Obesity In Children Can Be Helped With Physical Activity

Child obesity was unheard of 20 years ago, but now it is becoming commonplace.  There have also started to be incidents of childhood type 2 diabetes related to childhood obesity.  Although diabetes related to damage to the pancreas has been in existence since medical records began, but diabetes caused by excessive weight in children is quite surprising.  In the United States, the amount of overweight or obese children is 32%.  Overweight children can also have problems with sleep, subsequent concentration at school, joint problems and can suffer more widely with bullying.  Other health problems include worse acne, poor self esteem and depression.

This epidemic of childhood obesity has largely been due to partly their nutrition, and partly the new sedentary lifestyle.  It has been found that obesity can be linked to how many soft drinks the child consumes, so the consumption of highly sugary and processed foods can be partly to blame.  The increasing amount of media and advertising leading to peer pressure on parents to buy them calorie laden foods are also to blame.  You perhaps have seen adverts for fast food joints and for sugary food that promote free gifts with every purchase – the sole aim of this of course, is to get your child to pressure you into buying that food for the free gift.

Mini Trampoline With Safety Sides For Children

Dietary habits are not wholly to blame.  The reduction in child activity levels makes a lot of difference to the net energy balance in our children.  Thirty years ago, computers were not commonplace, and televisions were in the living room under the parents control.  Children rarely had access to the telephone, and had to go and see their friends to talk to them.  Even if they had a games console, they would have to physically go around to their friends house to play.  These days of course, everything that can be done, can be done on the computer, or with a mobile phone.  A child can talk to his friends on the computer, he can play with his friends on the computer, he can listen to music on the computer, and rarely has to leave his or her room.  This has been a massive recent change, far more than that of diet or any other factor.

Some parents blame schools and teachers for not encouraging physical activity, but the reality is that the curriculum has not changed that much in the last twenty years to cause this change in children’s weight.  The real change must be made at home, so that your children are less inactive, and spend more time doing activities that children ought to be doing.  When was the last time your child went outside and played with outdoor toys, for a bike ride with their friends, or decided to go and play around a treehouse?  Children should be encouraged to take up more active hobbies such as sports, martial arts, dancing, and have the time that they spend in front of the computer or television limited.  Your child’s health will dictate their adult  health when they grow up, so help them make the right choices and to be healthy.