younger, the better

The younger the children are when they learn healthy eating habits, the greater the impact. Families play the most important role in teaching children and setting an example, so it’s worth taking your children's diet and lifestyle seriously.

It’s always easier to bend the rules once habits are formed than to try to change habits that have already been developed at an early age. Families and schools are the critical links in teaching children how to make healthy choices.

How can children be expected to make a healthy lunch choice if the options are hot dogs and fries or pepperoni pizza? Many school boards have already made positive changes to their menus to reflect the value of healthy eating choices.

With the scary evidence that our children may actually live a shorter lifespan than their parents as a result of childhood obesity, parents must act quickly to make changes. There are plenty of activities that families can do together that encourage a healthy lifestyle.

1) Monitor your child’s diet by providing healthy, low-fat choices for meals and snacks.

2) Give children the opportunity to “help” with meal preparation.

3) Make time for the entire family to participate in regular physical activity, like walking, hiking, biking or rollerblading.

4) Assign active chores to family members, including raking, mowing, vacuuming or washing the car.

5) Put limits on the amount of television and computer time your child may have.

6) Enroll your children in structured sports activities, either individual or group, like soccer, baseball, swimming or skating.

9) Avoid serving food portions that are too large.

10) Make dessert a part of a healthy meal. Try fruit, yogurt or low-fat ice milk.

11) Read labels and avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar or sodium.

12) Lobby your schools and community groups to provide active programs and healthy eating choices.

Childhood obesity is today’s number one health challenge. Take it seriously and make the changes you need in your family to promote a healthy weight and activity level.

Lila Hope-Simpson is the Director of the Home and Heart Nursery School in Wolfville.