|
The-shocking-truth-about-child-obesity-in-the-UK
The causes of child obesity:
Recent estimates show that around 65% of the population of the UK are over weight, with around 30% being catagorised as clinically obese, as if that is not alarming enough, lets consider the statistics for our children.
In the latest survey of boys and girls aged between 2-15, the proportion who can be classed as obese has increased between 1995 and 2004, from 11% in 1995 to a concerning 19 per cent in 2004 among boys, and from 12% in 1995 to 18% in 2004 for girls.There is no way to dress these figures up, the reality of the situation is clear, as a nation obesity is on the increase and quite dramitically so, the terrifying trend for parents to note is this has spread down to our children, we are in effect likely to see a reduction in life expectancy in the coming generations, unless we take some remedial action, now. Obesity in school aged kids is out of control, there are many causes of child obesity, in this article i will be focusing on what i see as the most wide spread causes of child obesity.
It is important as parents that we take more responsibilty to ensure healthy living for our children and to ensure they eat enough to be both healthy and to facilitate natural growth, but we take steps to draw the line between what is a healthy weight and what is excessive weight.
The myth is often widely excepted "He/she is a growing lad/girl" whilst this is of course true, its important to note only around 2% of a child's daily energy is taken up with growing.
The biggest cause of child obesity and deterioration in heatlth comes from technology and a lack of discipline in its use, the average school kid today spends more time watching TV and playing computer games than they spend in school,and even when they are in school, most kids partake in 60 to 90 minutes maximum of physical education per week, this is a trend we must call upon our schools and our government to reverse. The ongoing trend of selling off school playing fields and making physical education "non competative" is a flawed policy that is slowly but surely robbing our children of their long term health. My advice to all parents when viewing prospective schools for your children, would be to look very carefully at the physical exercise program the school operates, not just its academic merits.
It is of course also vital to look at our childrens diet, in the fast food orientated high streets of today its all to easy to allow our children to exisit on a diet that involves a large proportion of junk foods. Its extremely important children have a healthy and well balanced diet, with junk food of any type seen as a treat rather than the norm. Schools too must take some resposibility here, over the last two decades the decline of quality school dinners has seen a shift away from the traditional home cooked style meals and onto a junk food culture, this is a trend that many schools are now working hard with local education authorities to reverse. Food is another important criteria parents should judge schools upon.
To sum up, the causes of child obesity can be much more understated in some kids, but this is very limited, on the most part its clear to see not only does the parent need to take increased responsibility for their childrens health and well being, but other entities such as schools and other local education establishments must duly take their share also. Its imperitive for our childrens future they exercise regularly, if possible take up a regular sport that they particularly enjoy, and that their diet is one of balance. With these simple actions in place, we should see the worrying obesity trend reversing slowly.
Nobby writes for www.raisethekids.com his site dedicated to parenting, readers may wish to join the forum www.raisethekids.com/forum to discuss a whole range of parenting topics. |
|
