Who is to Blame for Childhood Obesity
So who is to blame for childhod obesity?
The Government? Parents? The children?
There is no simple answer to this question. However it is a question that needs to be answered as without an answer we cannot begin to find the solution.
Most parents blame the government and the government blames.. well no one really.
In some ways it is the governments fault as if they were to put bans or tighter restrictions on the type of food avaliable or even the advert that are shown for food containing high fat then although it would not bring a complete end to childhood obesity the amount of obese children would decrease.
However the same is true if parents would teach their children about healthy eating and promote active activities. But then raises more questions. Is it up to parents to teach their children about healthy eating or is it down to teacher in schools? I personally believe that the task of teaching the dangers of childhood obesity to children should be given to the teachers at school. Although if the government were to invest some money into teaching parents about the dangers of childhood oebsity and how healthy eating and exercise can prevent and combat childhood obesity then this would be much more beneficial. The parents could then pass on the information and it would not take up school time. I also think that most parents would not mind paying a small fee for these classes if it meant that their child would not suffer from childhood obesity.
I think that this is where the true answer lies. Now we just have to persuade the government to run these classes and then persuade the parents to go to the classes.
Lets just hope it works and we could put an end to childhood obesity.
If you have any thoughts or ideas on the subject leave a comment on this post and I'll get back to you.
Lets stop blaming other people and all join together to make a difference.
Michael Adams
childhood obesity
28 comments:
Michael,
I think we need to start by educating parents. We know that children learn behaviors by modeling their parents. Currently, 78.2 percent of men aged 40 to 59 in the U.S. are overweight or obese. We are teaching our children to become obese!
Lynne Eldridge M.D.
Author, "Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time"
http://www.avoidcancernow.cm
Hi Lynne I completely agree with your point. If that many adults are obese then the children are going to learn to be obese just as they learn to talk and walk. We should start with the adults then carry it through to the children.
Michael Adams
The food served in school lunches is one key factor in the obesity of kids. Another is Phys-Ed classes (or the lack of them). Phys Ed needs to be mandatory!
Hi Michael,
I agree we need to help parents and re-educate them of the correct eating habits for their families. Today parents are getting confused with all the different fad diets available in our society and with the options of supersizing and what is the correct portion size?
The main key is to keep it simple. Stick to the basics and live a healthy lifestyle starting at home. Because it is the environment in which you live which will determine the habits you develop. So parents need to be a role model for their kids and lead a healthy lifestyle everyday!
Joey Marc
Co-Author, "Please Mum, Don't Supersize Me!"
http://www.PleaseMumDontSupersizeMe.com
I have taught parenting classes for years. Sometimes parents need to be told that they have to serve more nutritious foods and be firm about it. One day, I went to do a home visit and the parent let her overweight 4 year old child eat 3 doughnuts and 1 cupcake for a snack. Sadly, I watched the whole thing... When I asked the parent why she let her daughter eat so much, she replied, "I can never say no."
After working with this mother for a month, I found out that she grew up without alot of food to eat. Therefore, she didn't want her child to ever feel hungry.
We talked about the future of her child's health if these habits continued. I taught her to provide love through various types of activities such as going to the park, taking walks with their dog and letting her daughter ride her bike in the driveway after lunch.
Then, after bike riding she would be replacing the high-fat snacks with fresh fruit.
At first, the daughter screamed for doughnuts. Firmly, the mom said, "After play time, I will be serving fruit. If you don't want any, we can save it for later."
The child struggled with this for approximately a week. Mom was firm and the child knew she meant business.
The high-fat snacks were served at special occasions from then on.
Some parents are "doormats" because of their own childhoods.
As educators, we need understand the family dynamics.
Kristen Colello
Certified Parent Educator
Open your window, what do you hear? Birds chirping? Children playing? The likelihood of you hearing children is slim to none. Obesity in children is on the rise and needs to be stopped.
I believe we should all work togeher and stop finger pointing to help diminish the issue. With that said, the school systems need to provide healthier school lunches and mandatory physical education. And like Lynne said, parents need to be reeducated on how to live healthy lifestyles, so they can be role models for their children. Also, parents need to limit the play time in the house and encourage their children to participate in sports. With all of us working together, we can help prevent our children from becoming one of the statistics.
hi im doing an advocacy campaign on childhood obesity, I'm a 4th yr college student at the University of Santo Tomas, and I've done a lot of research and your blog has also helped a lot in my research. I must say that key opinion leaders and parents are the ones that should be educated. I mean, there is a lot of information out there, all we need is a little education. and if adults continue to live unhealthy lifestyles, then the children will naturally follow.
Again thank you! :D
While my boyfriend was working on his PhD in childhood psychology (and studying childhood obesity), he was teaching tennis to young children. He realized that none of the kids played any of the classic outdoor games we all played growing up (running bases, ghost in the graveyard, SPUD, capture the flag). He took matters into his own hands and wrote a book - "The Adventurous Book of Outdoor Games" by Scott Strother. It's a compilation of over 160 outdoor games! Check it out on Amazon - and get kids moving and playing outside again!
