Fighting Obesity in Children Is A Battle We Must Win
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by: sas_donsinfo4all
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Obesity in children is a growing concern for many families. Obesity means having too much body fat. Obesity in children should be taken seriously. Childhood obesity is said to be the most serious challenge to the public health facing Americans today. Obesity rates have doubled for those aged 2 to 5, to more than 10 percent, and for those 12 to 19, to more than 15 percent. This problem of childhood obesity is not limited
to the United States-it is a challenge world wide where recent increases in the standard of living has allowed people to eat more and exercise less.
Health.
Your physician is the person to determine if your child's height and weight are in a healthy range. If weight loss is suggested and a diet necessary, let the whole family support the child by learning healthy eating habits. You can encourage healthy eating by serving more fruits and vegetables and buying fewer sodas and high-calorie, high-fat snack foods. Fast food restaurants are not a healthy choice for children who are overweight. The proposals, by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine, include healthier meals in schools and restaurants; more opportunities for physical education at schools and in communities; restrictions in television advertising to children; and education of health professionals and children to make better choices.
Overweight
Overweight is more prevalent in girls than boys and in older preschoolers (ages 4-5) than younger (ages 2-3).
Overweight.
Overweight occurs oftener in girls than in boys and in the 4-5 age group than in 2-3 year olds. It is quite likely that overweight children and adolescents will become obese as adults. Children's long and short term health is jeopardized when they are overweight or obese. When the parents are overweight, their eating habits have a tremendous impact on the ability of their children to maintain a healthy weight. So serious are overweight and obesity in children that more research is required into how well the various dietary intervention methods are followed and how successful they are. Although the majority of obese or overweight children have no medical complications, specific disorders can occur in the case of severe obesity and some subclinical disorders (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, etc. Even though most obese or overweight children will not develop medical complications, cases of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia have developed in the severely obese child. However, for the more severely obese child, weight loss of approximately one pound per month is recommended, especially if other medical complications related to obesity, or conditions that have been shown to be improved with weight loss are present. If you think your child is obese, take him or her to a doctor to make sure the obesity is not because of a medical problem. Nevertheless, for
a severely obese child, a weight loss of one pound per month is recommended, especially when medical complications caused by obesity are present. When a child has limited physical activity because of an existing medical problem (e. " Managing obesity in kid is a long term endeavor that should give children the tools that they need to make choices that are beneficial to their lifelong health. asthma), the doctor will advise on suitable activities or prescribe medication to alleviate the problem.
Prevention and management of childhood obesity is absolutely important, otherwise the condition may persist into adulthood. But, you can and need to control the amount of access children have to unhealthy foods, making sure to have an abundance of healthy foods and snacks for you and your kids to eat. Therefore, the prevention of weight gain offers the most effective means of controlling obesity. Nevertheless, you can and must control the accessibility children have to unhealthy foods, and ensuring you have plenty of healthy
foods and snacks for you and your family.
About the Author
Don M, a licensed pharmacist for 40 years, with a special interest in health and nutrition. For more interesting free articles on healthy weight-loss, visit my website.Click here to read more on children.
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