International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc.

[Ainsley]

Obese Children Are Society's Responsibility


By Ainsley W., Journalist/Associate Editor: The Fortress Newspaper


Childhood obesity has tripled in Canada since 1981. Continuing obesity in children is raising serious and costly health issues. Video games and electronics are made for a non-physical society; resulting in an overweight country, specifically in the younger population. A big part is society's reliance on fast and easy meals which has resulted in almost making a McDonalds a fixture at every corner. Society must reduce the factors contributing to obesity in children.

One third of Canadian children are overweight or obese. Diabetes is an existing issue in overweight children.It can either cause low or high sugar levels and can get better or improve, but never go away. Also, asthma is another health concern. It tends to happen when our lungs are overworked and for different reasons resulting in not being able to reach full lung capacity. Some heart problems are caused when eating too many saturated fat foods. This can cause the valves in the heart to clog, and then can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and many more issues resulting from not eating and exercising properly. Society can help reduce the one third of children that are overweight by setting an example for good eating and regular exercise.

Lack of physical activity has reached extreme highs. The solution is as easy as dance, a bike ride or brisk walk. Today's child is accustomed to sitting around playing video games and watching TV. Even walking to school has become a physical chore. The number of kids who exercise regularly decreased by fifteen percent between 1990 and 1998. There are so many things that children can do to have fun and exercise. For example, tag, ball hockey, jump rope, soccer in the park. Even though the rate of children not being physically active has increased, there is so much that can be done by society to influence healthy lifestyles.

Fast food restaurants are generally higher in transfats and saturated fats. How much can you get and how fast can you eat it? Seems to be today's meal questions. Sitting down for family meals almost doesn't exist in today's world. Eating fast food can raise your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer. From a nutritional viewpoint, eating fast food should be done maybe 1 - 2 times a year. Another issue is portion sizes. They have become bigger and bigger, especially at fast food joints. It is all about getting the most for your money, instead of what value you get for your money. You should make a choice to have lower fat milk or unsweetened fruit juice instead of pop which is full of empty calories. Have healthy snacks at home and school, like veggies and fruit. Kids love pizza, so choose vegetarian or hawaiian instead of the works. Have whole grain bread and lean meat like ham, turkey and chicken. Society must encourage children to want to make healthy choices.

Having a heart attack, a stroke, high blood pressure or diabetes when you were 20 years old used to be unheard of, but if society keeps going as it is, we will have a lot more to worry about than high blood pressure at 30. Society is fat. We are just going to get fatter if we don't quickly change something. A big issue is that society is too kind when we need to point out obesity problems and don't want to offend anyone. Society must reduce the factors contributing to obesity in children.