Chilhoodhood obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chilhoodhood obesity - Essay Example When it comes to â€Å"Raising Healthy Children† (Purcell 46) parents must educate themselves about childhood obesity. Information on proper nutrition is given to parents, in some cases, at their childs first doctor visit. Parents are often shown the food pyramid as a guideline for healthy eating, and regular exercise is also recommended. Parents should limit buying prepackaged food because of their high sodium and sugar content, but instead should give a variety of fruits, vegetables, and as part of their child’s daily diet to supplement an active lifestyle. Children should be encouraged to try several healthy foods at dinner. Limiting and/or eliminating fast food from a child’s diet will help decrease the amount of unhealthy fat and sodium that are going into a child’s body. Portion control is also important in maintaining a healthy diet. Reducing beverages with high concentrations of sugar (Clabaugh, Neuberger 34.3) is also necessary in preventing child hood diabetes. Eating unhealthy foods and not maintaining an active lifestyle can lead to childhood obesity that can manifest itself as a broad range of medical disorders in the future. Children learn mostly through observational learning. Parents must eat healthy and exercise and the children will follow. Parents can start by having available fresh fruit that can be eaten year-round and eat health snacks. Interactive activity with their children can also lead to a positive self-image as well as a healthy lifestyle. Parents can refer to studies like (The Lifestyle Behavior Checklist:Morawska and Joughin.36.4) to see if their adequately reducing their childs risk of childhood obesity. Since childhood obesity has increased at an alarming rate, physicians are asking, â€Å"Do parents recognize this health risk?† (Etelson, Donald, Patrick, Brand and Anushree Shirali 1362). Children are likely to develop bad eating habits because they are exposed to them as children.