Why more children are becoming obese:

The problem of obesity is becoming a major concern for our society. The number of children that are overweight is at an alarming high. It is time for society to take a hard look at the reasons why this is happening and take action.

One of the main reasons is that everyone eats fast foods. It is much easier for most parents to stop at their favorite fast food joint then to come home from work and cook a healthy meal. A few generations ago, people ate at home. The food was cooked from scratch. There were no such things as frozen foods, canned goods, and instant packaged foods.

Today, half of the dinners prepared at home, are partially instant packaged foods. These may be frozen or things such as instant potatoes. All of these have large amounts of fat, salt, oil, or starch. The need to return to healthy cooking can greatly reduce the problem of obesity.

Another reason for the increase in child obesity is the lack of exercise. Children are more into video games. Kids spend way too much time playing these games. Video games are good for teaching coordination, but do not give any type of exercise.

The lack of exercise is one of the most important reasons for childhood obesity. Children miss out of outdoor activities because they are more interested in playing a video game. Gone are the days when you would see a group of kids out riding their bikes or playing ball in their backyards. Granted there are teams that some fortunate children can play on, but this is not available for some children.

The parent's activities also have an effect on children's behavior. If the parent is a couch potato, then it is most likely that the child will also not be interest in any type of physical activities. Get off the sofa and play some ball with the kids. Walk around the block, or ride your bike to the park. These are things that can help a child control their weight.

The lack of exercise in school can also be blamed for our children becoming obese. Most schools today have taken away recesses. The children no longer have that ten or fifteen minutes to play outdoors during the day. They are not allowed to go outside and play after eating lunch.

Most of the fun games that require running are not allowed on the school yards. Recess needs to be a part of a child's day in school. It will give them a chance to break the monotony from studies and give them a chance to run around, have fun, and good exercise.

Parents and school boards have become so concerned about certain games that have been played for decades. Some of these games, such as Tag were played by our grandparents, these games have never hindered their learning abilities, nor has anyone ever had any lifetime problems as a result of playing them. Parents need to stop pampering their children and let them have some good old fashioned fun.

The short amount of time that students are in gym is not enough to sufficiently give children the needed exercise that is necessary for them to be physically healthy. Bring back the recess time in school and this will help fight child obesity.

If parents watched what their children ate and guide them towards eating healthier snacks, the problem of child obesity can be overcome. Limiting the amount of time a child is allowed to play video games will also help fight the problem of overweight children.

All of these factors combined are major reasons for childhood obesity. We can fight the problem of childhood obesity with a little more effort in controlling these factors.

Learn more about this author, Marion Garcia.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Why more children are becoming obese?
We want to hear your view. Write now!