Child Obesity

Child obesity has become an issue in the last decade. Children are not exercising as much and are consuming more calories than they did thirty or forty years ago. Technology has played a big part in the child obesity epidemic. Children now spend at least eight to ten hours during the school week playing their video games, watching their favorite television shows, and texting and talking to their friends on their cellular phones.

Most parents do not notice that their child is eating poorly if they themselves are engaging in the same types of eating behaviors. Parents care about grades and will ask their children if they did their homework but not if the children got any exercise today. Parents need to be involved in educating their children about child obesity, calories counting, nutrition, and making good food choices. Children need fewer calories than adults do and most adults just give their children the same portion sizes that they themselves get.

Parents need to make exercising fun. Joining a gym or the local YMCA is a great way for a family to adopt better exercising habits. By starting a good exercise routine for children at a younger age, parents are more likely to have their children exercise as teenagers and even young adults.