Parents: Stop Kidding Yourselves That Anyone Else Is To Blame For Your Child’s Obesity
The urge to begin this article with a pun describing the “growing problem of childhood obesity” is almost overwhelming. But I won’t, because as much as I appreciate a pun, nothing pisses me off quite like seeing overweight or obese children. The sight genuinely makes my blood boil, because as a parent myself, I struggle to fathom how any so called “parent” could allow their child to become overweight or obese. Is it not common knowledge that being overweight is actually pretty bad for you?
One of my favorite things about writing is that inspiration can come from the most unexpected of places. I was chatting with my neighbor as our kids were playing outside, when he made a comment about my son and that his height and build make him look much older than two years old. He’s always been a tall boy and I’m lucky that he’s not a fussy eater, he’ll eat anything that is put in front of him, including his greens! While we were on the subject of children, he showed me a photograph of his four-year old nephew. If I hadn’t have known better, I would have guessed he was at least seven-years old judging by the size of him. There’s no doubt his body mass index would easily put him into the category of an ‘obese’ child. His weight has become such a serious concern that his mother has had to put a padlock on the fridge door, to stop him helping himself to food. The notion of having to lock food away to stop my children from eating so much made me wonder, how can a child have developed such an unhealthy relationship with food at such a young age?
Ask any parent and I guarantee they’ll tell you that kids are like sponges. They absorb everything, the good and bad. By the time a child reaches the age of five, they have developed 85% of their core brain structure. In these formative years, a child’s brain is so adept at absorbing information that an adult brain would take sixty years to absorb and retain the same amount of information.
As children, our parents are our primary influences. They are our role models, we learn almost everything from them until we start school. Eating habits are no exception. Children who watch their parents eating predominantly unhealthy foods, eating excessive portion sizes, or not remaining physically active are much more likely to mimic these behaviors. Are any of us truly surprised that children are getting heavier, if they’re watching Mum and Dad go back for second and third helpings of trifle at Sunday lunch? I won’t lie, when my neighbor showed me the photograph of his nephew, my first thought was “I bet his parents are big.” Maybe I’m stereotyping, but I was right. In these exact words, my neighbor described his sister, the aforementioned “padlocker of fridges” as “a bit of a unit herself.” Case in point.
It’s no coincidence that parents who are overweight or obese are more likely to have children who are also overweight or obese. The Health Survey for England 2017 found 28% of children of an obese mother were also obese, compared with 8% of children whose mother was not obese or overweight. 24% of children of an obese father were also obese, compared to 9% of children where the father was not obese or overweight.
According to the National Child Measuring Program, in 2016/17 more than one in five children were obese when they started school (aged 4–5). NHS data estimates that 28% of children in England aged between 2–15 were overweight or obese in 2016. Across the Atlantic, the figures paint much the same picture. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reports that the rate of obesity among those aged 2–19 in the United States is 18.5%, and 13.9% among children aged 2–5.
Babies aren’t born with unhealthy attitudes to food, just as they’re not born with the ability to do the Macarena. These are vital lessons (no, not the Macarena) that we learn from our parents at an early age, which resonate with us for the rest of our lives. That the figures show an increased number of children are already obese or overweight by the time they start school means the damage is being done at home, by parents who have more than likely grown up with unhealthy eating habits themselves, and are now passing these habits onto their children.
We live in a world where we love to blame others for our misfortune. We’ve all heard the stories of people trying to sue McDonald’s because they gained weight, but why stop there? Today’s generation of children live in an age of technology. Children in the United States spend on average 7.5 hours a day using computers and mobile phones, watching TV or playing video games, meaning less time is spent on physical activities. Should we blame the developers of Fortnite for causing obesity in our children, a consequence of too many hours spent playing their game and not enough time playing outside? Samsung manufactured the TV I let my children watch, shall I blame them if my kids get too heavy?
I’m well aware that there are other factors at work here beyond what any parent can control. The nutritional value of the food we eat has decreased drastically over the course of the last century. Foods we eat today have less nutrients as a result of food processing, the use of preservatives, and an increase in sugar, salt and fat content to make foods taste more appealing. Total Health report that we now consume more than twice the amount of sugar every year than our grandparents did. But just because more and more foods are processed, that doesn’t mean you have to give them to your children for every meal, does it? What you feed your children is your choice to make, as a parent.
Food and beverage companies spend billions of dollars on advertising every year. The golden arches of McDonald’s are possibly the world’s most recognizable brand logo, a result of decades of advertising. In the past ten years alone, McDonald’s has spent over $6 billion on advertising worldwide. They exist to make money, just as any business does, but they don’t grab you by the throat and force a cheeseburger into your mouth. It is your choice to buy their product for yourself or your children, no amount of advertising can make that choice for you.
Is it bad to let your kids have fast food every now and then? Of course not. My kids would eat Happy Meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let them. But they don’t, because they understand that it’s not good for them to eat that kind of food too often. They’re not allowed to eat sweets or chocolate during the week, those types of foods are only for the weekends, and even then they’re only allowed a few. That is something they have learned from their parents, a lesson they will (hopefully) remember as they grow older.
The lessons we teach our children in their early years are the most important. Whether it be learning their manners, or how to share and socialise, or even just the benefits of drinking a glass of water instead of juice. These lessons matter. Parents that neglect to teach them are neglecting their responsibility to provide their children with the skills and knowledge to make choices leading to a healthy, happy life. So don’t order that takeaway, have a home cooked meal as a family instead. Go for a walk or a bike ride instead of sitting in front of the television. The lessons we teach our children today are the ones that will shape their tomorrow. I don’t want my children’s tomorrow to have padlocks on the fridge doors. Do you?
Parents: Stop Kidding Yourselves That Anyone Else Is To Blame For Your Child’s Obesity
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