The rate of overweight and obese children has exploded in recent years. The availability of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods in schools, fast-food restaurants and grocery stores makes eating right a challenge. Parents play a role in teaching their children proper nutrition, but many of them are lacking the knowledge themselves. Learning to eat healthfully as a family can help stem the rising tide of obesity and improve our children's health and energy.
Significance
The Centers for Disease Control report that obesity among children ages 6 to 11 escalated from 6.5% in 1980 to 17% in 2006. Teenage obesity more than tripled over this time period. The development of chronic disease occurs more often in overweight and obese kids, with risks for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol escalating in the youth population. Other health concerns--such as joint problems, sleep issues and poor self-esteem--stem from obesity. Overweight children are also likely to grow into overweight adults.
Poor Nutrition
People, including children, gain weight when they consume more calories than they use. The obesity rates show people are consuming lots of calories, but it seems they are not nutritious ones. Many children far exceed the recommendations for fat calories and over-consume refined carbohydrates in the form of white bread and sugar. As of 2004, whole grains made up only seven percent of the total grain intake by children and adolescents. As of 2004, only 40 percent of people aged 2 years and older ate at least two servings of fruit a day. Vegetable consumption rates are even worse, with only four percent of people ages 2 and older consuming the recommended minimum of three daily servings. In 2004, the most nutritious dark green and orange vegetables made up only seven percent of the total vegetable consumption of children aged 2 to 19 years.
Considerations
Overweight children tend to have parents who are overweight as well. The more television a child watches also correlates to a higher body mass index. As people become busier and busier, they have less time to spend thinking about nutrition in their foods and simply put the easiest thing on the table. Far too often, these foods are from restaurants, boxes or the freezer, which offers convenience rather than nutrition. School lunch programs still have a long ways to go in terms of nutrition as well--many are high in fat, sodium and processed products.
Misconceptions
Often, people blame parents for overweight children. Parents do play an important role in making good dietary choices for their children, but when kids hit school age, much eating is out of the parent's control. School lunch programs (many children eat breakfast at school as well), after school programs and restaurants need to take responsibility in contributing to the health and well-being of children. Kids are bombarded with advertisements for fun food, without concern for their nutritional needs. Although the FDA is looking for ways to support changes in the way foods are marketed to children and to improve their nutritional quality, companies still have a bottom line to meet and their unhealthy food sells.
Solution
Good nutrition starts at home. Create dinners and snacks based on whole grains, fresh produce and lean protein. If dinner out is in order, educate yourself on good choices before entering the restaurant and make your kids stick to them. Let your kids help make dinner and teach them about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables. Allow them to have likes and dislikes, but don't give up on pushing the fresh food. Use nutrition labels on packaged foods to help you construct a healthful diet.
Remind yourself that it does not make you a bad parent to refuse to purchase junk food for your children. Support changes in your school lunch programs and federal attempts to create assistance programs to increase low-income families' access to fresh fruit and vegetables. If your child is overweight, encourage movement in a fun way and, instead of restricting their food intake, simply make healthy substitutions--let them eat bananas instead of chips, baked potatoes instead of french fries and chicken instead of hot dogs.
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