Childhood Obesity in Society Today



Posted: Monday, January 19, 2009

by
NET Education, Inc.

The media constantly bombards children with mixed messages on a daily basis. On one hand, children see advertisements that tell them to eat candy, sugary sweets, starchy and fattening foods and drinks, while on the other hand their entertainment peers are svelte and skinny. Children also face pressure from their peers at school, dictating styles, behavior, how to act, dress and what body size is considered acceptable. While parents are trying their best to earn a living many make amends for the time they don't get to spend with their children by indulging their weakness for sweets, candy and starches. Hence the child is placed in a vicious cycle that they are unable to escape, and obesity ensues. Parents, teachers as well as the media need to take notice of this spiraling epidemic of childhood obesity. While research has made some progress in elucidating the so called "fat gene", the hard truth is that we as a society must change first before we can make a difference in our children's eating habits.

One needs only to review America's history to see that the agrarian culture encouraged much more physical activity in children than our culture does today. Even in the 1900's during the industrial society children had more physical activity on a daily basis. Sedentary behavior for children was frowned upon. There was always some kind of activity in the form of a chore or physical play. In today's society, parent's have a tendency to meet every whim of their children to provide comfort. There is of course, pressure from the media on parents as well. While the above scenario may seem biased, applying only to the affluent, there are many families that live in poverty who attempt to conform to the advertisement pressure geared toward their children, even more so to compensate for their lack of amenities. When choosing between soup and "Cheetos", if their child hasn't had Cheetos for a while, the parent may buy the treat.

Video games tend to propagate a sedentary lifestyle in children. Many kids spend hours in front of the television playing video games, rarely getting up to stretch or eat. Along with playing video games children tend to snack. They choose foods which are easy to eat and readily accessible. Cell phones also encourage more time on the phone and less activity.

In the final analysis we can see that changes are within reach to help our children live more active and healthy lives. Sometimes we need to stop and look at the big picture. When parents can see the changes that they need to make they will become more attune to where the changes should take place. For instance, snack foods can include fresh vegetables and dip, fresh fruit, low fat snack foods, high protein snacks, and milk. Video gaming could be limited to certain times of the day for a specified amount of time. A child's self perception can be enhanced with peer groups of similar age, pastimes and weight. Above all, it is important for children to accept themselves, and the best way they can learn to do this is by supporting them and giving them challenges that they can hurtle. When parents, teachers and media work together for the true benefit of today's children every one wins. Children will loose weight, feel confident about their image and live healthy and active lifestyle. Everyone must work together. Parents should talk with their children's teachers as to their who their acquaintances are while they are in school, what the school menu is serving and how many vending machines are on the property. Teachers and parents should contact various media partnerships to generate ad campaigns encouraging more activity and healthy choices of foods. Entertainment peers should make a point to address issues of beauty and appearance, stressing to children concepts of self acceptance and inner beauty. Children have a chance to grow up without the veil of obesity and it takes a village, but it starts with the parents.

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