Child obesity has been on the rise in the recent years. Most of the children aged 2-19 years have been considered obese or are almost being overweight. This is an alarming issue in terms of health matters. Children and adolescent risk a lot in this condition, and they do need help to cut down their weight. In the last thirty years, the number of children with obesity has doubled. There are various risk of being obese, this cut across all human beings. One can easily get type two diabetes and cancer. There is a risk of being diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, and even being asthmatic. Parents need to be a concern on this issue affecting their children. The school administration as well should be in the forefront instilling some facts about the health matters surrounding obesity.
In schools, the environment should be favorable enough to fight chances of being obese. School curriculum should be in the first in coming up with policies that enable all the kids participate in various physical exercises. Children should by all means be an active member of either of the sports activities. This should be entrenched as a school activity or schedule. There should be the time for such activities in a school programme before the children go home. Punishments should be enforced on all the children who do not participate on any activity in school.
The school as well should have a wide variety of physical activities that will fit all the children. This enables lack of commitment from the children to honor the school activities. On the other hand, rewards should be given as an incentive for all the kids who emerge the best in their activity. This gives a sense of persistence and acts of motivation to be involved in any activity desired. Schools and teachers are better placed to reduce or eliminate the overweight menace in the children.
In classrooms, the course content should include various teachings on the dangers of being overweight, how to reduce the weight and their eating habits. Emphasize should be on all aspects that fight overweight. The food to be eaten should be highly taught in these schools. If the students eat in school, they should be provided with a balanced diet with minimal of fatty foods. This makes the children learn from what they see and what they eat in school. This way, it will enable them pass the same concept to their parents who will by all means improve on that if not give the same variety.
Children should be encouraged by the teachers and parents to ride to school other than being driven or drive. This enhances their physical activities hence their health is enhanced. If they do not have a bicycle or a car, they should be encouraged to walk. The school as well needs to have common physical activities such as athletics or any other sport where all the students participate. Preliminaries should involve all the students, this way; it’s a form of doing exercises. The parents need to buy bicycles for their children and not give them fares for buses. Denying them fares will enable the kids does exercise by riding a bicycle to and from school. The children also should eat well so that they grow healthy and develop well (Friedman 39).
The children should always eat a balanced diet. This balance enables them live healthily and maintains a healthy weight. There should be a clear understanding of how to balance the calories consumed by the children and the calories burnt while doing physical activities. A child normal growth is enhanced. The parents or caregivers should not under any circumstances put their children under weight-reduction diet. This should not be done without clear guidance from the health giver.
The children should be furnished with healthy eating habits all the time. If this is done, however, how small it is, will give a successful process. They should eat vegetables and fruits in large quantities. Whole-grain products should be included. All the dairy merchandises should be of low or no fats at all such as milk. Proteins foodstuff should have minimal of fats. Lean meats should be utilized; any white meats can be encouraged such as fish and poultry. All the foods given to the children should be of reasonable quantity not too much as well since this will not go well with the body needs. Consumption of water should be of high levels, any beverage with sugar content should be minimized, as well as consumption of sugars, salt, and soaked fat. The children should be encouraged to consume what they have been provided with in school and as well as when a lone. The parents and school administration should not allow the children to eat any food from outside or in a restaurant without their express knowledge. This will keep check on all the foods consumed by the children.
The children’s favorite meal should be all time healthy. There should be trials of all other types of food stuff that may be a favorite of the child. All the temptations of any calorie-rich foods should be eliminated. However, there is always a way out when the family is going out for a treat. This can be achieved by consuming a medium size apple, banana, blue barriers, considerable grapes, and say a cup of carrots.
The children should be made to understand the importance of being physically active. They should be taught that physical activity has a lot of healthy features such as bone solidification, decline in blood density, limited tension and nervousness. Other benefits include rising self-confidence and assist in weight control. Being healthy is a good thing, all those people who always do daily exercises have always performed well and reason out actively in any process they are involved. The brain activeness is enhanced as a result of these exercises done by the students on a daily basis.
