Is Child Obesity Leveling Off?
AdventureDad | June 18
According to recent research, child obesity might be leveling off after increasing during the past 25 years. A parent can do bad things to a child. But making a young child obese must be one of the worst things imaginable. A parent is almost making sure a child is facing a life of ridicule, psychological problems, teasing, low self esteem, and health problems. The information is out there and every parent know, or should know, about the dangers and problems. How come this is still an issue?
In 2003-04 and 2005-06, roughly 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese, according to a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those levels held steady after rising without interruption since 1980.
Those are some really depressing statistics. I’m always hoping people in society are getting smarter but it looks like I’m wrong. That we’re still having problems with obesity, in adults and children, after all we know points to very serious educational problems. Or is there some other reason?
Kids don’ have much of a choice at home, they eat what’s on the table. If food consist mainly of junk there will be serious consequences. I think most parents are forgetting the huge responsibility concerning a decent diet but more importantly, the enormous additional problems and challenges an obese child will face throughout life.
Obesity is often defined as a BMI over 30. Although this is a decent indicator of general health I would recommend not trusting this index blindly. A parent unfortunately does not need to calculate BMI to see if a child is obese. It’s very obvious.
Growing up is not easy, being obese and growing up is just cruel. I feel so sorry for all these kids and all the extra challenges that wait. Made fun of every day at school, no girlfriends/boyfriends, picked last for sports, ill fitting clothes, low self esteem, and out of breath after a flight of stairs. Not to mention future problem such as diabetes, heart and psychological issues.
“My son has large bones”, “Honestly, we eat really good food. No junk at all”, “Grandparents spoil her too much”, “Food at school is unhealthy”, “He drinks very little soda”, or “Chips and donuts are not unhealthy” are some comments I regularly hear regarding obesity. In rare cases, obesity can be explained by necessary medications or perhaps some disease.
Parents of obese children often argue that kids are young and should have some fun. Eat some junk food, drink soda, and enjoy chips with their friends while playing video games. I agree, kids should have lots of fun. A child can eat cookies, chips, pizza, burgers, fries, hot dogs, and drink plenty of soda and shakes without being obese. As long as it’s not done all the time. And as long as he/she also plays with friends outside and live a normal active life. Video games or computer are also fine, just not all the time. Balance is the key.
Is it fair to blame parents for their obese kids? In my view, definitely. Who else is to blame? Parents are in charge, making all choices for a their little ones for quite a few years. Food at school, a friends house, or grandparents can play a small role but those are after all choices a parent make.
How do we decrease obesity? It’s all about habits and education which unfortunately are difficult to change. This is very clear when traveling to other countries. Some have obese kids wherever I look, in other places I can’t find a single obese child.
A child growing up obese and learning to eat nothing but junk is likely to maintain those habits. Bad habits are very difficult to break. Just look around and see how many adults who are desperately trying to lose weight and change habits. Few unfortunately succeed.
A parent is often a hero Kids often copy parental behavior and this is bad news for many families. Obese parents often means kids turn obese as well simply by following their parents bad habits. For most of you reading this, it’s all common sense. Of course you give your child decent food and don’t fill up the sippy cup for your 8-month old with soda. It’s not exactly rocket science to understand chips and pizza every single day might not be a good idea. But many parents seem to lack this seemingly simple rational way of thinking. How do we reach them?
Personally, I don’t see any signs obesity is leveling out but hopefully I’m wrong. What about you? Are we turning things around or is obesity like the gas price and housing market, bad but there are much worse things to come?
I think it’s definitely an issue more parents should care about. With my three kids, I have two that are peanuts and one that is bigger. I worry about her the most. She doesn’t eat any more /differently than her sisters, and she’s outside the same amount (if not more than her older sister) running around. She’s just built differently. It’s something I ask her pediatrician about every time we visit. So far, he’s not worried (and as she’s getting older -she’s almost 5 - she is slimming down - she’s also the tallest out of the three). But I worry. I know out of the three of the girls, she’s going to be the one who struggles most of her life.
It bothers me to see three and four year olds who clearly have a problem, who are huffing and puffing at the playground. However, at least around here, it does seem to be getting better. I don’t see as many kids who are overweight as I have in the past. And a few that I can think of, have started to lose weight as well. Part of that may be because the schools have banned junk food (I know - blame the schools - which I totally don’t think are responsible but someone has to be).
Anyway, hopefully things are turning around.
