Causes of Childhood Obesity and How We Can Prevent It

...

Benefit

In 1998, Massachusetts started an initiative to promote a healthier lifestyle, and eventually evolved into a program now known to the public as the 5-2-1-0 (Learn More, n.d.). What 5-2-1-0 stands for is, “5 servings of vegetables or fruit increases fiber and antioxidant intake, 2 hours or less of leisure screen time allows more time for activity, 1 hour of daily activity maintains muscle mass, 0 sweetened beverages can lower calorie intake” (Learn More, n.d.). This program contains the foundation for a healthy lifestyle that children need to follow. The best way to incorporate all of these changes without making it feel like a massive overhaul to everyone in the family is by doing them gradually.

For some parents that work full time, it is too time consuming to prepare a five course meal for their families every night. However, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate recommendations that children do not need to eat a lot of protein, carbohydrates that are found in most main courses, and side dishes. In fact, the USDA MyPlate recommends that proteins be limited to, “1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered as 1 ounce equivalent from the Protein Foods Group” (United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.). The new MyPlate layout translates into is that children should have 20 percent of their plates served with fruits, 30 percent vegetables, 20 percent protein, and finally 30 percent grains. This makes it easier for the parents to make sure that they can easily prepare nutritional meals for their children.

[pic 3]

Figure 3: USDA MyPlate recommends that children are served 20% fruit, 30% vegetables, 30% grains, and 20% protein at every meal to help maintain a healthy diet.

Conclusion

Childhood obesity can be eliminated by making a few changes in our daily routines, and accept those changes fully. In the future, what we need to do to make sure that we secure a long healthy life for the children, is to start teaching parents, and the children about proper nutrition. Parents and children also need to learn how to prepare nutritional meals that are plant based instead of turning to junk food, and fast food restaurants to feed their children. Drink more water, and avoid high amount of sugary beverages. Also, parents need to make sure that they are limiting time for television, video games, etc., and encouraging children to partake in physical activities. When all of these changes are in place, parents will see their children slimming down; have more physical energy, less mental fog, and an overall increase in health. Children need their parents and caregivers to be more responsible for them, and to make the best choices for them, not to fill them with everything that they may want, and ultimately cause them to be unhealthy.

The children are the future of this country and we need to make sure that they have every advantage to living long and healthy lives. There are many ways for parents to make sure they provide children with the tools they will need to live happy, yet healthy lives. If parents take the time to prepare nutritionally dense, natural and plant based meals, and made sure that all children received adequate physical activity we could eventually eliminate childhood obesity in this country.

References

American Heart Association. (2015). Dietary recommendations for healthy children. Getting Healthy. Retrieved from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Getting Healthy/Dietary-Recommendations-for-Healthy-Children_UCM_303886_Article.jsp

Childhood Obesity Facts. (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

De Ruyter, J., Olthof, M., Seidell, J., & Katan, M. (2012). A Trial of Sugar-free or Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Body Weight in Children — NEJM. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1203034

Dietz, W., & Gortmaker, S. (2001). Preventing Obesity in Children and Adolescents1. Retrieved from

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.22.1.337

Franks, P., Hanson, R., Knowler, W., Sievers, M., Bennet, P., & Looker, H. (2010). Childhood Obesity, Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Premature Death — NEJM. Retrieved from

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0904130

Ludwig, D. S. (2010). Ending the Childhood Obesity Epidemic. Natural Food Merchandiser, 31(5), p.10-12.

McDonalds (2015, April). Mcdonald's USA nutrition facts for popular menu items. McDonalds. Retrieved from

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf

MVP Health Authority. (n.d.). 5-2-1-0 Where it began! 5210 Links and Resources on Getting Healthy and Staying Healthy. 5210 Challenge. Retrieved from http://dev3.gannettlocal.com/clients/wvp/content/learn-more

National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality Child Policy Research Center, and Child

and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (Ed.). (2007). Childhood Obesity State

Report Cards. Retrieved from

http://www.childhealthdata.org/browse/snapshots/obesity-2007?geo=1

Ogden, C., Carroll, M., Kit, B., & Flega, K. (2014). Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Retrieved from

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1832542

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Healthy eating tips. MyPlate. Retrieved from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/protein-foods.html