I was looking at another blog about childhood obesity - Childhood Obesity. The first blog entry caught my attention because it gave specific ways for how people can avoid this problem. It didn't just state facts about obesity, but rather informed people about what to do!! So, I know you are all wondering, What are the three steps?
1.Eating dinner at the table more than 5 times a week.
2.Sleep at least 10.5 hours a night.
3.Watch less than 2 hours of TV a day.
"Obesity is termed as increase in the body weight of an individual due to excessive accumulation of fat." So who are these children looking to when they are gaining all of this weight? The parents are the ones they look to, to buy, prepare, and
serve the foods that they are going to eat. Good habits or bad habits are developed at this point in a child's life. If they are being fed unhealthy foods, this is most likely the path they are going to follow as they grow up. As a parent, you set the rules and allot the amount of food they can eat, and most importantly: the amount of food and type of food that
can even come into the house.
When you sit down to dinner with your family, it would be most beneficial to be without a TV. This way, the parent can regulate what their children are eating as well as the amount of food they are eating. If they are sitting in front of a TV, they could just be eating the unhealthier parts of their dinner and possibly even feeding their vegetables to the dog! So, I know it is sometimes hard if you are a parents working multiple jobs and not getting home until late at night. But, if you have specific rules for the nanny of only an hour of TV, and in bed so that they will get the 10.5 hours that they need, it will reduce the risk of obesity. This way they will also be energetic and ready for their next day at school because they wont be tired. If you allow your children to sit around and watch TV, you are most likely giving them the ability to not do any type of exercise and they are most likely snacking along with their watching. So, remember these three simple rules and you will save your child the risk of becoming obese!
Questions: Do you think that these three rules are actually beneficial? Are there other rules that you would suggest to be more important?
Bibliography
Nana. Childhood Obesity Blog. 15 April 2012.
3 April 2012 <http://childhood--obesity.blogspot.com/>.
Network, Lilith Gallery. American Obesity Rates.
November 2008. 3 April 2012
<www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/health/American-Obesity-Rates.html>.
While I think these rules are beneficial for some families, other families cannot even implement some of these rules. For poor families, sit down dinners are not even possible because parents will likely not be home until late because they are working multiple jobs and often get late hour shifts. Poor families will likely not have a nanny, because they cannot afford one, so the children will have no one to regulate what they are eating and not eating, and how much TV they are actually watching. These rules would be very effective in a home where healthier meals are fed and a nanny is present, but in these types of households obesity is not as prevalent. Most obesity occurs in poorer families where these rules can't even apply. For families like this alternative rules should be created for both the parents and the children. For the parents, a healthy meal should be fed approximately 3-4 times a week, if not more. Basically healthy meals should be fed as much as possible. And if they can sacrifice 2 days of the week to spend less and eat McDonalds so they can eat healthy 5 other days, that is worth it as opposed to eating fairly unhealthy 7 days a week. The parents should also set rules so the children are outside for an hour each day that they previously would be watching TV. Rules like these would affect more people actually facing obesity.
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