Unfortunately, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 15
percent of children between the ages of 6 -11 are considered
overweight or roughly 1 in 6. What is even more alarming is
the fact that from 1997 to 1999 childhood obesity increased
197 percent.
How does obesity
affect our children?
Well in many ways, not only are
they getting fatter (which kills their self esteem) they are
also at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke in their
future years. According to the CDC approximately 60 percent
of overweight children have at least one additional risk factor
for heart disease.
What caused
this childhood obesity trend?
We live in a society where calories
have become very inexpensive and food and drink is very accessible.
Another factor is that children
don't play outdoors as much as they used to. This is partially
due to our fear of child predators and that many mothers and
fathers work long hours away from home.
Again, according to the CDC roughly
only 8 percent of elementary schools and 6.4 percent of middle/junior
high schools provide daily physical education for their students.
Sadly nearly 23 percent of school age children ages 9 to 13
don't do any activity at all during their free time.
What can we
do to help the overweight children in our lives?
We can help our children by educating
ourselves as to why childhood obesity has become an epidemic
in the United States and then by making changes that will redirect
our children to a healthier future.
21st Century children love to watch
TV, listen to music and play video games.The key is to find
ways that they can enjoy these things while still getting in
some physical activity.
My 8 year old gets up during commericals
and does what we call commerical boogie. It's just getting up
and moving anyway she wants to in order to burn calories and
work her muscles. This activity is a good habit to get into
and a good substitute for running to the kitchen for a snack.
Shows like Nick Jr's Lazy Town
and PBS's Bookbah promote activity for pre-schoolers.
Other fun toys that promote activity
include the EyeToy series by Sony. These are a lot of fun! They
come with a motion-tracking camera so that you actually use
your body movements to control the characters.
Then there are the new dance mats.
Several different companies make them. They connect to your
television set and play dance music which really gets the kids
moving.
One more cool way to get your kids
moving is a MP3 Gym from mp3gym.com.
They have more than 100,000 combinations of exercise routines
at different fitness levels that can be loaded into their MP3
player and act as a personal trainer.
Whatever they do, just make sure
your kids get moving for at least 30 minutes five days a week.
The best thing you can do for your kids is to set a good example
and get moving with them.
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