Childhood obesity – Baggy pants – Nose rings and a – Tummy roll?

Each generation of young people has their fashions and signs of “I’ll do it my way” in their clothes, jewelry or hairstyles. But one trend is setting this younger set apart today: obesity. More and more of our kids and teens are getting “bellies,” flabby, and just plain fat at an age when they should be in their best physical shape.

Why? I think the answer is obvious. Junk food is too available for our young people. Mochas and burgers are usually just a 5-minute drive from the high school, so teens have access to empty calories throughout the day. To make matters worse, cafeterias offer fast-food type meals since they’re “going to eat them anyway,” not to mention that vending machines display their impulsive foods in many nooks and crannies of school hallways.

How do we fight this? How can a parent help their children avoid the slippery slide to poor health and obesity? Fortunately, we are seeing more and more cooperation in schools to eliminate vending machines and make better menus for cafeterias. But the first better obviously the choice is to teach them EARLY to make better eating choices. Help them see the benefits of healthy eating habits while they are young. As they get older, talk to them about heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, etc. and how they are a direct result of regular poor food choices.

When I was young, I remember seeing drunks slumped over on the side of the street downtown. My dad commented that the poor man made too many bad decisions and chose alcohol as the solution to the problems in his life. Alcohol has its way with a man’s life, slowly killing him unless he takes a radical turn.

So what does this have to do with junk food? It’s so relevant it’s scary. Doctors are finally making strides in both the research and diagnosis of diabetes (and the other big problem: heart disease). It is clear that these diseases are a direct result of our regular intake of junk calories. Sugar and its white cousins ​​are implicated as underlying causes of diabetes and heart disease, second cousins ​​to adult obesity. Sugar is slowly killing us just as surely as alcohol is killing drunks, unless we make a radical change… and STOP eating the food that is killing us.

Why don’t parents do the same for their children and their careless eating decisions? Why don’t we take them to the hospital CCU and long-term care wards to see the end results of eating too much sugar? Hey, we don’t even need to go that far. Fat, panting people surround us when we do our shopping. Why not point out (tactfully) that they, like the alcoholic, are on their way to a certain and miserable death?

Why not? Because we, as parents, are becoming victims of these diseases and, either through ignorance or carelessness, we suffer from early or advanced symptoms of these diseases. Junk food, empty calories that are making our kids fat, are the same forms of food that we ourselves are addicted to. It is difficult to admit that we are the cause of our children’s illness; that it is we who need to make a change – first.

But we can change! And we must do it as much for the good of our children as for our own. Let’s start by making better choices when it comes to eating both at home and when we are out. You know you’ll be hungry when you leave home, so plan on bringing some good food options. Almonds, dried fruit like raisins, fresh fruit, a small cooler with string cheese, bottled water or juice. Even a sandwich or vegetables on the rocks are a great option. If you know you want something sweet, plan on bringing cookies you’ve made at home or granola bars you’ve bought ahead of time.

The solutions are easy. The discipline is tough. Take one step at a time toward better food choices. Start today to take responsibility for improving the health of your children and young people. Give them a chance to live a long and healthy lifespan.

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