| |
| |
|
Parenting Information |
|
|
|
What Might Surprise You About Childhood Obesity
The formula is pretty straightforward: energy in/energy out. This is the term nutritionists use to describe the intended balance between calories consumed and calories burned. If the level of physical activity is not great enough to burn the amount of calories taken in, weight increases. If this imbalance continues, overweight and possibly obesity result. Given our fondness for fast food (an ever-growing fondness, due to ever-busier lives) and our tendency to "supersize," it's easy to imagine that caloric intake is the crux of the obesity problem. And certainly it is part of the problem, especially considering the quality of the calories consumed. (Recent evidence indicates that children get a full quarter of their vegetable servings in the form of potato chips and French fries!) But the greater problem lies with the second half of the equation: energy out. Studies both here and abroad have indicated this is true. The Framingham Children's Study, for example, found that preschool children with low levels of physical activity gained significantly more subcutaneous (beneath the skin) fat than did more active children. In another study it was determined that inactive preschoolers were 3.8 times more likely than active preschoolers to have increased triceps skinfold thickness (the best measure of obesity in children) in follow-up assessments. It's also been found that children who watch more than five hours of television a day are almost five times more likely to be overweight than children who watch two hours or less - with excessive TV viewing considered to contribute to 60 percent of the risk of obesity in children. More specifically, in the United Kingdom, while the proportion of overweight or obese children remained the same between 1974 and 1984, there was a marked increase in the following decade. The research, reported in the British Medical Journal, determined the change was due not to increased energy (calorie) intake but rather to a decrease in energy output. Studies in the United States have made the same determination. An increase in childhood obesity of 20 percent over the last decade (at least one in five American children is currently overweight) has occurred despite a decrease in overall fat consumption and little change in caloric intake. According to the authors of a research article appearing in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, there is one consistent observation that stands out among the studies of energy expenditure in young children. That unfortunate observation is that children under the age of seven seem to expend about 20 to 30 percent less energy in physical activity than the level recommended by the World Health Organization. Sedentary children? Obese children? Unfit children? They're all a fact of life in today's society. The sad irony is that in today's society we're more "active" than ever - in terms of "busyness," that is. Perhaps we should get busy becoming more active in the physical sense. Energy out is the key to maintaining an appropriate weight during childhood. As such, exercise (mostly in the form of active play) should be a natural part of the child's daily life - a habit as common as brushing teeth. Said Dr. Samuel Abbate, at a childhood obesity conference sponsored by the North Dakota Department of Health: "The consequences of denying the body exercise are just as severe as depriving it of food, water, or oxygen; it just takes longer to see the consequences." Rae Pica is a children's physical activity specialist and the author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Rae speaks to parent and education groups throughout North America. You can visit her and read more articles at http://www.movingandlearning.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Parenting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
From Childrens Stories to Study Skills: Help Your Children Succeed in School IntroductionAs a parent who wants the best for your children, there are undoubtedly many things that you already do every day to help your children succeed in school. The purpose of this article is to provide some practical ideas for you to try. A Little Love, Please? Article based on a friend's experienceI just wanted to share an experience I just had with my daughters, Yee Ting and Yee Sin.Yee Ting is three years old this month while Yee Sin is only one-month old. Discipline on My Mind I look out of the window as I am writing this. It is home time and mums are collecting their children from the local primary school. The Secret of Understanding Children It was a day that I will forever be etched into my being. My husband was out of town visiting his mother and I was parenting my two extraordinary children solo. Secret Of Your Genuis Child Here is a top secret to make your child genius or ot recognise his geniusness, it is as follows Graphology for Child development.:- Graphology is the science of understanding the human mind through person's handwriting. Muscle Pain And Children Do Not Mix I am in pain. I've been in pain all day. Simple Indulgences for September As the kids go back to school, you can go back to *you*.. Lets Pretend Children explore the world around them and learn through pretend play. With so many passive activities like watching TV and playing video games, we sometimes need to encourage our children to pretend play. Grandparents! Help Your Grandkids Do Math! This may come as a surprise.But despite all the advances in education, many kids still struggle in the math class. Child Abuse - Survey & Comments Beyond cases reported to authorities, little knowledge exists on the types, amount, and effects of childhood victimization. Through a national survey of adolescents, researchers examined the prevalence of sexual assault, physical assault, physically abusive punishment, and witnessing an act of violence and subsequent effects on mental health, substance use, and delinquent behavior problems. Dads, Handle your Kids Mistakes One of the most difficult parts of being a father is learning to accept your children's mistakes. It certainly can be easy to be loving, supportive, and helpful when your children are mistake-free, but most fathers who are paying attention don't find too many mistake-free periods of theirchildren's lives. 15 New Years and Holiday Resolutions For Parents Have you made your usual New Year resolutions? You know the resolutions where you turn over a new leaf to get fit, steer away from junk food and start a savings plan. While you are reflecting on past bad habits and setting new directions for your personal life consider taking stock of your parenting as well. Late Night Adventures with Your Children Vacations are fun ! Weekends with the family are nice. But, Late Night Adventures are "simply marvelous". Talk Your Child Clever Most parents can hardly wait for their baby to say its first word. This usually happens between the nine months and a year. Remember The Generation Gap? The techniques of managing relationships between parents and their children is as old as.. Teach Your Children About the Importance of Water The Flow of WaterWater is essential for life on the Planet, we all know this, water holds a very special place for us for that very reason. Some of us fish, some of us surf, some own a boat, some of like water features near our homes, some own swimming pools, but all of us drink water. How To Teach Your Children Self-Reliance and Potential Self-reliance and potential are two very important values that I'd highly recommend parents teach their children.Self-reliance refer to the acceptance of responsibility for and the consequence of one's own actions and performance. Why Wont My Teens Clean Their Room? Have you ever had this struggle with your teens? Did you get to the results that you were looking for? Did moving toward those results create an unexpected rift between you and your teen? Parents complain to me that when their teens won't do their chores and, as a result, they punish their teens, there is conflict and a damaged relationship. Parents say that they don't want their relationship with their teens to suffer. Surviving as a Single Parent Emotional OverloadMany single parents say they deal with a variety of emotional issues that you might describe as "extra baggage." Some examples include:? Self-pity? Depression? Guilt? Anger? Envy? Fear? Severe money problems? Loneliness and isolation? Frustration? ExhaustionThese issues present such a challenge because they undermine your daily functioning and emotional well-being. A Place For Everything: Its Childs Play What parent hasn't gone into a son's or daughter's room and wondered, "Where did I go wrong? How could I have created someone who creates such a mess?"At this point it is essential to recognize that not everyone is born organized, just as not everyone is born with a talent for art or mechanics. But anyone can learn the basic principles of organization given sufficient motivation and instruction.
|
Catalogue 4 Shopping UK offers thousands of low priced, top brand products in a variety of categories including fashion clothing, sportswear, DIY, electrical for home and garden. Remember it is often cheaper to shop via catalogue4shopping.co.uk than going direct, so bookmark us now (Ctrl +d) Enjoy your shopping. |
.jpg)