A SYDNEY hospital has become possibly the first in the world to appoint a doctor dedicated to treating overweight children in an urgent attempt to tackle the nation's obesity epidemic. The appointment, at The Children's Hospital at West mead, comes as the number of overweight and obese children surveys to more than 1.5 million and health systems struggle to deal with the fallout. http://www.phentermine-effects.com
We should definitely start with the adults, because kids eat whatever we offer them, and if we give them good healthy food they will eat that and remain healthy, but if we give them junk all the time, how would that affect their diet??!! you cant blame a kid, its most of the time the parents fault, and if its not the parents" which in some cases is " its their metabolism system and for that parents should encourage their kids to excerise, join teams at school, be part of a sport class and teach them how to enjoy it! In other words, parents play the biggest role in that!
Absolutely agree. Parents should set a good example first of all. The parents should be the first to eat healthy and show an example to their kids that way the kids will maybe understand more and actually obey. I know how hard it is not to eat junk food especially when everybody around you is skinny so they don’t care about gaining weight so they eat all the junk food.
And I just want to add... Some experts consider the Internet and video games as leading causes for the obesity crisis, as kids are tempted to stay inside rather than playing and exercising outdoors. I could not agree more! My son would spend every breathing second online gaming if I let him. But no way!!! I limit my 11 years old to 1 hour per day of total screen time for games and 2 hours on the weekends, plus whatever time he need for homework. I control the amount of time he spent online with the help of parental control tool. Since then he began to spend more time outside with his friends and lost some weight.
Whenever doctors and concerned parents try to address this issue in Maryland, we are confronted by a right wing Republican state delegate-- who weigns about 400 pounds!-- accusing us of being "liberal commies" for being concerned about children's health. HiS NAME IS Del. MICHAEL SMIGIEL, R-36th District (Elkton, MD.)If you can vote in Maryland, PLEASE oppose Del. Smigiel and his dumb fat ideology!
Obesity is not the real problem - the real problem is the lack of mental fortitude that kids have today as a result of never learning how to train their bodies. No discipline. Some other blog talks about it here - http://cavechow.com/2009/12/02/childrens-exercise-is-getting-fat-the-worst-that-can-happen/
I'm an overweight freshman. I was very thin as a child and started to gain weight around 2nd or 3rd grade. As I got older my weight increased. My mom finaly is starting to get conserned about my weight. I don't blame her for what happened to me or any thing, but I wish she would have stoped it before I got to the weight I'm at. I have very high self estem and am happy in my body. Yeah I would like to lose some weight, but what high school student doesn't. My mom keeps nagging me about it. I joined my high school swim team. I'm not a lazy person. I love doing things like danceing, hang with friends, and going out side when the weather is nice but I'm sick of people thinking that I'm not beautiful for being big, but I know I am. It is partly my failt and partly not, so if you are old enouph to think for your self I think yeah its your failt, but being little and your parents not doing any thing about it is your parents failt, and the goverment thing, yeah there should be some regulations, but the most part, you control what goes into your's and your kids' mouth.
This is indeed one challenging question to answer, as to who should be blamed. Personally I feel that parents need to take a big part of the responsibilty since children pick up eating habits starting at home. It is not only important to teach children to eat healthy but also to lead by example; since children don't do what we tell them to do but they do what we are doing. You have made an excellent point that government can take the lead to educate parents about eating healthy. From what they learn, they can pass it to their children too.
Besides that, it is also important for school and media to play their part. School needs to regulate the kind of food that is being served in the school to make sure that the food meet a certain healthy standard. As for the media, they need to take a more responsible role to not make junk food more attractive than it already is.
It makes economic sense to start our diet right from young because a lot of health problems are directly or indirectly associated with obesity. A child who is obese from young has a higher chance of being obese when they grow up and the health problems that are associated with obesity will follow them into adulthood. This will eventually put a strain on the whole health system.
So doesn't it make sense for us to look into childhood obesity?
There is no one to blame for this continually growing epidemic! However, sometimes parents need a bit of gentle education and guidance toward instituting changes within the home.
I am currently writing a cookbook for such, it is not a diet book, nor a book on nutrition or counting calories, instead it provides a simple path for parents to follow toward avoiding raising severely overweight and obese kids.
Yet, for those who are seeking to place blame, and place much of it on the schools, please keep in mind that food available at school has always been awful---leather burgers, cardboard pizza, gooey mac and cheese! At least today schools offer yogurt and salad; years ago they did not! However, when schools began to add Fast Food Restaurants and vending machines within their hallways, then there lies part of the problem! Many have forgotten that schools are Academic Institution, not a surrogate mom or dad, nor are they a personal kitchen or restaurant. Their purpose is to teach academics and some culture. Yet to save money many got rid of PE (gym--physical activity) and Home Ec, which once taught students the basics for cooking, baking and sewing. In exchange for these important subjects/classes, many schools opted for more technology.
