Fighting Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States - with about one in three children or teens overweight or obese. Here are some tips for parents to fight obesity in their kids.

According to a 2010 study, U.S. youth ages eight to 18 spend an average of seven hours, 38 minutes each day using entertainment media such as a television and computer.  A new Australian study finds that parents who can get their child to follow a physical activity skill development program and modify their diet can reduce their overweight child's screen time by nearly one hour per day.

 

 

.

Regular physical activity in children and adolescents promotes health and fitness. Compared to those who are inactive, physically active youth have higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and stronger muscles. They also typically have lower body fatness. Their bones are stronger, and they may have reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the less children exercise the more at risk they are at risk of obesity, but a new study finds that the most overweight and obese children are actually members of ethnic groups that are some of the most active.

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  Here are some suggestions on how parents can help prevent childhood obesity, promote healthy eating and physical activity, and increase awareness of childhood obesity among individuals of all ages and walks of life.

As the U.S. launches its first-ever National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month today, scientists say the problem may be even more widespread than was thought.  Researchers have found that parents tend to underreport their children's weight.  Estimates of obesity and body mass index (BMI) based on parent-supplied data may miss one in five obese children.

For American parents who want their kids to be fit, focused and feeling good, the first step is get them outside, according to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), which has just issued a health report, Whole Child: Developing Mind, Body and Spirit through Outdoor Play as part of the group's Be Out There ™ campaign.

New research in adolescents demonstrates that a protein-rich breakfast, containing eggs, improves appetite control and additional research shows that a higher protein diet may help obese adolescents manage weight.

On May 10, 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and members of the Childhood Obesity Task Force to unveil the Task Force action plan.  The ambitious goal of the plan: reduce childhood obesity to 5%, which was the rate before childhood obesity first began to rise in the late 1970s.

The first national, comprehensive plan to support and encourage physical activity among all Americans has been announced. A wide range of public policy recommendations across eight broad sectors, the National Physical Activity Plan is the product of a ten-month, public/private collaboration of experts in diverse fields. It goes well beyond just telling people to exercise to recommend policies, programs and initiatives that will change  communities in ways that enable all Americans to be physically active, and is, in part, an answer to America's alarming rates of adult and childhood obesity and decreasing levels of physical activity.