Fat Kids...What's a Parent to Do?
Last week professional basketball player Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal launched this summers latest and perhaps
most unique reality television program. Shaq is taking on one of America’s fastest growing health concerns,
childhood obesity. In addition to helping the kids exercise and eat right Shaq spends time lobbying politicians
on issues such as school nutrition. And this reality TV show is not an original; it is based on the British version
“Ian Wright’s Unfit Kids” hosted by former soccer star Ian Wright.
One might ask, “Is childhood obesity a big enough problem to warrant a reality television program on both sides
of the pond?” Answer… You bet it is! More than 10 million school-age children in the United States, about 18
percent, are now considered overweight. The percentage of overweight children tripled among adolescents
during the past 25 years, and nearly doubled for children ages 6 to 12. This increases kids’ risk for adult heart
disease and diabetes, lowers life expectancy and creates additional health care costs.
What can parents do? Here are 6 easy ways, based on recent research and some common-sense, that
parents can protect their kids from obesity.
At Meal Time…
1. Serve up smaller portions at home and chose restaurants that provide the same. And for heaven’s sake
Don’t Super-Size the meal or you’ll super-size your kid!
2. Reduce variety at meal time. That’s right, I said, reduce the variety. When eating a regular diet that includes
a limited range of choices kids palates get bored and satiation is reached more quickly, therefore overeating
becomes less likely.
3. Cut down on treats. Every where you go, the grocery store, video store, even the hardware store, candy
and soda machines abound. Learn to say no. Let the kids know before you go that they will not be getting a
treat. This will be tough at first, but they’ll get used to it and you will not have to be caught off-guard and
tempted to give in.
Change Habits…
4. Require active outside play before TV and video games. Just simple outside play such as shooting baskets,
riding bikes, and jumping on the trampoline make a big impact! When kids get outside, they get into it, play
hard, and slim down.
5. Get to bed earlier. Sounds unlikely but there is some evidence that children who get to bed late and sleep
less weigh more. Experts recommend that children in pre-school sleep between 11-13 hours a night, and
school-aged children between 10-11 hours of sleep a night. A comparison of the two surveys revealed that
kids now go to bed, on average, at about 10:15 p.m. That is half an hour later than in 1985. Interestingly,
children have been getting fatter during just that period. Scientists have proposed that sleep deprivation ramps
up the appetite by messing with levels of two hormones, leptin and grehlin.
6. Cut down on TV. The obvious one here is that watching TV reduces physical activity, but this suggestion is
about advertising. The advertising industry spends $12 billion per year on ads targeted to children through
media such as television and the Internet. The average child is exposed to more than 40,000 TV commercials a
year. Reduce the hours watched and you reduce the number of messages received about sodas, candy, and
fast-food.
Parents make the difference. By making small adjustments in your child’s daily habits now, you can insulate
them from obesity related health problems in the future. You can do it!
