Young boys and girls in elementary school should not be suffering from ailments common to adults who don’t eat well or who put on a significant amount of weight later in life. However, we are seeing children with high blood pressure, higher incidences of type 2 diabetes. In the past 25 years, even though the US as awhole has gotten heavier, the rate of obesity among those aged 6 to 19 has more than tripled! This has led not only to the previously mentioned diseases, but to higher rates of premature deaths.
A Washington Post article tackles this issue, describing the problem and its effects, focusing on the death of an obese 31 year-old woman. Check it out here. There’s also several interactive features, such as a nutrition quiz and a segment about how to choose healthy foods. Read the article, it’s 2 pages, and let’s have a discussion. Despite efforts by nonprofits, the government, and even some businesses to increase the rate of physical activities among Americans and the messages that people must adopt healthy habits, the problem is getting worse. What can we do, from both a policy and a community-oriented grassroots perspective (healthcare providers, personal trainers, health educators, etc.) do to get people to drop the deadly habits?
It’s the same with how rickets is now being seen in small children- and that is SO terrifying, considering it used to be the children being forced to do factory work that would get rickets years and years ago. And every time I hear about this sort of thing I wonder, HOW do parents do this to their children? When your kid is in elementary school they aren’t going to know how to make healthier choices. It’s up to the parenting.
It seems strange, sometimes, that you need to undergo training and require a license to drive and all of that- and yet, anyone at all can be a parent, no matter how capable they are of taking care of children.
Yep, even people who can’t take care of themselves are able to become parents! I wouldn’t put all the weight on the parents, since schools don’t provide healthy foods or even PE sometimes and the government emphasize initiatives that target the symptoms, but not the problem. The whole Washington Post series on childhood obesity is interesting. I hope you got a chance to check it out.