The Power of Teaching Kids to Cook

Causes of Childhood Obesity

Do your children understand the importance of the food that they eat? Are they learning to take responsibility for creating a healthy body?  Are you as a parent steering them along a great healthy path?

Take a look at this video to get some really good ideas about starting your children on a happy healthy pathway.  You as a parent may also learn some important life lessons.

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Turning the tide on childhood obesity.

Causes of Childhood Obesity

This is a talk about the issues that children face being obese. While this is an issue that leads to adult obesity, it has it’s own issues and should be treated differently. Denise E. Wilfley, Ph.D. is an international authority in the etiology, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders and obesity, and has devoted her career to improving the lives and health of children and their families. She is the Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and has received over 20 years of continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Effects of Childhood Obesity

Effects of Childhood Obesity , , ,

The effects of childhood obesity is becoming a major issue in today’s society. The number of children who are now obese is continually on the rise. In fact, the number of instances of childhood obesity has more than tripled within the past thirty years. Statistics show that between sixteen and thirty-three percent of our children and adolescents today are obese. What causes childhood obesity? How does it affect our children physically, mentally and long-term? Is there any way for this condition to be treated? This article will discuss all of these issues in detail. Knowledge is power. The more we know about childhood obesity, the better we will be able to address it.

What is obesity and what are its causes? Obesity does not refer to just having a few extra pounds. It is when the additional weight is excessive that obesity comes into play. A person is deemed obese when that additional weight measures ten percent extra then what is normal for his/her height and weight. In children, obesity commonly begins to rear its ugly head between the ages of five and six. While genetics can be a factor in causing obesity, other environmental factors can be to blame as well. If a child has poor eating habits, doesn’t get any exercise, has emotional problems, such as depression, or certain medical conditions, obesity can soon result.

Health Effects of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity has some health effects that can eventually become quite serious. Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of conditions that will lead to heart disease and diabetes. Included in metabolic syndrome is high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat, and high cholesterol. It used to be that heart disease was predominantly seen in adults. However, with childhood obesity on the rise, the occurrence of heart disease is now being seen in children as well. If the obese child has poor eating habits, it is likely that the child will develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These will cause plaque to build up in the arteries, putting the child at risk for heart attack and stroke.

Diabetes is another physical complication that can be caused by obesity. Type 2 diabetes is when the body’s ability to metabolize sugar, or glucose, is affected. Type 2 diabetes is often caused by poor diet. The condition can often be reversed through healthy eating and exercise.

Breathing problems, such as asthma, can occur with childhood obesity as well. The extra weight of the child can actually interfere with the growth and development of the lungs. Sleep apnea involves problems with breathing correctly while sleeping. An obese child should be monitored during sleep to make sure the child isn’t having any trouble breathing. Snoring can also be caused by sleep apnea. Finally, obesity can cause a hormone imbalance in the child. This imbalance can create puberty or menstruation to begin way ahead of schedule. Psychological Effects of Childhood Obesity There are three major ways obesity can affect a child psychologically. Almost like a domino effect, when one occurs, the others are likely to follow. Due to the child’s excess weight, he/she may be prone to bullying. This bullying will often lead the child to develop very low self-esteem. If the child is always being picked on for being overweight, he/she will soon have a very distorted and low self-image, thus the second psychological effect. Between feeling badly about oneself and being subjected to the abuse of one’s peers, it is no wonder that the child would soon become depressed. This depression is the third major effect of childhood obesity.

Long Term Effects of Childhood Obesity

While the physical effects of childhood obesity often last into adulthood, these aren’t the only long term effects with which to be concerned. A child who is obese will often become an adult who is obese. Even if obesity was addressed during childhood, the effects of the extra weight may have already taken their toll on the heart. If the obesity was never reversed, heart attack and stroke can be very likely. Long term psychological effects can be just as serious. The low self-esteem the child developed isn’t going to be easily reversed. After years of feeling alone and isolated, social well-being has been greatly affected. As an adult, he/she may keep to himself/herself, or even withdraw entirely from any social setting. Childhood obesity may be on the rise today, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. By changing the lifestyles of our children, we can help shape them into healthier beings. Schools should initiate more healthy lunch choices, parents should make sure their children have some physical activity each day, and society as a whole must work to change the messages we are sending to today’s children. Television and video games may be a great part of technology, but only within moderation. Once we are able to change the way we live our lives, the rest will fall into place and the effects of childhood obesity will be just a bad memory.

Asthma and sleep apnea caused by Obesity

Childhood Obesity Health Conditions , ,

Asthma and sleep apnea are very common problems that are associated with childhood obesity. Obesity may lead to many diseases in a child which includes hear problems, lung problems, type 2 diabetes, Asthma, sleep apnea and social discrimination. Some recent studies have identified the association between obesity and asthma/sleep apnea.

Asthma and sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is characterized by the brief but numerous involuntary breathing pauses during a sleep. These breathing pauses create awakening of the patient throughout the night. These will make the sleep apnea patients inability to get a good night sleep. Issues of overweight or obese are the risk factors for sleep apnea problems.  This sleep apnea problem is not only affecting adults but also youngsters nowadays. Since the percentage of obesity among children is increasing, the sleep apnea problem also continues to increase.