Please consider that 20 years ago, there was not an epidemic of childhood obesity. Sure there were some obese and overweight kids, but not the enormous amount of today. Kids used to run up the stairs to take a phone call or walk to a friends to chat--many do not do this anymore, as all they have to do is click. Kids used to walk to a library or neighbor's for research, now all they have to do is click.
Kids, used to play, now many just click, while exercising their thumbs playing video games, and as of this weekend, they don't even have to open a book, as all they have to do is click.
So I ask, is technology a part of the cause---absolutely, but then so are convenience foods.
Years ago, sure there were TV dinners, cans of veggies and fruits, and a selection of frozen foods, but today there are an overwhelming amount of these meals, as the manufacturer's battle against against each other for space in the frozen and snack aisles. Even some restaurants have begun to offer their delicacies--frozen for your enjoyment at home. I often wonder how many home freezers are stocked with prepackaged meals to fulfill preparing a meal in 15 minutes or less. But how many parents really examine and read the list of ingredients, or how much sodium, fat, sugar and preservative chemicals are contained in each serving? Prepackaged foods have taken over the act of adding fresh veggies, fruits and actually cooking a meal.
Parents have forgotten the basics of good homemade foods, in exchange for the quick fix. They have forgotten or do not know that take-out, fast food, boxes or bags actually costs the same or more than a homecooked meal!
So is convenience part of the cause--absolutely. Therefore, for anyone who wants to place blame on this or that, think of the whole, for there is not one cause, but several.
Nice site, and useful information
Thank you
I really think it's the parents' fault. They are responsible for raising their kids and eating healthy is something a smart and caring parent should do. I don't necessarily think it's the teacher's responsibilities to teach. I understand that children spend a good amount of time at school and with their teachers but in the end, it always start at home. It should be the parents' responsibilities.
We're doing about childhood obesity in Science and whether Parents are to blame or not. I think no one in particular to blame, but a load of people and sometimes, obesity cant be helped in society, however I fo think that parents should do some more to help it.
I just turned 50 and have tried everything for years to loose weight. I started taking Meridia in Nov 07 and today June 20,08 I ave lost 73lbs It has been so easy and I feel great i went from a size 18 to a size 8
consume high nitrient food and diet plan maybe is the best answer for obesity
It is increasing found that viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites are associated (linked) to chronic diseases like obesity.
It may well turn out that such microbes are a fundamental cause of many cases of obesity.
See here for a list of microbes linked to obesity.
I am a former special education teacher and I wrote a children's picture book that tackles the issue of childhood obesity. Hunka Chunka Monkey Shapes Up entertains children without being preachy. It places a simple truth as a foundation in their hearts.....to cut back on their favorite snack, become active and make new friends.
Chris Powell of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition reads my book to his children every night. He stated on his FaceBook, "The kids are requesting Hunka Chunka Monkey Shapes Up for their bedtime story tonight....AGAIN! This is the third in a row, but I love it. What a great message of healthy living for children:). Nicely done, Sam E Bromley!" Chris's wife, Heidi Powell, used such words as 'amazing' and 'brilliant' when describing my story! I am excited about getting this message out. You can go to YouTube.com and type in my book's name: Hunka Chunka Monkey Shapes Up and see a brief message about my story! Please pass this on for all to see and partner with me and let us stop the obesity problem in America by encouraging the very young to skip, run and jump their way to a better life and a better future!
Sam E Bromley
This is the real question. Who IS to blame? Truthfully, it is oneself for letting themselves get to that certain point. You can control what you eat and how much. Yes, parents also are someone to blame. Parents have stopped cooking as much at home and started to go out very often. Our society is revolved going out and eating either fast food or restaurants. Parents are definetly contributors for the problem with childhood obesity, but the individual is the main one. You can control how much you eat and when and if you do not have self-control, that is when you get help.
Is there anything better than using diest pills or following weight loss program? Beacause if there is, it will always best to choose the natural way of losing weight or using any tool for lose weight that are made from 100% natural ingredients right? Gastric
bypass? I don't think so... It will just put our life in danger but I would like to share what I saw from this link - youtube.com/user/RocaLabsReviews where you will get a gastric bypass alternative...NO SURGERY!..sounds interesting...will do more research about it and let you guys know.
Hello Michael,
I agreed with you when you said that parents are to blame for childhood obesity. Although, they are not the only ones to blame, they are the ones who are crucial to a child's health. I also feel that early detection can be key to prevention of the nation wide phenomena.
Would you mind reading my blog at http://childhoodobesity4.blogspot.com ? I would like to have your perspective.
Thanks,
Travis Johnson
travisj@iastate.edu
The Green Room at Iowa State University
I have found this great article in regards the subject, http://webhealthwire.com/2015/03/03/the-shocking-truth-about-childhood-obesity-in-america-and-steps-to-take-for-childhood-obesity-prevention/
I think everybody should read and know about the daily struggle our kids go through…
I agree with educating parents. Many parents do not know the risks and long term effects of this increasing disease. If we do start informing parents of the risk factors, I think the rate of increase will slow down. Parents will start providing healthy foods and offering ways for their child to exercise.
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