“Childhood
Obesity: A Parent’s How-to on Combat”
By:
Stephanie Clinton
Many
new statistics from the Center for Disease Control have come out, proclaiming
that childhood obesity is on the rise, and the projected age limit for the
coming generations, is far less than that of their parents. As a concerned
parent, how do you fight such statistics, and make sure that your child will
grow up healthy, and live to be a ripe old age? Regular diet, exercise, and love
are all you need.
Growing
children do need a lot to eat, that’s true, but no thirteen year old boy needs
a Big Mac Super-Sized Combo, even if he did just come from basketball practice.
Instead, trying feeding him colors; bananas, oranges, apples; these will give
his body back the nutrients he lost in sweat, and aide in muscle growth, so the
next time he practices he will not wear out as quickly. This should be the same
for all children and teens though. Feeding them the basic food groups, along
with lots of different colors at every meal will help contribute to a long,
healthy, happy life for your son or daughter.
Another
important aspect to fighting obesity is regular exercise. Most elementary and
middle schools have a required fitness program, but this drops off in high
schools. In order to combat this, try writing your school board, or town
senate, asking them to make physical education required all four years in high
school. If you don’t believe this will work, and your child is not involved in
sports, try to make a family outing of it. Once a month go hiking together, or
simply get a treadmill and set up a nice place for it away from where it will
become an oversized coat hanger, then get your kid interested in it by using it
yourself every day. Remember, children learn best by example.
The
last, and most important, step is to love. Why? Many teenagers have developed
mental issues because they believed they were obese, when really they were only
moderately overweight, or sometimes not at all overweight. These kids can
develop these disorders from many different sources, but it’s important as a
parent not to become one. Show your child you love them no matter what the
scale says. Tell them that the models and movie stars they see are unrealistic
and unhealthy. By staying loving and involved, your teen will be less at risk
to combat “obesity” with kamikazes.
Childhood
obesity is a very important issue. As a parent, you need to stay involved in
your child’s life and make sure they are getting the nutrition, exercise, and
love that they need. If everyone looked positively towards a brighter future
for their children, obesity would not even be an issue.
