The Circle Magazine - Lifestyle - Health

Due to information, which saturates us on a daily basis through the media, Americans have an appallingly warped sense of what is healthy and how to achieve this ever-elusive “health”. Many advertisers tell us, “It’s not your fault that you’re overweight. Diet and exercise are not enough. You need to take Adepex-P or Lonamin to suppress your appetite or undergo Gastric Bypass surgery to correct the problem.”

When did it become acceptable to reach for a bottle of pills labeled Zantryl or Phediet or undergo Liposuction rather than eating moderately and/or taking a walk around the block? We exist in an age where parents enroll their ten-year-old, three hundred pound children for gastro bypass surgery claiming, “We don’t know how he got so large.” Please – the child is ten; you are the one providing them with the food and beverages they consume. It is your responsibility, as the guardian, to demonstrate a healthy lifestyle and provide healthy food for them to consume. And there are easy solutions available to you and your child.
According to a report by the NPD Group – a leading market research firm based in Rosemont, Illinois – 34% of children and 66% of adults in America are overweight. An adult is classified as overweight if they are one or more pounds heavier than a healthy weight, while those who tip the scale at thirty or more pounds above a healthy weight are classified as obese. Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, “Obesity has doubled since the late 1970’s.”
There is no disputing that overeating puts an individual at greater health risks. In an article titled, “Epidemiologic Trends in Overweight and Obesity”, authors CL Ogden, MD Carroll and KM Flegal cite, “Obesity in adults is associated with excess mortality and excess risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, gallbladder disease, certain cancers, and osteoarthritis. Overweight children often become overweight adults, and overweight in adulthood is a health risk. Although childhood overweight may not always result in excess adult health risk, immediate consequences of overweight in childhood are psychosocial and also include cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and abnormal glucose tolerance.”

Teaching your children healthy alternatives need not be painful it can be as simple as:

Park your car a little further from the store.
Have your children engage in outdoor play for at least an hour a day when home.
Ask your children what fruits and vegetables they like to eat, and make them available as healthy snacks.
Offer baked chips or crackers vs. other fatty or sugary snacks.
Encourage our children to grab a piece of fruit to eat on the go.
Limit the amount of time your child spends on the computer, watching television or playing video games

Adding these alterations to your daily routine will set a better example for
your children and encourage them to live a healthier lifestyle.
Future articles will include information, which you can use to help educate yourself
and solve this problem. Look for:

Burn 500 Calories When Shopping
Fool Kids Into Healthy Eating
Do Fast Food Chains Offer True Healthy Choices?
Are The “Healthy Alternative” Foods found On the Store’s Shelves Better For You?

(Book) Discovering Nutrition written by, PM Insel, RE Turner, and D Ross
(Article) Adolescent’s views of food and eating: Identifying barriers to healthy eating written by, C Stevenson, G Doherty, J Barnett, OT Muldoon, and K Trew www.sciencedirect.co