|
|
|
|
Beating Obesity In Children
Obesity in children is the biggest challenge facing parents in
these early years of the twenty-first century and this article
is designed to take a long hard look at the reasons.
Over the past 30 years children, and population in general, have
been heading deeper into an obesity pattern, just as hours spent
watching television or sitting in front of a computer have risen
proportionately. In fact the graphs for obesity and
television/computer sitting rise almost in unison, so there is
little doubt that the two are linked. The challenge that faces
parents is to tempt their children away from passive activities
into action activities. A child gains more from chasing a ball
in a local park than they do from TV or the internet so the
first question you should ask of yourself is: "Am I doing enough
to ensure my child achieves the basic level of sporting
activity?" - It is parents that have created this situation by
spending too much time at work at the expense of their children
and therefore it is parents who must correct the situation.
The next thing that needs looking at is diet. A burger, pizza or
some other take-home meal is fine as a once a month treat but
not as a basic diet. There is a food pyramid indicating what we
should eat to remain healthy and we should all be doing our
utmost to follow the recommendations if we are truly interested
in maintaining a healthy and long life.
Side note: See http
://www.recipesmania.com/article-food-pyramid-1.html for more
information.
Parents that I've met have made a pyramid of excuses why they
can't get their children into sport and physical activity, why
they can't get them to eat healthy
food etc. But they all have
one thing in common; they are just excuses that try to convince
them that there is no problem. The problem isn't in the
children, it is a parental problem because when a parent states:
'I've tried everything but it doesn't work.' They are really
saying; 'My children call the shots and lack respect for me and
my judgment.'
Think about it for a moment.
- Isn't it the role of a parent to give guidance to a child?
- Isn't diet and activity guidance that will lead to a long
healthy life a worthwhile goal for a parent?
- Do you think that a child truly respects a person that
constantly gives in to them?
- If your child doesn't learn to respect advice from people with
greater experience what chance do they have at school or work?
There is a whole list of other questions but I think the few
above are enough for now. It is not cruel to children to feed
them a healthy diet and a healthy, but fun, exercise routine. I
leave it to you to answer the alternative question: Is it kind
to make your children unhealthy because doing the right thing
takes a little effort at times? It is the healthy, well
adjusted, children who will show most love to their parents in
years to come. The secret is to make life fun and you have to be
healthy to enjoy fun.
This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006.
About the author:
David McCarthy is webmaster at http://www.recipesmania.com a
site dedicated to freely sharing knowledge on all things
connected to health and diet and featuring a wide range of
recipes from basic family meals to entertaining specials. This
is backed by diet meals and weight loss program that are all
free to try and share.
|
|
|
|
|
|