Ending Childhood Obesity

By: Melody Dizon

 

It’s back to school time and for me that spells F R E E D O M!!! For the first time in months, I don’t hear the fighting, screaming, complaining in the morning. If you have teenagers like mine, either you are ready to race outside the house or beat their raging hormones and see who has it worse. Nobody wins in my household – so the mere fact that I could hear my own breath, my footsteps and sheer silence, that is heaven for me. No rapping sound waking you up or guitar or piano or voice cracks reaching high notes in the morning. I can finally have my coffee in peace.

Now more than ever though, as busy moms with kids and teenager rush out the door, I must admit, there’s anxiety as to what they are going to eat in school especially having known of their food allergies. The three of them, Joshua, Jericho and Jassie are very watchful at what they eat, for others it may seem picky but I’d take that any day than spend unnecessary time in the emergency room. At an early age, I have taught them to read labels for ingredients and to watch for signs and symptoms when accidentally ingesting foods that they are not supposed to have. And of course giving themselves an epipen shot if and when the situation calls for it. So, to prepare for their lunch, in as much as I really want to, is a luxury for me. Working full time and bringing home a dead- beat body from driving all across Chicagoland, I learned to just teach them how to prepare food themselves.

The availability, convenience and affordability of a pre-cooked dinner, frozen pizzas, juice boxes and the like has made me a regular at Costco. The sigh of relief I get when I know there is something in the oven that they can reach for and heat up in a toaster oven was something I heavily relied on all these years. As much comfort it brings me to know they have something to eat in school, I still pound myself if I am giving them the basic food groups. Ahhhhh, and this is where I fail. Can anyone relate to me? I feel bad but it is the life we have here. Such a cultural shift from what we have been accustomed to.

There is a great deal of research and evidence that shows childhood obesity can cause a lot of disease later on in life. So it is very important for me, for us parents to be responsible in giving our children the best nutrition out there.

In one of the videos I watched regarding ending childhood obesity where former First Lady Michelle Obama was addressing the media, marketers, dieticians, food and beverage industry, the impact they have on the community especially to the young viewers, the responsibility we all have not just to moms, to researchers, to creative marketing directors but making everyone aware of the role we all play in developing child’s nutritional health. As what they say it takes a village to raise up a child.

Diet is the # 1 risk factor of death. And for the first time in decades, it surpassed the smoking population per research. With the advent of tablets, Ipads or any form of screen that a child is in front of, 8 hours a day of that, their opinion, beliefs and preferences are being slowly shaped by the marketing campaign. When they advertise a big, juicy mac, with loads of fries and a soda, one can only imagine what your youngster is going to bug you for. “Mom, let’s go to Mc Donalds or Burger King or Wendy’s”. Not to say that they don’t have healthier options now but compared to someone who is not as exposed to the tube versus the 8hr front liners, they’ll opt for mom’s cooking or follow what they see. Children are very good mimickers and when they see you eat broccoli, carrots, kale, spinach with much gusto, chances are the kids you are rearing will also have the same choices.

We all agree that we want a healthier option for our kids too. There are programs out there that provides healthier snacks nowadays to school and the community, like offering water instead of high fructose juice or soda. Per research, at a young age of 24 months, that is the first time a child requests for a product when at the grocery store. Maybe the cartoon character or the bright colored carton was all it took for that preference. While 45% of the kids request burgers and fries and a mere 3 % only requested veggies. It speaks a lot to what they see and witness.

There has to be ways and means to be creative in making these healthy food choices something to get excited about. Don’t you agree? Let’s go to statistics so I can drive my point clearer.

Consequences of Childhood Obesity

Obese and overweight children are at risk for a number of serious health problems such as:

Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes was once called adult-onset diabetes. Now with the rise in childhood obesity, there is a dramatic rise in the number of children suffering from type 2 diabetes. Untreated, this can be a life-threatening condition.

Asthma: Extra weight can make it harder to breathe and can inflame the respiratory tract. There is a rise in childhood asthma and children with serious asthma are more likely to be overweight.

Heart Failure: Being overweight makes the heart work harder. Overweight children are more likely to grow up to be overweight adults who develop heart problems.

So Why Is Childhood Obesity At Its Worst Now?

There are a number of contributing factors: Television and Media Screen time is a major factor contributing to childhood obesity. It takes away from the time children spend being physically active, leads to increased snacking in front of the TV, and influences children with advertisements for unhealthy foods.

