Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity isn’t a new subject. For years we have heard about what a problem it is and we’re constantly being told that we need to do something about it. Nothing much seems to happen though besides a lot of finger pointing.
Childhood obesity has once again become a major hot button topic though due to the new billboard campaign being paid for and promoted by the state of Georgia. They have created a huge uproar. While I agree that the idea of them isn’t good you can’t deny the fact that they have already had success in bringing the topic to the forefront of everyone’s mind because so many people are talking about it. The advertisements may be getting people talking, but will they make anything happen?
Food
Many people feel that the food the schools serve is a big problem. I agree that school food hasn’t always been the healthiest, and that is a big problem for kids that eat it everyday, but the problem is so much more than just the type of food kids eat.
The amount of food that kids eat is a problem. Some kids eat a ton of food. Plus snack time in schools is pretty much a requirement now. When I was a kid the only time we got a snack was when there was a party or a birthday. Now I sub in elementary classes that have one and sometimes two snack times during the day, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that some of those kids go home and have another snack. Some of those snacks consist of a lot of food. A couple of handfuls of crackers isn’t enough anymore. I’ve seen parents send in snacks with so much food that they rival my lunch.
Personally I have been shocked by how much food is recommended for babies to eat. Have you ever looked at baby feeding menus like the one on Gerber’s website? I don’t know any baby that could eat any where near the amount of food that is suggested!
I read a report on a study not too long ago that said by six months children who were fed when they cried developed the thought process of, “if I eat when I am unhappy then I will become happy.” Yet parents are told to feed their infant if he/she cries, and I know a lot of daycares live by that philosophy. I suppose we have to ask ourselves when does feeding on demand become more harmful than helpful? It most likely depends on the child. We stopped feeding Nick on demand at one month because it just didn’t work for him.
Exercise
Besides food problems the lack of the amount of exercise that children get is another big problem. Many kids don’t get much exercise anymore. At school they only have gym a couple times a week. Possibly they only get it one day a week, and it’s usually only about 50 minutes at a time at most. Add to that the fact that teachers have so much information that they need to teach now that there is little time left for recess. I have subbed in schools where students get no more than a 15 minute recess for the whole day.
Then children go home and spend more time sitting. They play video games, or watch TV, or go on the computer. Some of them sit for a long time just because they have so much homework to do. For one reason or another they don’t get up and get moving.
So What Can We Do?
There are most likely a lot of factors that contribute to today’s high childhood obesity level. For many kids there are many culprits contributing to their obesity, and there is no one cure all fix for it. Just like adults kids need to eat healthy, watch portion sizes, and get exercise. We all could benefit by living healthier lifestyles. Parents are a huge role model to their children, so it is important that parents show their child how important taking care of their health is. Hopefully someday childhood obesity won’t be a problem any more, and then we won’t have to see any billboards that tell us that children are fat and that something needs to be done.