Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Super size me makes childhood obesity!
Childhood obesity can cause a person to eat to overeat!
Parenting was different
I was born at the end of 1969. I could say life was easier but that would not be the truth, it was just different. My parents knew nothing about nutrition or nutritional values. They allowed me to eat sugary cereals for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly on white bread for lunch (whole wheat was unheard of in my house) and fried chicken for dinner (generally fried in Crisco.) The meals might all sound unhealthy. Truthfully, no one thought about healthy options.
Color televisions were to expensive to own. The first television set I ever watched was a small 13″ black and white. We had one of the earliest models of remote controls for a television. Every time my father needed a channel changed he would say, “Aaron, get up and go change the television to channel…”
Childhood obesity was not a problem. We couldn’t be obese we were too busy. I didn’t have distractions of video games, cell phones or computers. If I wanted to meet up with a friend I would try calling them on a landline (oh the horror). Most people didn’t have answering machines and often I couldn’t leave a message. I then either walked or rode my bike to see if they were home (more horrors.)
My parents favorite phrase was, “go play outside!” It didn’t matter if it was snowing, raining or hot. I knew when dinnertime was and the expectation was that I would be home. If I wasn’t home I was not get catered to. I was on my own because I missed mealtime. (I could cheat and call my grandmother who lived close) Somehow, I seemed to have managed and grew up without suffering to many ill effects.
Guilty Parents Syndrome
Today, parents often suffer from “guilty parents syndrome” and unintentionally contribute to childhood obesity. They feel they aren’t giving enough time or attention to their child so they overcompensate by purchasing things for their child. Children wind up with so many distractions they can easily forget there is a world outside of their home.
Children never have to worry about actually seeing a friend. Friends are readily available through facebook, SMS, cell phones or many other ways without ever leaving the house. If a child does leave home, they will often ask about being driven to their destination. The guilty parents syndrome makes parents say yes to driving around their children.
Playing outside has become rare. Kids would rather use electronics to fill their time. Parents have become more cautious about telling a child to “go play outside.” Weather and the outdoors have become the enemy. Childhood obesity has become the new companion for children.
Mealtime has become a job and less enjoyable for many people. Parents are becoming a victim of their own quality control in foods. We spend more time researching what is healthy than actually sitting down to eat with out family.
Stopping childhood obesity
Stopping childhood obesity means rediscovering the world!
1. Monitor all of your child’s electronic usage. If necessary, keep a journal to check their usage and see how much time they are truly spending on gadgets.
2. Don’t be afraid to tell your child, “Go outside and play.” If they are still at an age where monitoring is still needed go outside with them and rediscover the beauty of the world together.
3. Know your child’s friends and parents. Never be afraid to actually meet them face to face. You could even ride a bicycle with your child to meet the other family.
4. Make meals fun again. It’s okay to read labels. We just don’t want to spend so much time doing it that we make our kids afraid of what they eat.
Parenting is about being adaptable. I truly wonder how many parents have adapted to making life better for their child and have not noticed they are no longer connecting with them.
Tags: childhood obesity, dinnertime, distractions, favorite phrase, first television, nutritional values, rapid rate, super size me
All your points are spot on. Whilst you may not have had whole wheat in your house in the seventies ( God how I hate you youngsters) mothers did at least generally make meals from scratch rather than ready made. Now, with the advent on the latch key kid and pressure on parents to work ‘bing’ meals are all too often the norm.
Apart from the unhealthiness of the food and lack of exercise I’ll add that a child cooped up with gadgets too long losed the skills to interact with others and loses the joy of childhood imagination. Please try and keep the video games and the computer to a minimum for children if for no other reason than they don’t get even further ahead than me on them.
Try and bring a little of your childhood to your children- unless of course you were born about 1990 in which case you’re already lost and you’d better reconstruct your own parents time..
My son has a vivid imagination that I encourage to the fullest! It is a trait he gets from me. We already have epic battles (he even lets me win once in awhile!)
Xan would rather spend all of his time outdoors if given a choice. I can’t decide if I am better or worse than my parents in the fact I do put some limits on weather. Over the last week we have had high of 110 degrees (or 43.3333333 Celsius) and I have not felt comfortable with myself or him playing in that type of heat.
Overall, I just find it odd that so much emphasize is placed on certain things but there seems to be more disconnect in our families of today.
Aaron
Wonderful post Aaron!
Yes indeed, our parents weren’t as conscious about what we ate and what we did when we were young. What mattered most those days was that they were around to take care of us generally, and not really bothered much about details as parents are nowadays.
Children were told to have fun and eat what they wanted, without any kind of restrictions way back then,which parents didn’t realize would lead to obesity problems now. However, I am glad we as parents have learnt that lesson and are much more careful about what we feed our kids.
I guess what we learnt during those days is what we implement with our kids now, which is what matters most. And I’m sure our kids would learn to be more health conscious if they are guided well enough.
Thanks for sharing.
Harleena,
I couldn’t agree more that children today will be very successful if
they are guided correctly. I wish all parents had that attitude and
realized how much time some children spent in front of the television or
computer. I have actually worked with children that didn’t know what to
do with simple toys except model them after television characters.
Aaron
Good points on diets when we were young! Wow did we eat bad! We were also active as hell so I guess it balanced out. Now, things are a bit different. My family has overweight adults all taking action. The kids are fit and active because of it. They model what they see. Makes a big difference!
I look back now and wonder how we survived at all at times. Somehow though we did. I think it is because we were so active back then.
Now as adults its all about making sure our children now there is an outside world. I am fortunate in that my son loves to be outdoors more than indoors. Both of us are going stir crazy right now with it being 115 degrees in the afternoon.
Aaron
Sometimes I feel bad for not spending much iPad time with my son, but when he is watching PBS Kids on it and I say, “hay dude, let’s go ride bikes,” he says OK and runs outside.
I have another rule as well: avoid Over the air TV and it’s advertising. The less you and your kids know about how big food businesses are trying to pimp your natural appetites against yourself, the happier you’ll be to eat whole wheel toast and blueberries.
-Mike
Mike,
My son would rather be outdoors than indoors if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, it has been 115 degrees for several days running and it no longer is a good option. I don’t know who is going to go stir crazy first me or him!
I skip so many of the commercials on television or watch videos so I don’t have to watch them. I am not overly fond of the influencing that goes on or the biases they often show. Just my opinion of course…..
Aaron