Down at the neighborhood pool, I see all kinds. I see the tubby little kids whose parents are often some of the fittest people around, and then there are some whose parents are just bigger versions of the kid. Then, there are the 15 year old gymnasts with six packs that I will forever be in envy of. There’s even a lady at my gym, who is probably in her late 40s and is in fantastic shape, but her son is so overweight it’s not even funny. And to her credit, she’s had the kid in a training program for months.
As someone who has always fought his weight, I’m careful about laying blame completely on the parent, but it IS often the case.
Gotta say though, all this “banning trans-fats” talk just irks the ever-lovin’ crap outta me!
Thank you for posting such a bold piece. I love your examples of the excuses parents say. This is a topic that saddens me very deeply. I think pediatricians should take a larger role in making nutrition more of an issue at routine check-ups. At my son’s two-year appointment the one thing that his doctor had to say about nutrition was that I could switch him to 2% milk. I was shocked that out of all the things that he could tell me, this was what was important? And of course, I totally disagree. I don’t think it’s the whole milk that is making our children fat.
I have two children that are tall and slim (on the border of too slim). I have two stepchildren who are small and on the verge of obese (especially the girl). And I’m at a loss as for what to do with it. I honestly don’t know. They eat healthy food, they do sports, and they play outside a lot. I should prepare special dinners for them, and they should always drink water instead of lemonade etc. But my children should not be on a diet, because they really shouldn’t lose any weight. Can you imagine the problems this would give? Me being the bad stepmother always giving my stepchildren less than my children. Plus, I know my stepchildren go out and buy themselves sweets. They get sweets and cookies from other children in school. My children *always* ask whether they can have something to eat, they don’t. Different families, different cultures and all that. But it adds to the problems. And I can’t *always* keep an eye on them when they’re outside.
Anyway, the problem is far more complicated than this, involving an emotional link with food when my stepchildren are concerned, their grandmother who gives them totally wrong ideas when they are there, and lots more. It’s really tough to handle this.
I eat exceptionally healthy. With extravagent meals. I’m not a diehard, such as a vegi or organic fiend though. I stay away from most processed foods. Luckily for our new son, I have turned my girlfriend over to healthy food. She was raised on chips, coke, maccheese, cassaroles, baking, etc, you know the average american diet. It took me four years but now she eats healthy, and we have both promised to make healthy meals for our boy. Sorry son, but you won’t get me to take you to McDougals!
My fear is of course when he is out of our house. I go to her parents house and they’re eating habbits are really bad. So, yes he will get the junkfood when away from home, but at least we can set him on the right path for when he’s on his own.
I recently learned something interesting about losing weight. Namely, if you know you’re overweight, you will actually be motivated to loose it.
No, it’s not enough to stand on the scale. Many people base their body image on what their body was as a child. So, if you grew up thin, then get fat… you’ll still think of yourself as thin.
So, if you grow up fat, you will tend to have that image of yourself. Interesting, isn’t it?
We have worked very hard to make sure our kids know the difference between “sometimes” foods and “anytime” foods. My daughter is 3 and she can already tell us which foods are healthy. It’s all about getting them started early.
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I think it’s sort of cruel to be judgemental about this. There’s some fairly good evidence that genetics, more than diet or exercise, is the single most contributing factor to whether or not someone is overweight. Both of my kids are overweight - by one pound. But you can be sure that I hear about it every time I go to the doctor and I’m well and truly sick of it. My kids don’t eat junk and they play outside. They’re just heavier than other kids.
Of course they will have to deal with judgemental people like you and your children for the rest of their lives, chiding them for eating foods they like and imagining that they don’t have will power like you. Please - most thin people are lucky - they don’t work particularly hard to stay that way and don’t have to make the kind of sacrafices that someone like one of my kids would have to make to stay slim. I just hope your kids aren’t too hard on mind when they meet on the playground. But I’m not holding my breath.
I think it’s sort of cruel to be judgemental about this. There’s some fairly good evidence that genetics, more than diet or exercise, is the single most contributing factor to whether or not someone is overweight. Both of my kids are overweight - by one pound. But you can be sure that I hear about it every time I go to the doctor and I’m well and truly sick of it. My kids don’t eat junk and they play outside. They’re just heavier than other kids.
Of course they will have to deal with judgemental people like you and your children for the rest of their lives, chiding them for eating foods they like and imagining that they don’t have will power like you. Please - most thin people are lucky - they don’t work particularly hard to stay that way and don’t have to make the kind of sacrafices that someone like one of my kids would have to make to stay slim. I just hope your kids aren’t too hard on mind when they meet on the playground. But I’m not holding my breath.