1 Out Of 5 Four-Year-Olds Are Obese.

Our Children Are At Risk!

The rate of childhood obesity is skyrocketing like never before in the history of mankind. That may sound a little dramatic but nonetheless it's true. Our most precious commodity are being raised to kill themselves slowly. "No," you may say "that's going too far, I'm not raising my child to kill him or herself slowly, that's absurd!" But is it really? If you know that that having a poor diet (full of fast food, processed food, almost no fruits and vegetables, minimal physical activity, maximum video game and computer time, and no restrictions on the amount or kinds of calories consumed) is bad for you and you continue to do it then yes you're killing yourself and anyone else you teach this terrible behavior to, slowly.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that there is a lot of bad information out there. And even the good information can be so plentiful that it becomes confusing. An illusion emerges that eating healthy is outrageously costly and time consuming and the kids just won't like. In reality there are plenty of ways to get the cost down at the grocery store, manage the time it takes to prepare a healthy meal, and given time the kids will come around to thoroughly enjoy the taste of healthy food. Myths busted! Then there's the ever changing facts or statistics or scientific findings that this diet and way of eating is better than that diet and way of eating and the long loved low fat, low carb is not really the golden ticket we've all been looking for, but just yesterday it was. I am not blind to the latest and greatest in weight loss ideas and that's what fires my up so much. To see the epidemic that's plagued adults for decades take its hold on our future generations is not only sad but an outrage.

An article written in yesterday's Washington Times (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/1-out-of-5-us-preschoolers-is-overweight-new-study/) reveals this statistic of 1 out of 5 four-year-olds are obese. Mind you that they were not found to be merely overweight but obese which is classified as having a body mass index or BMI above the 95th percentile of children within the same age, build, height, and gender group. This is the largest and only study of its kind in terms of participants being of a wide range of ethnic groups. The study included 8,550 preschoolers that were born in 2001. Researchers found that the highest rates of obesity were found in Hispanic and American Indian children. The reasons why vary some with theories ranging from genetic to family income to education levels of the parents to federal commodity programs. Regardless of ethnicity the preschoolers of this country are at serious risk of not living a long high quality of life that we all want for the next generation. They are being diagnosed with asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure at alarming rates. We can no longer give in to our children and give them any type of food they want whenever they want it just to make ourselves feel better for a moment because when they whine and cry for it we feel guilty and end up giving in to their demands which only continues the downward spiral of their deter rating health and contributes to their lack of self-esteem, self-love, and feelings of embarrassment.

It is incredibly difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of this epidemic that has taken our children by storm. Every one of these above mentioned theories has it's place in the growing size of our youth. I feel it's vitally important to realize that if we continue to stand by and do nothing then we are silently contributing to the problem of childhood obesity which puts children at risk of diabetes, metabolic disorder, heart disease, cancers, and countless other health ailments that they would otherwise not be subject to at such a young age. Blame it on the ways of society, put the blame wherever you like but in the mean time do something. Do something to stop the growing waist lines of our young people by getting them to move more and eat more nutritionally. But remember, our actions speak louder than our words, they always have. Maybe that's the real reason for this childhood obesity epidemic.


Step One: Recognize that you have to take a more active role in the health care of your child. You have to set the bar for yourself first. You are the role model for your child and they will respond a lot better if they see you taking control of your health first. Get the help you need, hire a personal trainer for a couple of months and learn the right way to exercise in order to get the safest most effective workouts for you and your child. Read books and blogs like this one to learn more about nutrition. Be persistent, they may not take too kindly to the changes immediately but they will adapt quicker than you think they will. Give them credit and the chance of a healthy life now and into their adults years to come.

Step Two: Throw out all the junk food in the house. Today! Right now actually. The best policy is to not bring it in the house in the first place. Don't test your strength and will power by trying to avoid the stack of cookies and cake in the kitchen and don't have your children try to restrain themselves that way either by telling them that you can eat by not them. Make it easier on yourself and them by not buying it at all. Trust me, this method works. Try to eat foods that are as close to the natural source as possible. That means stay away from as much processed foods as possible, things that come in boxes and are prepackaged. The more times it's been handled and the more ingredients listed on the box the further away from the source it is. Now, don't worry, the kids may not like every new food you give to them at first and they may complain more than you're used to but be persistent. Taste buds actually change and pretty soon they begin to like what whatever you give them but this takes time. Your kids will get used to a new healthier eating pattern, just don't give up on them because they complain about not liking something. Remember, you're doing them a greater service this way and they'll thank you for it some day.

Step Three: Be as active as possible. This doesn't mean to have them play every sport that's offered especially if they don't like sports. There are all kinds of ways to incorporate activity into your daily routine. For example, take family walks after school or dinner around the block a couple of times. Have the kids ride their bike or skip in front of everyone else and make them the leader for the day. Make sure that their school is involving physical activity during their school day and if they're not do what you can to make them change their policies. Remember, we have an epidemic on our hands now. Go to the park on the weekends, some cities have both indoor and outdoor parks. Check your local area for fun things to do with the kids to get them moving as often as possible and be active with them. They'll be much more inclined to try new things if you are too. Another good rule to put into place is to limit television to only on the weekends and computer time to the bare minimum, for homework only.

These are the three biggies when it comes to weight loss. If we can all start to implement these three simple steps into the daily routines of our young ones then we can do our part in stopping and hopefully reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Get started today! Don't wait any longer, the longer you wait the further away our youth get from being as healthy and happy as possible and they deserve better. No more excuses, no more playing ignorant, no more delaying. Today is the day we stop helping our children kill themselves slowly and instead increase the longevity and quality of their life forever.