Obese children are a result of bad parenting!
Having too much overweight is called obesity. Obesity is a condition that can shorten your life and can seriously affect you, mentally and physically. Yesterday, I read an article about the massive growth of this phenomenon, which is not exclusive to the “western” world anymore. More and more is this disease spreading around the whole world. The article was specifically targeting parents to raise their awareness that obesity often has its roots in childhood. Obesity in children is growing at an even frighteningly faster rate. There are more obese children now than ever before. Parents are letting their carelessness with their own diets spill over into their children’s lives, according to the researchers cited in the article. Having been a morbid obese child myself (BMI >35 when I was a teenager), I could relate to some of the material, however the rant against the parents in the article seemed a bit exaggerated. In my opinion not every parent lacks the discipline to “guide” their children to the right choice for a healthy snack or a descend meal, nor is the sole reason for obesity with children bad parenting!! You have genetic predisposition for example…
Morbid Obese as a pure love result
If I look at my own experience, with hindsight, it was out of pure love that my parents and grandmother (being a First World War child herself and raising her own kids during the 2nd World War) in particular, were proud to be able to give me everything my heart desired and that was not always the most healthy choice available… Now, please allow me to list a couple of tips I distilled from the info I read, which are a no brainer that might help you to prevent overweight or obesity with your loved ones and prevent future health problems.
Active people need food!
Healthy snacks
Small children are normally energetic and often require snacks in-between meals. It is most important to choose healthy snacks for your children.
Vegetable snacks like carrot sticks and celery boats are a good and fun alternative to chips and junk food snacks. Also fruit can be substituted for candies and sugar snacks. Soda and sugar snacks like candy produce hyperactivity in many young children and will sow the seeds for problems later in life. It also leads to potential dental problems and the beginnings of obesity. Sugar is a known addictive food, meaning that the more you eat the more you want to eat. This can quickly escalate into a serious eating problem and can lead to obesity as the body stores excess sugar as fat.
Breakfast cereals are perhaps the biggest problems in children’s diets. Everyone is in a hurry in the morning and it is easy to reach for the cereal packet for a quick family breakfast. However be careful of these artificially sweetened cereals as they give unnecessary large amounts of sugar to your youngsters’ system laying the grounds for a sugar addiction. Now there are many alternatives to sweetened cereals. There are many good tasting healthy cereals providing added fiber and less if any sugar (like natural oatmeal). These are good for your children as they will provide them with a much more nutritious breakfast and not just fill them up with sugar and excess carbohydrates.
Fast food habits also begin when children are quite small. This is reinforced by extensive TV advertising and propaganda for these foods. It is almost inbred in us to eat hamburgers, chips and other fast food. Children have an inborn liking for these foods and can easily become quite addicted to them. It is wise to try to keep these foods in limit, as they are not the healthiest foods to eat, especially for children who are growing and need nutritious foods to develop properly.
Final thought
Good eating habits begin when children are very young. It is possible to lay the foundations of good and healthy eating habits when children are still quite small. It is just a question of educating ourselves and passing on good habits to our children. When you do this you reduce the possibility of obesity in your children and all the mental and physical risks involved.
You can benefit yourself, giving the good example to your kid, eating together that healthy tasty snack. It is a choice you have. A choice which is so impactful for your child’s future health.
Have a conscious day!
Filip
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