In an effort to help combat the continued problem of childhood obesity, the University of Minnesota recently reviewed the techniques schools and parents use in dealing with overweight children. They found that most of the current techniques don't work.

"University of Minnesota researchers who study adolescent health found that parents who correctly perceived their kids as overweight tended to use only one strategy - advising them to diet. But five years later, those kids were far more likely to still be too heavy than were overweight kids whose parents had no idea they were fat and did nothing."

The findings have prompted researchers to suggest that parents encourage their children by modeling a healthy lifestyle. As a family, go for walks, take bike rides, or even work out together. And try to cook healthy, nutritious meals at home together, too. Source: The Truth Newspaper - Elkhart, Colorado.

Labels: encouragment, enviroment, parents

Richard Louv's new book Last Child in the Woods is a call to return to nature. Too many kids, he says, spend too much time in organized sports and in front of a TV or computer screen, and not enough time enjoying nature.

"Evidence is mounting in support of getting kids back outside. Pioneering teachers are now experimenting with outdoor classrooms, where children spend part of their school week interacting directly with the environment... Louv reported that these children perform better across the board, from math and science to standardized testing, than do the students stuck inside."

Louv goes on to say that the environment would also benefit greatly if kids spent more time outside. Kids are much more likely to become "environmental stewards and advocates" if they're consistently experiencing nature. Source: OregonLive.com.

This summer join your kids at summer camp! Wellspring offers a Family Camp that teaches parents and children how to control their weight by eating properly and exercising.

Labels: enviroment, nature, outdoors

American children and teenagers are growing up in an environment that encourages obesity, according to an extensive study at the University of Illinois/Chicago.

Researchers analyzed over 200,000 food advertisements, food choices in middle and high school cafeterias, the numbers of fast food restaurants near where young people congregate, the availability of physical education classes and other factors. They concluded, "The general environment is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle." For example, over 65% of middle schools and 84% of high schools offer sugary soft drinks, and only 20% of 17 and 18-year-old teens took physical education.

"Historically people have thought of obesity in terms of individual willpower, but there is a great abundance of environmental influence that contributes as well," said Dr. Lloyd Johnston. "Communities and schools need to look at what they are doing and try to improve it."

This study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Labels: enviroment, healthy_living, influences