Addressing Childhood Obesity- Contributory Factors, Parental Influence, and Effective Solutions

Addressing Childhood Obesity- Contributory Factors, Parental Influence, and Effective Solutions

Childhood obesity is a condition in which a child is considered overweight for their age and height and has become a health concern. Childhood obesity can lead to adulthood obesity and health conditions such as diabetes and heart failure. In addition, children can go through mental stress due to being bullied because of their physical appearance. Childhood obesity has contributory factors such as parental contribution, lack of physical activity and poor diet.

Parents are in charge of their children’s diet, and activities and research show that children are most likely to eat what they see their parents are eating. Some parents may also be unable to identify their children as overweight or obese and consider them as normal weight or obese as slightly heavier or baby fat (Tyler, n.d). Hence, parents should ensure healthy family meals and ensure they closely observe their children’s weight.

Children need to be physically active to reduce the risk of obesity. This can mainly be achieved through physical education since, in 90% of overweight children, a deficit of 250kcal per day is needed to prevent weight gain (Han et al., 2010). Physical activity is essentially needed since calories can be burned, and lack of this leads to obesity since the calories are then stored in the body as fat. Therefore, children should engage in physical education and exercise frequently.

Furthermore, poor diet has contributed to childhood obesity in that children should control the quantity of food they take and the quality. Children consume lots of sweets and processed foods or snacks that are dense in salt, sugar and fat. Frequent consumption of such food increases the chances of obesity. According to Moreno & Rodríguez (2007), high levels of energy intake in children and sugar-sweetened beverages are the most contributory diet factors to obesity. School and home meals should be rich in vitamins and nutrients that are beneficial to children.

In conclusion, it is evident that the chances of childhood obesity can significantly be reduced and controlled once the parents watch their children’s diet and eating habits. Children should also engage more in physical activity or look for distractions whenever they get the urge to eat after a short period.

References

Han, J., Lawlor, D., & Kimm, S. (2010). Childhood obesity. The Lancet, 375(9727), 1737-1748. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60171-7

Moreno, L., & Rodríguez, G. (2007). Dietary risk factors for the development of childhood obesity. Current Opinion In Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 10(3), 336-341. https://doi.org/10.1097/mco.0b013e3280a94f59

Tyler, S. Human Behavior and the Social Environment I.

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