Why not resolve this year to help your kids learn to enjoy healthy eating and active living? You'll not only be doing them a big favor, you'll also help ease the burden on the health care system as obesity threatens to become a national crisis.
How bad is it?
By all accounts, it is really quite bad. Research indicates that more Canadian children are overweight and obese than in the past. In 1978/79, 12% of 2- to 17-year-olds were overweight, and 3% were obese—a combined overweight/obesity rate of 15%. By 2004, the overweight rate for this age group was 18% and 8% were obese—a combined rate of 26%.
Because our kids have become more overweight and less active, they are now experiencing obesity-related health problems. For example, Type II diabetes, a disease that was once known as adult-onset diabetes because it was rarely seen in anyone under the age of 40, is now being diagnosed in kids as young as 9 or 10. The cost of dealing with diabetes alone will soon eat up over 15 % of health care budgets.
But obesity is related to a lot more problems than just diabetes. One recent study concluded that obesity is linked to 41 separate adverse health outcomes. This includes well-known and obvious problems such as an excess risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis of the knees and hips, to less well-known obesity-related conditions such as a higher risk of depression and cancer.
Even worse, just like our children's waist lines, the list of obesity-related problems is ever expanding. For example, a recent report from researchers claims that radiologists are having a tough time reading diagnostic tests such as abdominal ultrasounds and abdominal CTS scans in overweight people. Current testing apparatus is just not designed to peer through so much fat tissue.
That's some of the bad news.
The good news is that the solution to this impending crisis lies, to a large extent, in our own hands.
Although overweight and obese parents are more likely to have kids who are overweight partly on the basis of a genetic predisposition to put on extra pounds, to a much larger extent kids who are overweight are simply copying the lifestyle of overweight parents. The reality is that this can be controlled. Recognizing the problem is the first step.
Unfortunately, according to a recent British survey, a lot of parents are still ignoring their kids' weight problems. Several hundred parents, parents of all weights – overweight, obese, and normal weight – did not see their kids as having a weight problem. For example, even when a child was obese, half the dads and a third of the moms still thought their child looked just "about right". Even worse, three-quarters of the parents of the overweight kids were not "concerned" about the child's weight.
Research shows that the longer a child remains obese, the more likely s/he will become an obese adult. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, weight gain in children is due primarily to lack of physical activity. To reverse this trend, children should become more active and eat properly. Active, healthy children have a better chance of becoming active, healthy adults.
Helping children
- Encourage your children to get moving.
- Limit the amount of television they can watch and the time they can spend playing video and computer games.
- Organize family outings, such as hiking, biking, swimming and skiing.
- Encourage your children to participate in any sports they enjoy.
- Encourage your children to develop healthy eating habits and enjoy healthy foods.
- Teach them about Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide, and tell them how important balance, moderation and variety are in their diet.
- Explain how having regular meals and snacks more often is a healthier way to eat.
- Set a good example yourself - be active and develop healthy eating habits.
- When eating out follow the Top Ten Tips For Eating Out.
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