12-17-2008, 03:35 PM
Just a wild guess, but I'd say childhood overeating is the cause of childhood obesity. This is a more complicated topic than adult obesity because children don't always have control over what they eat. Some mothers wrongly equate fat with healthy child, and continually urge their child to'clean up their plate'. That's wrong. Children should be given smaller portions and allowed to ask for more, if they still feel hungry. In other cases, parents (and relatives) use food as rewards. If you're a good boy (or girl) you get a cookie, or a chocolate bar, or an ice cream cone. Kids need to learn that there are other kinds of rewards - either non-edible (here's a book, here's a ball, here's a hacky sack) or just the satisfaction of being praised for doing a good job.Once kids begin to lard up, they also become inactive. So inactivity is another problem for the obese child. Again, it is something that is difficult for him or her to correct, as the parent usually has to supply the sport gear, make sure the kid gets to the games, etc. Once upon a time, kids would indulge in active play in a yard or a playgound, with almost no equipment needed. A ball, perhaps, or even just a game of tag or hide and seek. When is the last time you saw kids playing either of those games? We seem to have developed a preference for having our kids in supervised, structured sports, rather than simply learning how to play, but an hour or two a week in the sports arena doesn't have the benefits of an hour or two a day spent running, biking, jumping, hiking or whatever.This is turning into a rant -- sorry about that -- but I feel so sorry for those kids who are being set on the wrong path, even if their parents are well meaning. But ignorant.
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