Obesity Is a Major Health Concern For Children
The concern over the increasing number of children that are overweight or obese has became a world wide problem. It’s being called an epidemic and has became a major health problem for children and adolescents from 2 to 19 years of age.
Obese children face many health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory problems, joint and back trouble and even sleep disorders. And, it’s not just a childhood affliction, much of the damage done by obesity is permanent and carried through the rest of their lives.
It also affects their emotional health on a daily basis. Many obese children are subjected to teasing and bullying in their everyday lives from their peers. It can lead to behavior problems, rebellion, defiance and depression.
Inherited genes and gland problems can cause children to be overweight. But, usually stems from unhealthy eating habits and an inactive lifestyle. You can help your child by encouraging them to eat a healthy diet and participate in activities such as swimming and biking.
Incorporate fresh vegetables and fruits into your meals. Grill more foods to remove fat instead of frying them and choose healthier meals when eating out. You can help your child loose weight and have a healthier future!
Obesity Is Permanently Damaging To Children’s Health
In America alone, it is estimated that at least 17% of children and teens between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight or obese and the numbers are growing every year. And, children and teens that are overweight have an alarming 70% chance of being overweight or obese even after reaching adulthood.
The problems of child obesity don’t just last through childhood. It will follow them into adulthood and cause health problems that will last a lifetime. Obesity has became so wide spread that many health professionals are referring to it as an epidemic!
The factors that contribute to heart disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, appear more often in overweight children. Other problems stemming from obesity include respiratory disorders, sleep apnea and many orthopedic disorders from damaged joints to back problems.
Once considered a disease that inflicted adults, Type 2 diabetes is showing up in children and adolescents much more often. Diabetes is now afflicting many obese children before they even reach puberty. And, this form of diabetes has been closely linked to being overweight or obese.
Obesity Can Cause Emotional Problems For Your Child
There are many other health problems that obese children potentially face. But, obesity doesn’t just cause physical health problems it also causes problems with emotional health. It’s one of the major causes of depression in this age group.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study on the emotional effects of obesity on children. The study revealed that obese children had the same low outlook on life as children that had cancer and was going through chemotherapy!
Overweight or obese children are often teased, picked on and bullied throughout their young lives. Their self esteem gets beaten away and their hope for the future is very low. They may often feel exiled, alone and even worthless.
Many times the emotional problems that obese children face causes behavior problems. Some children might become rebellious or defiant and lash out. While others may just become the class clown, or do bad things to get other children to like them and accept them.
The Causes Of Child Obesity And How To Avoid Them
Obesity is now classified as a disease and is expected to be a major health concern for the 21st century. While obesity can be an inherited disease, more often it’s the result of an unhealthy diet and an inactive lifestyle. It can even result from stress in the world around them.
A child going through a divorce or the loss of a loved one may turn to food for comfort. Pay close attention to your child’s eating habits. Do they look for something to eat when they get stressed or upset? Do they turn to food when family members argue?
If you see signs they’re using food to comfort themselves, do your part to remove the stress from their lives. Seek professional help if you have to, counseling may help them learn to deal with their emotions instead of eating.
As a parent you can do your part to help your child by encouraging and even monitoring their diets. Serve foods that are low in fats, cholesterol and sugars. Keep a selection of fresh fruits at hand instead of candy or snacks. Grill more of your foods instead of frying them and make fast food an occasional treat instead of a regular meal!
Plan family outings to encourage activity such as bike rides, hikes or long walks. Even something as simple as going to the pool for the day will get your children up and moving. Anything that encourages activity can help your child with weight loss. Changing your child’s lifestyle into a healthy one is an investment in their future!
Written by Connie Corder, Copyright 2013 HonestInformation.com
Child Obesity: A Parent’s Guide to a Fit, Trim, And Happy Child
Is your child overweight? Do you worry about the effects of excess weight on the health and self-esteem of your family’s youngest and most vulnerable members? If so, you are not alone.
Weight problems among children have now reached epidemic proportions. And its no wonder. High-calorie fast foods and soft drinks are everywhere, and they are heavily promoted in many of the 40,000 TV commercials that kids watch every year.
A nationally recognized expert on child obesity, Dr. Roa uses the latest and best medical evidence available to show you how to help your child avoid or overcome this prevalent and dangerous health problem. In the first part, he gives you the knowledge you need to understand the scope of the problem.
In the second part, he carefully explains a rational approach to helping your child achieve or maintain a healthy weight, including the science of changing people’s behaviour. Dr. Roa makes it clear that despite all the talk about ‘low-carb’ and other fad diets, there are no magic bullets for treating childhood obesity.
But the good news is that armed with the right information, parents can reverse this dangerous trend and succeed in helping their children become fit, trim and happy.
Obesity And Children Book List
Your Child’s Weight: Helping without Harming
Fed Up!: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity
Underage and Overweight: America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic–What Every Parent Needs to Know
Child Obesity: A Parent’s Guide to a Fit, Trim, And Happy Child
The Poisoning of Our Children: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic in America
Most cases of insomnia can be directly related to stress. In severe instances you may not be able to sleep at all. In minor instances, you’ll be waking up all through the night and find it hard or impossible to go back to sleep. Proper rest is essential to your health and good health is essential to a strong immune system.
Meat by products are even a very misleading ingredient. These are meat products, but are often rotting, molded and diseased scraps of meat that are used to make pet food! Before meat by products are shipped from slaughter houses they are denatured. The denaturing process includes spraying the meat scraps with a disinfectant or citronella!
They say the Mayans were pretty good at astronomy even though they didn’t have powerful telescopes to watch the stars. But think about it, what else was there to do at night? They didn’t have electricity and there was no TV. So what to do? They looked at the stars – it was almost the best nighttime entertainment available.
Check expiration dates on all foods: Never ever think that food which is in a can or a box can’t go bad. On the contrary, botulism is caused by contaminated canned foods and it is one of the more dangerous food borne illnesses. Canned and boxed foods past their expiration date need to be thrown away. Also check when you are purchasing food at the grocery store that the expiration date is within a reasonable range (2-3 years)
So much of what we see in the grocery stores is processed, that it is hard to zero in on just a few that are particularly bad. To sum it up, if it comes in a can, is frozen, or is in a box, it is processed and likely has a list of ingredients a mile long with names that it takes a bachelors in science to pronounce and understand. Fast food restaurants are filled with processed food choices, many of which are geared toward children. We will look at some of the worst offenders of the processed nightmare that has become American’s food choices.
Lunch kits (Lunchables, etc.): These plastic boxes contain crackers, processed cheese, processed lunchmeat, along with a packaged drink and either a candy bar or a cookie for dessert. There are other ones that even contain chicken nuggets and pizza which don’t require cooking. Very easy and convenient to pull out for the kids lunch, and one might even fool themselves into thinking that it’s halfway nutritious. However, the sodium and fat content for these lunches are more than what an adult needs let alone a child.
Another scam for homeowners to be aware of are ones involving any kind of fly-by-night companies installing alarm systems door to door. Chances are, if they are selling the product in this fashion, they are not registered and letting someone like this into your home to take note of spots where the house is vulnerable to breaking in will often lead to a later burglary.