The parents on their part should have a form of daily adequate physical exercise and should include their children. This exercise should be an estimate of 60 minutes. These forms of exercises include brisk walking, tab playing, skipping rope, and soccer, swimming, and even dancing. This way, the parents, will be contributing heavily towards their children healthy growth and development. Obese children also tend to be of low self-esteem, this should be highlighted as a major vice of obesity and no child will want to be laughed at by others because of their weight.
The children aged 2-12 years should not be watching TV nor having quiet moments in the house. There could be quiet reading or doing homework; all this should be restricted to not more than two hours daily. The kids should be encouraged to participate in some fun activities outside or within the house. This is good for small kid’s development. They can do some activities helping with family chores, or doing them on their own but should be some form of activeness (Harris 44).
Federal health authorities did a study that indicate that children aged 2-5 years who are obese, will in future, be 5 times obese as grown-ups. In the recent past, most states have given out satisfactory information on the decline of obesity among children. This has been depicted among the low-income earners as compared to the high income earners. Women should be encouraged to breastfeed. Breastfeeding helps the children develop naturally as compared to using the supplementary types of food. The supplementary foods account for a high percentage of overweight in children. The children deserve to grow healthier regardless of their surroundings. If all the children right from birth are well taken care of, they will certainly be healthy all through the stages of human growth. They should not be denied the chance. All the children should be perfectly monitored on all the food they consume. They should not buy any food that is seen as unhealthy to them upon consumption. They should be given packed lunch when going to school or just on a friend’s outing. The children’s friends should be known well by the parents. They should be informed on what the child should or should not consume. This has been considered to be over protective measure, but it’s better than child’s health complications.
Supermarkets and other shop outlets should be discouraged from availing such food suppliers which are considered as chunk. The government authorities responsible in licensing the food stull production should discourage any production and sale of such fatty foodstuff. Tarrifs should be increased for such raw materials and licenses provided to the investors. Advertisements should be done against eating any chunk food for health reasons. This way, the children, will be able to also learn and avoid consumption. The parents have to join the authorities in fighting this, since their concerns are now being executed by higher authorities. All the food stuffs that have low fat content should be subsidized especially for the low income women. This goes a long way in fighting obesity in children and the entire region as a whole. There have been various policies across the states that have helped in fighting the obesity. Collaborations among the states will help fight the menace. The authorities are the best weapons to be used in fighting obesity (Haerens 65).
Leaders should also be in the front line fighting the obesity in children. They should by all means help the families as a show of family unity; helps discourage any food that leads to obesity among children. Such machinery of creating awareness in fighting obesity will be no doubt help in achieving the fight. Parent will also be encouraged and will lead by example in their families. The parents and school educators should support authorities on pro policies that help reduce obesity. Such campaigns will be a win for the parents besides the entire state since health matters will be of great concern. A push by such leaders for appropriate eating and exercise for children will be of great importance to the children and families since they are setting up as examples.
The policies championed by parents who are citizens cum voters need to consistently vote in policies in order for the behavior initiated on various food stuff, is adopted by the incoming authorities. The behavior established of exercising daily as well as healthy eating habits need to be enhanced from generation to the other. The parents need not pity the children but should encourage them to adopt such a pattern of healthy living all through their stages of development. Families should be taught by experts on having and maintaining healthy lifestyles. This will help protect all the generations since they are at the center of procreating. Educating the parents should also cover all the risks associated with obesity. This helps them pass the same concept to their children.
In conclusion, parents and the school do play a major role in fighting obesity in children. Child education and consistent practice of healthy eating will go a long way in fighting obesity. Progress reports or studies need to be studied at all levels in order to monitor the achievement in dealing with obesity. All the children should have reports on their health checked consistently. All obesity related diseases diagnosed need to be confirmed if that is as a result of lack of healthy eating habits. This will enable the authorities separate the causes of such illness. Children needs encouragement and education on how to avoid obesity and eating will. People who sell the fatty foodstuff need to be discouraged to carry on any business. Walking or riding a bicycle to school is also a clear way children can fight obesity.
Works Cited
Friedman, Lauri S.. Obesity. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Print.
Haerens, Margaret. Obesity. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print.
Harris, Nicolette. Combating child obesity. Rev. ed. Brighton, [England: Emerald Publishing,
2009. Print.
