Childhood Obesity Problems

We’ve been lead to believe that avoiding childhood obesity is complicated and time-consuming, requiring a team of nutritionists, fitness experts, educators and even private investigators to ensure our children do as they’re told.

Professor Gary Egger of Deakin University and author of a number of books including “Gut busters” says the problem is we and our children are getting fatter. In the last 20 years Australians have been putting on weight at the rate of one gram a day. But we eat less than our grandparents did, so why all that extra weight? 

Prof Egger believes technology is primarily to blame. We have so many gadgets to do things for us that we have become lazy. In fact, we are using 800 calories less energy every day than we did in 1970.

“I don’t think the human body is ready for the technological revolution,” Prof Egger said.

Social factors are also contributing to this general slow down of movement, right from a child’s earliest years. Parents are more reluctant to let their children play too far from the home. Very often, a child’s world is limited to the house and a small backyard.

And the television and home computer appear to be nudging out tree climbing and other outdoor activities on the most favoured pastimes list. 

Prof Egger says the evidence suggests that watching television actually slows down our metabolism, making it harder to burn off the extra calories. The snack food advertisements on TV and the fast food culture are all adding to our growing girths too.

The good news is we don’t have to give up all our favourite foods and we don’t have to eat less. In fact, we can eat more, providing we eat differently, Prof Egger says. It is the high fat foods, the chips and peanuts, that we eat that make us put on weight. He suggests we increase our intake of raw fruit and vegetables and increase our physical activity.

Prof Egger isn’t suggesting we throw away our computers and techno games, after all that’s part of what’s making this century so interesting, all he’s suggesting is that we balance it all out. 

Sure your child can spend an hour on the computer, watching TV or playing video games but then make sure he/she is spending at least an hour running around kicking a ball, climbing trees, swimming, bike riding, playing chasings, rumbling, jumping on a trampoline or another fun, active game.

Prof Egger isn’t suggesting your child never eats ice creams or lollies, he’s just suggesting that those empty calories are just a very small part of a diet loaded with raw fruit, vegetables, nuts (where appropriate) and seeds, grains, lean meat.

Prof Egger suggests you educate your child about healthy eating, include them in food preparation wherever possible (most mums would be happy with that) and educate them on the healthful benefits of regular exercise.

The key message to all children and parents needs to be that we all need to balance out our calorie intake and energy output and make sure we have fun with both. ( By Ute Fumezux at www.child-educational-toys.com )