Childhood Obesity

Have you ever been at a public beach or pool where you suddenly realize how many of the children are just flat out huge? It’s actually quite shocking how many children and adolescents have excessive weight problems and it just keeps growing (no pun intended).  Why is that? How did this happen? What’s changed over the years?

A lot of blame is put on genetics but if that was the case the same amount of our ancestors would have had the same obesity challenges we do today.  Historically being “fat” was a sign of wealth, not a lifestyle many could afford. It would be far more realistic to attribute this phenomenon to things like unhealthy diets involving food-like meals and a far more sedentary lifestyle than ever before. 

Through no fault of their own many parents today were and still are latch key kids that fed themselves instant foods after school, usually most of them were/are microwaved and as a result their cooking skills today have not evolved much beyond that into their own adulthood, therefore their kids eat mainly processed foods as well and let’s face it, it’s far easier to cook from a box or order in if you’ve never really ran a kitchen before or have no time to learn to do that. Sadly, over time the consequences start to show up in our bodies in many negative ways.

There’s been some great studies out lately on the xenoestrogens from synthetic fabrics and materials, food containers and certain agricultural chemicals can compromise the development of a child’s mitochondria, endocrine and even respiratory systems all of which can cause obesity and complications of.  Toxic cleaners can also cause massive disruptions so I always encourage shifting to natural household cleaners and laundry products.  Then in our “foods” there’s growth hormones, food colorings, preservatives, excessive amounts of sugar and the list goes on.  All of these things separately or combined attribute in some form or fashion to the problem of obesity and related illnesses.

Overweight children often grow into an unpleasant adulthood of weight associated problems that lead to a wide variety of serious life threatening health problems like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, insulin resistance, liver disease, inflammation and even cancer. Then there’s the social and psychological side of it that also has a negative impact.  NOBODY likes to be overweight, fat or obese.  I know, I used to be 240 pounds, it flat out sucked and I too paid dearly in many ways.

Vitamin D deficiency and obesity have some very interesting relationships as well.  A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition back in October of 2010 concluded that the decrease in sun exposure/blood levels of vitamin D3 lead to an increase of body fat and that this deficiency of vitamin D3 was associated with a 0.1 point yearly increase in BMI, meaning a substantial 0.8 cm yearly increase in waist size compared to those with sufficient amounts of vitamin D3.  Over the years that adds up!

So what can be done? Family members, friends and those of importance and/or inspiration who are willing to be accepting, supportive and encouraging by gently introducing them to real foods, better eating habits and a gradual increase in exercise play an important role here.  Seeing as unhealthy eating patterns start at home it’s important to help the whole family learn to change their unintentionally destructive eating patterns that resulted in this over-eating of foods that are high in empty calories, bad fats and again, too much added sugar.  If none of your family or friends are able to offer this kind of support for whatever reasons, there are always groups you can search out, research that can be done through many search engines or talk to someone in person or online who’d love to help, or you can DM me or add yourself to my wellness center where you can learn at your own pace. (Link on the right somewhere).

What habits can be changed to help with childhood obesity?  Replace at least some if not all of your snack foods with healthy options and if you’re really new to this, start this process slowly otherwise you’re just setting yourself up for failure.  Practice a slow exchange of things like chips, cookies or ice cream with something healthier.  Do you like apples?  Bananas?  Yogurt? Any raw veggies?  Nuts?  Smoked salmon?  Salads?  Berries?  Avocados?  

So many foods to choose from and yes, I am subtly suggesting incorporating more fruits and veggies as you may have already picked up on.  As for the foods that are packaged, watch the labels as they can be loaded right up with sugars and carbs.  Many stop once they see little to no sugar on the label without looking to see how many carbs.  Carbs equals sugar!  So if you pick up a beverage or a can or box of something and it says 3 grams of sugar and 47 grams of carbs, that really means 50 grams of sugar!  Some go with a formula where you subtract the grams of fiber from the sugar and that’s your net carbs, but that can still be really high.  

Am I saying all sugars and carbs are bad?  No.  Simple carbs like white bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, breakfast cereals, cookies, candy etc are the equivalent of eating straight sugar due to their high glycemic levels.  Things like green salads, veggies, fruits, long grains and legumes for example are complex carbs with a lower glycemic index meaning they convert slowly into usable energy that keeps our blood sugars fairly even and stable instead of quickly like sugar fluctuations and spikes.  Eat the rainbow, it really is amazing!

Try to plan meals ahead of time, be it printing out a new recipe you’d like to try or an old favorite that you need to thaw something out for ahead of time. Plan and prepare, it helps and while making those decisions it’s important to keep emotions out of these choices as food should never be a reward or a punishment, instead it needs to be thought of as fuel for the machine you travel about on this earth with.  Would you settle for farm fuel for your $80,000 vehicle?  Probably not so enjoy each morsel as it fuels you and once the tank is filled, stop!  

Routine is a hard thing to stick to these days in our busy lives but if there was only one consistent meal it should be dinner with family and/or friends at the table if at all possible as this too encourages so much more than good eating patterns alone that are a necessity in life.  Invite a guest or another family sometimes!  Remember, we’re not living to eat, we’re eating to live.  What colors will be on YOUR plate tonight?