| Preventing obesity in America should be done one child at a time |
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| Written by Dana Narconis | |
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Since 2004, obesity has been ranked as the number one health threat Americans face. It currently results in about 400,000 deaths per year. Obesity affects far more than the appearance of an individual. It also puts strain on a person’s self esteem causing an increase in cases of depression, and has led to a phenomenal rise in patients with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, thyroid disease, and diabetes. A common misconception is the difference between obesity and simply being overweight. According to the National Institute of Health, being overweight is the increase in body weight exceeding ten percent over the recommended weight. Obesity refers to individuals exceeding 30% over their recommended body weight. There are many known causes to obesity. Researchers are working to provide solutions to these and to educate the public on ways to create a healthier lifestyle. Obesity is more than a behavioral problem. Causes are environmental, genetic, hormonal, and cultural as well. I think that the only way to decrease the commonality of this problem in America is to start prevention at an early age. We not only have to educate our children, we have to supply them with the proper tools to apply this knowledge to their everyday lives. We all went to elementary school. We all remember what they fed us in the cafeteria. All the starch-based foods, high fructose corn syrup, high fat chocolate milk, and fried…well, everything. This is not what we should be feeding our kids! Yeah they can all draw us a food pyramid, and tell us exactly how many servings of each food group they should be consuming each day, but this information is worthless if we do not provide them with nutritionally balanced foods in their schools and homes. The discovery that starch and carbohydrates were incredibly cheap and could be used as fillers in essentially every cafeteria food can be directly correlated to the timeframe of the obesity epidemic in America. The first place to start teaching children how to eat right is with portion control. We should be teaching them to turn over that package of Twinkies they are about to stuff into their mouth, and read what’s in them! Just reading the package and showing them what they need to eat more and less of will curb their tendencies of choosing such unhealthy foods. If you look at all the most popular, as well as successful, diets on the market you will see that most of them emphasize portion control and an active lifestyle more than anything else. Approximately 25-30% of all adult obesity cases begin with childhood obesity. The lack of exercise and consumption of too many happy meals, coupled with underlying genetic and hormonal conditions, turn into habits that children cannot drop after so many years of living with them. It’s time for parents in America to step up and take control of their lifestyles as well as their children’s. |
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