Childhood Obesity: Who’s to blame
Posted On December 2, 2010
I have had two major conversations in two days on childhood obesity.
(Please forward this article to anyone who knows anyone who cares about childhood obesity)
Bottom line: A child is not fat because of decisions they made … a child is fat because of decisions they were allowed to make. Need some examples?
They’re not active enough?
Neighborhoods need to have more sidewalks and parks. When that happens, the data show that children lower their BMI. Parents need to enforce less screen time. When that happens, and screen time is lowered by just 30 minutes per day!!, BMI drops. We all need to orient kids toward activities, not exercises, that are fun and just get them to move every day.
Poor food choices?
Schools should not give in to the lure of soda / junk food contracts, in the break area and in the cafeteria. When this happens, children eat better quality foods, do better on tests, exhibit better behavior, and lose weight in the process. Parents should not give in to having junk food in the house. Just don’t buy it. You can’t control the world, or what they have when they’re elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean you can’t control what you have available under your own roof.
Here’s the deal
Listen, behind the childhood obesity problem are a lot of moving parts … most of which are under the control of parents, communities, and schools. This national embarrassment is something we should all address, because we are all at fault.
Children are not the problem. They are a reflection of the problem that only we can solve.
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