Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

Parents contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic by not being interested in their children's losing weight and by being overweight themselves, according to a survey of Canadian pediatricians. The doctors told researchers that parents become defensive when they bring up the topic of their child's weight.

• Researchers from the University of Texas analyzed data from a survey of 860 Canadian children's doctors.
• The majority said that childhood obesity was a big problem, and yet only 20% said they had been successful in treating it in the past.
• The doctors told researchers that overweight parents have a "skewed" idea of what a healthy weight should be. Parents also prefer to ignore the issue as long as their child is happy and well-adjusted.

"We see a lot of moms and dads who say they want their kids to be happy, they don't want them to be teased, they want them to be able to keep up with the other kids," said Dr. Geoff Ball, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and director of the Pediatric Center for Weight and Health at the Stollery Children's Hospital. "If those things have not happened or if families haven't been tuned in on those things, when a doc says, 'Your kid is obese and you need to do something about it,' that might not even register because nothing negative has happened in the functional realm yet."

The study appears in Child Health, the journal of the Canadian Pediatric Society.
 

Labels: prevention, canada, parents, pediatricians

Posted By: My Overweight Child 1 Comment

Do parents actually discriminate against their own children who are overweight?

A new study from the University of North Texas found that parents help their slim children buy cars and pay for college more often than they help their overweight brothers and sisters.

The research team took out factors that could influence parents' choices to provide financial help, such as parental income, a child's gender, and whether the child had been in trouble with authorities. Heavier children were more likely to pay for their own automobiles and their educations.

The study appears in the journal Obesity.

Labels: childhood_obesity, parents

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 2 Comments

Forty percent of the food the children eat has little or no nutritional value, according to a new study from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.

"This number is staggering and depressing," said Professor Kelly Brownell of Yale University.

The study found that half of the calories that children ages 2 to 18 year old consume every day come from six foods:

1. sweetened soda
2. sugary fruit drinks
3. grain desserts, such as cake, cookies, and doughnuts
4. dairy desserts such as ice cream
5. pizza
6. whole milk.

Soda with sugar accounted for ten percent of their daily calorie intake.

"High added sugar consumption, which occurs most commonly in the form of sugar sweetened beverages, is associated with a constellation of cardiovascular risk factors and the development of obesity," said Dr. Rae Ellen Kavey of the University of Rochester's Medical Center Department of Pediatrics.

The study appears in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association
 

Labels: diet, nutrition, junk food

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 3 Comments

In a Nov. 13 column on the website of the Arkansas News, columnist Micki Bare took exception to new laws in San Francisco that were designed to help reduce rates of childhood obesity:

If a fast food restaurant in San Francisco wants to include a prize, the meal not only has fall below the 600-calorie ceiling, but also must include fruits, vegetables and drinks that are low in sugar and fat.

While I can see the rationale behind the legislation -- super-sized children are the rule these days, rather than the exception -- I believe the passing of the new ordinance to be rash as well as inconsistent with core American values.

Freedom to ruin our health and the health of those around us has a strong history in our country. It is firmly rooted in our constitutional freedoms and nourished by the very capitalism that built this great nation.

Are health initiatives such as this one an attack on U.S. freedoms -- or are they a necessary regulation on companies who are contributing to deteriorating health statistics among our nation's youth?

Labels: fast food

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 1 Comment

While one section of the federal government is taking steps to reduce the nation’s troubling rate of childhood obesity, the president of Florida’s Fruit and Vegetable Association says other government efforts are threatening to undermine the nutritional value of school lunches:

The Obama administration recently celebrated National School Lunch Week by highlighting its efforts to improve child nutrition, combat childhood obesity and encourage schools to participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s HealthierUS School Challenge, an initiative that recognizes schools for excellence and physical activity. The challenge is a key element of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign to end childhood obesity.

Unfortunately, in another part of Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is hatching water mandates that threaten the lunch program. Access to fruits and vegetables children need for healthy lifestyles could soon be limited because of expensive water mandates EPA is set to impose on Florida.

The full text of the article by Mike Stuart may be accessed here.

 

Labels: schools, lunches

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

In a Nov. 15 column on Tennessean.com, the CEO of Nashville Public Television called upon state leaders to make a more concerted effort to combat rising rates of childhood obesity

We all know that children need to eat a nutritional diet and get plenty of exercise, but we also know, as we do with tobacco use, that as a community we have a personal responsibility to our children that demands our leadership.

Important work has already begun in a number of areas, from the state to the local level, from foundations to individuals, but the work must continue. Together, we must look at the policies, systems and communities surrounding these children that have allowed this epidemic to take shape and thrive. …

We'd never question the detrimental health effects that smoking can have on developing lungs and young bodies. Why don't we question the obesity-related illnesses that a generation of obese children is facing, including heart disease, stroke, asthma and certain types of cancer? The time is now, Tennessee, to take childhood obesity seriously and to decide to turn it around.

The full text of Beth Curley’s commentary may be accessed here.

Labels: childhood_obesity

Posted By: My Overweight Child 1 Comment

A new study conducted by the IBM Corporation found that employers are in a powerful position to positively affect the health not only of employees, but employees’ families.

“In 2008, IBM launched an Internet-based ‘children’s rebate program’ that let employees and their families choose from a selection of goals revolving around healthy eating, group physical activity, reduced ‘screen time’ and positive parental role-modeling. A $150 check was offered as incentive to complete the 12-week program.” - Source: Reuters

Of the more than 22,000 employees who signed up for the program, about 12,000 completed it. On average, children whose families participated in the program increased their physical activity by 16 percent. Screen time was reduced by 6 percent – not a lot, but an improvement none-the-less. IBM believes its model could be just as successful in other corporations, both large and small.

Labels: wellness, families

Posted By: My Overweight Child 1 Comment

Insurance companies can charge obese clients more money and they can deny them coverage, but the majority of companies will not pay for treatments proven to help obesity. These treatments include bariatric surgery, medicine, and nutritional and behavioral counseling, according to a report in the Washington Post.

One major problem is that most doctors do not discuss weight issues with their patients or direct them into treatment programs. One-third of obese patients in a federal study performed by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality never received advice about exercise from their doctors, and one-third of the doctors never even told that they were overweight.

Another major problem in securing insurance coverage for obesity is that the condition is viewed as a moral problem or character flaw rather than an organic disease.

Some of this may change under new federal laws that go into effect in 2010. The new healthcare laws will require preventative medical services, as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. These new regulations may make it easier for obese people to gain medical help.

Medicare covers bariatric surgery for the morbidly obese, and many insurance companies may follow suit when the new laws will go into effect.
 

Labels: treatment

Posted By: My Overweight Child 1 Comment

In a Nov. 26 article on the website of Arizona news station ABC15, registered nurse and lactation consultant Doreen L. Connor reported that infants who are breastfed by their mothers are less likely to become overweight than are non-breastfed youth:

When we discuss the topic of childhood obesity, we need to start at the beginning -- when they are still infants.

According to a study published on the Centers for Disease Control website, each month a baby is breastfed, the odds of being overweight goes down by 4 percent, up to nine months. The results showed a 30 percent decrease overall in the chances the baby will be overweight, compared to a baby who is never breastfed.

Labels: prevention, mothers, infant

Posted By: My Overweight Child 1 Comment