Your Childrens Health

Obesity can have many harmful, and sometimes lasting, effects on your child.  Children who are obese have an increased risk of being obese into adulthood.  Many experts believe that the social and emotional problems that obese children face are the most damaging.

 Just as important though is their physical health.  Childhood obesity is associated with Type II Diabetes Mellitus and puts your child at a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease.  It also puts excess stress on your child’s joints and is the leading cause of hypertension.

 Childhood obesity is defined as an excessive amount of body fat.  In girls, this means over 32% of their total body weight is fat.  In boys, it’s 25%.  Ask your Doctor about the proper way to measure body fat as a percentage of your child’s total weight.

Why is the prevention of childhood obesity so important?  Because it is much easier to prevent than to treat.  Treatment of childhood obesity involves behavior modification, increased exercise and diet management.  

Understanding the factors that could put your child at risk for becoming obese is key in prevention.  Childhood obesity has several contributing factors, including:

• Family Influence - Children with two obese parents are at a greater risk of becoming obese themselves.  This could be due to genetics as much as lifestyle, so being healthy as a parent is important.
• Lack of exercise - While your child may love their video games, it is important that they regularly participate in physical activities.  Exercise helps to build muscle, burn fat and boost a child’s self esteem.
• Heredity - Some children eat and exercise properly and are still overweight.  Then there are children eat poor quality foods and get very little exercise, yet remain thin.  Heredity has recently been shown to be an influencing factor.

A combination of other social, emotional and psychological issues can affect your child’s weight and risk of obesity.   

As a parent, you must to recognize the signals that will tell you your child is full.  People have a tendency to overeat simply because there is more food available to them… break your children of this habit early on.  Provide them with low fat snacks and balanced meals. 

The most important point to remember is that setting a good example as a parent will make it easier for your child to eat healthy, get exercise and stay fit.  Teach your children to make nutritious food choices.  Prepare healthy meals and participate in activities as a family.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Obesity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.