Marketing of Unhealthy Foods

Nearly half of U.S. middle and high schools allow advertising of less healthy foods, which impacts students’ ability to make healthy food choices. Also, foods high in calories, sugars, salt, and fat, and low in nutrients are advertised and marketed extensively toward children and adolescents, while advertising for healthier foods is almost nonexistent in comparison.

Limited Access to Healthy Affordable Foods

Some people have less access to stores and supermarkets that sell healthy, affordable food such as fruits and vegetables, especially in rural, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Supermarket access is associated with a reduced risk for obesity. Choosing healthy foods is difficult for parents who live in areas with an overabundance of unhealthy options like convenience stores and fast food restaurants.

Lack of Daily Physical Activity

Most adolescents fall short of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendation of at least 60 minutes of aerobic physical activity each day. Daily, quality physical education in school can help students meet the guidelines, however, in 2009 only 33% had access to and attended daily physical education classes.

Increased Portion Sizes

Portion sizes of less healthy foods and beverages have increased over time in restaurants, grocery stores, and vending machines. Research shows that children eat more without realizing it if they are served larger portions.

Higher Consumption of Sugary Beverages

Sugar drinks are the largest source of added sugar in the diets of children and adolescents. Increasing consumption of these high caloric beverages that offer little or no nutrients is associated with the increasing rates of childhood obesity. Not that I am happy that Cook county residents are taxed for sugary drinks, but it makes one rethink their options.

As Parents How Do We Lead The Way?

Eat Healthier by increasing intake of fruits and vegetables

Eating more nutritious foods that lead to a healthier life is a common goal for many families. It must start with us. Only 20% of high school students in our country report eating five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Eat Real Food

Kids are consuming in the form of fast food, food from convenience stores, and the many other snacks our children eat outside the home more commonly called junk food. Increase the amount of healthful, homemade meals and healthy snacks they consume.

Drop Liquid Calories

Most of these sugary beverages are consumed at home, so we as parents, as caregivers, as big brothers and sisters, can have a direct impact on decreasing the amount of empty calories our families are consuming from these sweet drinks.

Increase Physical Activity

Being active is essential to living a healthier life. Youth need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Decrease Screen Time

School-age children spend an average of 7.5 hours a day watching TV and using electronics. And because screen time is usually a sedentary activity it cuts into or totally eliminates the time we spend being physically active. Plus it is often watched at bedtime and paired with unnecessary snacking. These two things add calories to our daily diets and can affect our sleeping habits, which in turn affect our health.

Get More Sleep

On average, children need about 10 hours of sleep each night. But due to busy schedules and around the clock access to technology, many people are not getting enough rest. Lack of sleep increases your risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression.

Talk with your Child’s Doctor

Be proactive and ask your child’s doctor any questions you have about diet and exercise and work together to monitor your child’s progress over time.

Stay Healthy at Work

The average person spends many hours each week at work. This is the same average person that can set a healthy example for our next generation on how to live. Making healthy choices at work will encourage you to make healthy changes at home with your family.

Be a Role Model

You are the most influential person in your child’s life. Research shows that the greatest indicator for how dedicated a child is to exercise and healthy eating is how dedicated their parents are to the same behaviors. So lead your child in the right ways to create the healthiest lifestyle.

To Conclude:

It costs $37billion for businesses towards employees who frequent tardiness, absenteeism, use of sick days from obesity related conditions.

79 million pre diabetic are young adults in their 20s and 30s and are at risk in getting strokes.

Children are the easy prey with marketing tactics on unhealthy products.

Creative advertisement plays a major role on promoting healthy and nutritious foods. Healthy kids have higher attendance rates, higher test scores and behave better in class.

Don’t take fun out of childhood, give healthy treats by empowering parents to make right choices.

Healthy eating is a way of life. The decisions today will affect the workforce tomorrow.

Promote more healthy lunch programs across divides by eating more fruits, veggies, whole grains.

School vending machines with healthier options will be the new norm.

Palates and habits adjust will change for the rest of their life.

Supporting companies who are big risk takers for the sake of producing nutritious food.

They are in it for the long haul and for long term goal purposes.

To our avid VT readers, I hope we all take this to heart.

Our children are our future of the world.

Let’s nourish them, equip them, empower them, mobilize them, encourage them, challenge them to live in a healthy world.