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What needs to be done to fight child obesity?

By Frederick Corrigan

According to studies taken regarding overweight children, seventy percent of them will grow up to be overweight adults. I read a story recently that in the State of Massuchettes, 30 percent of children 10 to 17 are overweight. Guess what, that gives the state the rank of 30th out of 50. Do the math, this means that 1/3 of children 10 to 17 in 30 of our states are on the way to becoming obese.

We know that this will lead to heart problems, diabities, motion skills, stress and social disorders.

What can we do?

The first thing that needs to be done to fight child obesity is straighten out the parents.

When you see an obese child, there’s a good chance that the parents are also obese.

Children learn most of their eating habits from their parents. When mom and dad take the children to the fast food restaurant, and eat a 564 calorie Big Mac, 350 calorie medium fries, 436 calorie 12 oz. chocolate shake and a 284 calorie hot fudge sundae, they are dooming themselves as well as their children.

Now, that was the “Saturday let’s go shopping lunch”.

Let’s move to the Sunday night cheese pizza, with the thick crust, from pizza hut. Hey, only 280 calories per slice. So, 3 slices = 840 calories, 2 cans of mountain dew 220 calories with 64 grams of sugar and top it off with a 243 calorie brownie.

Oh, by the way, breakfast is a 203 calorie bowl of frosted mini- wheats with 11.9 grams of sugar, plus juice and chocolate milk.

If you want to stop obesity in children, then you need to monitor their parents’ grocery shopping and casual dining habits.

Today’s family grocery basket has more soda, sugar juice drinks, cookies, cakes, donuts, sugar cereal, frozen pizza, prepared meals, snacks and ice cream than good fruits, vegetables, fish and meat to make quality meals. If the sugar foods, fat foods, junk foods and soda weren’t brought into the home, the children couldn’t eat them.

Cook healthy meals at home, save money and help to keep your children from being obese.

Next time we’ll talk about exercise.

Contributor's Note

If we reap what we sow, we're going to have a very unhealthy America.

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The same goes for other countries too, when both parents are overweight, their children become too. Parents should control themselves and at least help their children if they cannot do it for themselves.

I'm glad that we agree that the parents are a big part of the problem, and need to change.
Thank you for your comments.
Merry Christmas,
Frederick

I'm honored that I could inspire you to write an intel.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your support.
Frederick

A friend of mine who's twenty recently moved back in with his parents. He said that when he lived on his own he ate more fruit and less chips and soda and cake... and now that he's back with parents, he's back to eating packaged food and lots of chips, cookies and cake all the time for snacks.

Sometimes kids do get a handle on it all by themselves but are fighting an uphill battle at home.

Moms seem to think that the best thing that they can do is fix us children something to eat. Unfortunately, it doesn't change when they become grandmothers.
Thanks for your comments.
Frederick

Whilst your article addresses healthy food in the home and family life, there is a much bigger issue to be discussed. Walk into just about any supermarket and notice how much of the store is devoted to sweets and and sugar inundated products. Often there is at least one whole aisle devoted to soft drinks, chips and related products. More frequently though in the same supermarket you are also likely to encounter at the very least half an aisle devoted to chocolates and sweets. But wait there's more, swing around to the aisle that presents the biscuits and cakes, not forgetting the humongous varieties of refrigerated goods, then as we navigate the store we find more and more similar products dangling from hooks indicating particular sales. As if that isn't enough, what do we see most of at the checkout ?

How often do we see mothers and or fathers bundling their baby's and children around in there ? And how often do we hear screaming kids in there bawling about what they most desire - the chocolate bar or whatever ?

I think we've got to ask ourselves the big question; what in reality does the supermarket mostly sell and which sector of the consumers is it mostly providing for ?

Great comments and I appreciate the time that you spent to share them with me.
The grocery stores know what is most addictive, chocolate,sugar, salt, soda,chips and handy junk food.
Parents need to leave the junk in the store.
Thank you ,
Frederick

Us old timers must be the exception that proves the rule. I am clinicaly obese weighing 16st 5lb or 105 kilos 5'9" tall.
My Mum and Dad God rest their souls were both as skinny as rakes to the end.
Dad was a Firefighter during WWII and afterwards in the City of London and was trained to be able to haul people up a 6 storey buildings with nothing but a "Hook" ladder and his skill and strength. My kids are far from obese also, with my daughter being a Paramedic/Ambulance Driver for the NHS Trust near York.
Perhaps it is as much what we do. I have always had a sedentary job and not much inclined towards sports or active hobbies.

I appreciate your comments and I agree that a sedentary life style aids the possibility of being obese. I also think that the chemically treated foods we consume are adding to the problem.
Thank you for your support.
Frederick

ˆI'm trying to convert every ones attention to using unprocessed sugar ie Mono-sugar or is it Mono Sugar.

I would appreciate reading more about this ingredient in relation to using it etc.

If you search, monosugar on google, you will find a number of interesting sites on the subject.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Have a Healthy, Happy New Year and beyond.
Frederick

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that your intel mentioned too many yummy goodies and inspired us the wrong way. We pigged out at Pizza Hut Sunday night.

Thanks for taking the time to read my intel. A little "Pig-out" is OK once in awhile,just try not to make it habit forming. Those calories are to hard to walk off.
Happy New Year ,Nick.
Frederick

Hey, Nick,
Pigging out is OK . It's doing nothing physical for the next 48 hours that does the damage.
I'll bet you drove to Pizza Hut!
Walk there to build your apetite, walk back to use up some calories and help your digestive system cope with the load.

theoldcoot Dec 28, 2009 08:22

I so totally agree with what you're saying! Unfortunately "straightening out the parents" is easier said than done. Schools and educators play a role but there must be leadership from above. I am encouraged that the First Lady's pet project is to advocate healthier eating habits.

By the way Frederick, I've noticed you've been working hard online, I do hope you still find the time to walk as mentioned in an earlier intel of yours "You're Fat - Damn It". Do keep walking, we wouldn't want to lose you - Qondio wouldn't be the same.

Thank you for your comments and your concerns. I can only hope that one of the advantages of the internet, is that people will become more aware of their health.
Yes, I still walk on my treadmill, almost every day. This will become an intel down the road.
Have a Healthy, Happy New Year and beyond.
Frederick

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