A Healthy Perspective

We all know that childhood obesity is an epidemic in our society today.  We also know that without proper education for both the child and the family that the child will grow up in, that there are high possibilities that the child will grow up to be obese as an adult.   

According to Doctor David Klurfeld, chairman of the department on nutrition and food science at Wayne State University and editor in chief of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, summed up the reality of this seeming paradox: “It is intuitive that fat children will grow up to be fat adults, but the facts don’t always support intuition.”

Statistics do show that children do not always grow up to be obese adults.  However, there can be a counterpart to this stating that a percentage of obese children will grow up to be obese adults, the reasoning just happens in what happens in between the childhood and adult stages.   

After all this is said and done, how can we fix this?  How can individuals change childhood obesity so that we can stop obesity from moving through to adulthood?  The answer is simple, we start from the basics.  We can’t blame obesity on children, they don’t always have the proper education or knowledge of knowing exactly what they’re eating or about how physical activity has lifestyle changes in their lives.  What we as Americans, parents or loving individuals can do is have a “child intervention,” which would involve educating children in an exciting manner to learn and play along in what seems to be fun games or fun snack times but simply is showing them what are healthier options.

The article “Do fat children become unhealthy adults,” states that without interventions, they will grow up fat, and by growing up fat this will also bring life threatening issues like heart diseases, plaque buildup in the arteries, and over work of organs which would cause organ failure over time.

Another viable option in treating this would be reverse psychology.

What I mean by that is starting with the adult, and educating the adult so that if they intend to, or already have children that they can have their children grow up in a healthy environment and continue to stay that course throughout life.

Now, one last thing I forgot to answer is what can individuals do?  You don’t just want to walk up to a family or child and tell them they are fat.

So, with that being said the answer for community members or random individuals is to take part in your community meetings.

By having an effect in your community whether it be changes in schools, or changes in playgrounds can be up to you!

Most schools will have their school meetings open to the public, and along those terms community meetings are also intended for community members to make their inputs.

You can question vending machines, ice cream options or sugar foods during lunches, bigger or safer playgrounds, and walk/run/bike paths.  The choice is yours, what are you going to do to stop obesity in children spreading into adulthood.