The symptoms of sleep apnea in the night includes snoring, breathing pauses during sleep, restless sleep, breathing through mouth, difficulty in waking up in the morning etc . Daytime sleep apnea symptoms include inattentiveness, hyperactivity, sleepiness and behavioral issues.

How to stop asthma and sleep apnea in your child.

Maintaining a normal body weight will give some relief to the sleep apnea problem. To maintain an ideal body weight, suggestions are given, which includes:

  • Parents should be supportive for the child. Every child who is obese knows that they are obese and so it need not be reminded all the time.
  • All the family activities should be planned to involve exercise program in it. Activities like swimming; walking, running, car washing, hiking etc should be included in family activities program.
  • Eating in front of the TV will make the kids eat more than they need for their body. Also encouraging the kids to eat slowly by proper chewing will help them in the digestion of food.
  • Parent should never use the food as a reward or punishment. Children need food for growth and overall development, so they should never be placed in restrictive diets.
  • Parents can help their child to get a good night sleep if they follow certain steps.
  • A regular bedtime and wake up time should be maintained. The daily sleep requirements should be scheduled by the parents and children earlier before every week. The amount of sleep that is required for a particular age group is given below:

o     8months to 3 years required 12 to 14 hours of sleep/night

o     3 to 5 years may required 11 to 13 hours of sleep/night

o     5 to 12 years may require 10 to 11 hours of sleep/night

o     Kids in teenage requires 9.25 hours of sleep/night

  • A bedtime routine should be encouraged for children of all age group who suffers from sleep apnea problems. Avoid watching TV, exercise, phones, computers etc at least 15 to 30 minutes before sleep.
  • Activities that require priorities should be identified and scheduled properly.  Overload schedules may bring out stress in individual, which in turn contributes to poor health and sleeping disorders.

If a child suffers from obesity, asthma and sleep apnea problems, then it is better to discuss it with a pediatrician and treat accordingly. You child’s health is upon your hands.

 

Overweight children in America

Child Obesity in America

Sometimes, the numbers are something that we don’t want to see or know. But unfortunately, they have a story to tell, which it began almost 35 years ago: an estimated 17 % of the children in America are already overweight. The period 1976-1980 and 2007-2008, the percentage of obesity among preschool children aged 2-5 increased from 5.0% to 10.4% and from 6.5% to 19.6% among those aged 6-11. Read more

Food guide pyramid for kids

Healthy Eating for Kids , ,

Healthy eating is not a static thing but rather a dynamic and flexible procedure, where we take under consideration a lot of variables. In simple words it means eating a wide variety of healthy and nutritious foods selected from the entire daily food groups, in conjunction with the needs of our body (whether it is a boy or an adult).These food types that we will analyze next include plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber that are vital for our body’s proper function. Consuming from numerous sources foods filled with all the helpful ingredients will help you grow, you and your kids as well, healthier and illness-free. Read more

Kids And Television-Video Games

Causes of Childhood Obesity , ,

Isn’t so hard to handle when you know that your child is suffering from weight problems? It is the reason why most parents prefer to engage their children in various types of fitness programs. Childhood obesity has several implications to the body. The one of them, who commonly encounter this type of health problem, normally have reduced self-esteem. Did you know that watching television or playing video games for many hours may lead to weight gain, more that your kid would wish?  This is definitely true and you should avoid this instantly. Read the succeeding paragraphs and identify how it contributes to weight gain and childhood obesity. Read more

Childhood Obesity Statistics

Childhood Obesity Statistics

Let’s continue and uncover a lot more facts and statistics about childhood obesity. It can be difficult for many of us to accept them, but unfortunately it is the truth. A truth that will consolidate if we don’t act now:

  • Almost 75 percent of parents with an obese child could not identify that their kid was overweight but appear normal in their eyes.
  • Three out of ten mothers and six out of ten fathers treated their childs’weight as normal when, the truth was that these kids were at an unhealthy weight. Read more

Big food portions can lead to Obesity?

Causes of Childhood Obesity ,

In nowadays it’s easy for everyone to see that portion sizes are expanding with a rapid pace. Doctors and dietary experts often recommend having an extra awareness for the amount of the food they are eating, which seems to be raised drastically over the last 20 years.

Beginning from the decade of 80’s, sizes of packaged foods started increasing, as it began as an effort by food vendors who seek to gain a greater piece of the market than their competitors. By doing that, they was advertised the concept that it was good for them when with the same amount of money they could buy larger quantities of food. And so consumers, targeting the best for their money, began to combine the money spent in relation to the amount of food and not the quality of this. Read more

Childhood Obesity Facts – The harsh truth

Childhood Obesity Facts

Obesity usually affects adults and the recent years have seen an upsurge of the phenomenon and the children. The truth is that throughout the world the phenomenon of childhood obesity is alarming since the children with complications similar to those of adults, threatening many times their own lives. Listed below you can find a list of facts, which are an indisputable witness of the seriousness of the situation. The conclusions are yours to consider:

  • 60% of children between 5 to 10 years old that happen to be obese have a minimum of one risk factor for heart problems and 25% of them have a greater number (two or more) Read more