It seems that every year a new study emerges that shows that our children are getting heavier and heavier. The latest is from the American Academy of Pediatrics, who recommend that children have yearly body-mass index (BMI) checks done to identify and prevent obesity. The BMI is a height to weight ratio that appears to work better as a measure of obesity than standard height/weight tables. The data accumulated by this group indicate that about 15 percent of children (6 through 19) are obese, as opposed to just overweight. Other studies indicate that this rate may be as high as 24% in females and 26% in males. This rate has doubled in the last 20 years. These figures are apparently the result of a combination of relatively poor nutrition and the more sedentary lifestyles of today’s children. Here are some facts on the lifestyles of todays children:
- students watch an average of 26 hours of TV a week
- only 6% of children aged 10-19 are active on a regular basis
- on the average, children today are up to 40% less active than they were 30 years ago
Given these disturbing facts, what should parents be doing for their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics has several excellent suggestions. They include:
- encourage and model a lifestyle of fitness and limit TV and/or video viewing to no more than 2 hours daily (I think even this is too generous)
- promote healthy eating
- encourage breast feeding (this one is a bit of a surprise) since studies have shown that it may reduce children’s risk of becoming overweight
- actively promote anti-obesity programs in the communities, especially the schools. Encourage daily phys-ed programs that focus on personal fitness rather than team sports.
To these suggestions I would add:
- eat meals as a family so that the nutritional content can be monitored
- avoid eating out except as a very rare treat
- take the kids hiking, biking, swimming or cross country skiing as often as possible.
Parents must wake up to the fact that their children are not nearly as active as they should be and take steps to promote a healthy lifestyle. Otherwise the pediatricians are predicting a huge upswing in obesity related diseases, including diabetes and heart disease as these inactive kids become adults.