That Health Rules

Here are some important facts I read in the book Food Facts by Dr Brownwell on childhood obesity.  If the facts wont make you wonder what the hell are we doing to the kids…am not sure what will make us wake up to take a closer look at the health consequences of obesity in children….

• Prevalence of childhood obesity : Increased by 3 fold in US & England; 4 fold in Australia and Egypt
• Overweight children who develop Diabetes may have heart attacks and need Bypass surgery before they reach age 30!!!!
• In France; obese children had stiffer arteries and unhealthy changes in the arterial lining… important early findings before they develop stroke.
• In Canada: obese children who develop Diabetes before the age 17 were experiencing blindness, amputation and kidney failure including premature death as young adults.

Remember… parent have the responsibilities to track the weights of their children.  We are responsible for what we feed our kids.  Simply put…research has shown that…. 

• Parents diet and exercise patterns predict the child’s likelihood of being overweight giving rise to the term: OBESIGENIC Families…

 Look around the school grounds or the shopping malls… obese parents are strolling around or eating fried chicken with their obese kids inside a fast food resto. Obese parents beget obese kids…what we eat and do is what we show our kids and they then follow what we do even if they’re wrong or unhealthy!

The good news is according to Dr Brownwell, research shows that children can be persuaded to eat healthy foods and be able to differentiate between ” persuasion” and “information”:

• Children who watched public service announcements focusing on nutrition chose more vegetables and fruits.
• A Canadian study showed children ages 5 to 8 picked more candy than fruit following a candy commercial but showing fruit commercials encouraged children to eat more fruits.
• A Stanford study showed reduction in TV time decreased the frequency of meals eaten while watching resulting in effective weight control.

The above studies therefore prove that as parents we have the say as to how to shape our kids future health! My kids rooms have no cable TV as a result less viewing time to watch Nickelodeon or Cartoon network and more play time and more activities. Now that its summer, I join them in swimming and do at least 10 lapses across my pool while playing and swimming leisurely in between. I likewise do swimming competition to make them do lapses while enjoying the fun on their faces by making them win! Walking together or biking should do the same in terms of bonding and increasing activity.

Lets take care of our kids.  Obesity among our kids is now becoming a medical emergency…let’s all act together before this becomes a global pandemic!

Loving Our Kids Does Not Mean French Fries As Treats!