Lowering the Child Obesity Rate
The child obesity epidemic has had many parents and authorities concerned in recent years as more and more children are becoming overweight. Although technology has played a part in the situation, poor eating habits and lack of exercise are the main culprits in the rising child obesity rate. As more children are being raised overweight, the propensity for their children to be overweight increases as one generation passes bad habits down to the next generation. The only way for the child obesity rate to be stopped is for parents to take a look at their own eating and exercise habits and make some changes, including their children in the process so that the entire family ends up healthier and passes that legacy to future generations.
Solutions
It is easy to blame the outrageous varieties of video games, computer games and internet entertainment as the source of the rising child obesity rate because then no one really has to take responsibility for changing and creating solutions. Studies have shown that children who are not monitored and allowed to play these games for hours at a time and are not encouraged to go and play outside or become involved in sport activities are the ones that are at a higher risk for child obesity. In addition, staying indoors all day also puts these children in easy reach of food so that snacking becomes a problem and proper diet and nutrition is not maintained.
It is not the technology's fault that these children are sitting for hours at a time without exercising; it is the parent's fault for not doing their job and getting these kids outside. Lowering the child obesity rate does not mean that children cannot enjoy these indoor activities as well, but they must be monitored so that exercise can be gained through other outdoor or sport activities. Parents must also provide a healthy example to their children of good eating habits and exercise, involving their children in their exercise as often as possible and also planning family activities that are fun and provide a release of energy. All of these ideas can help reduce the child obesity rate and create healthy habits for a lifetime.
A word of caution is that there are a few cases of child obesity that are due to other health issues so it is wise to consult a doctor when there seems to be a problem with a child's weight. The doctor can then determine whether the issue is a hormonal imbalance affecting metabolism or a disease that does the same.
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