Children and Obesity

It’s no secret that America is the fattest country in the world or that obesity is the second leading cause of avoidable death. There are hundreds if not thousands of articles dedicated to this growing trend. Why? Because it’s not only affecting adults but also our children! More and more children are falling into the obese and even morbid obese range. It’s scary to think that they can lose their life because of something avoidable, before they even begin to live.
Obesity among children between the ages of 6 and 11 has tripled since 1980! According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 16% of kids 6-19 years of age are overweight or obese. In the past 3 decades the obesity rate for preschool children (2-5 years old) has more than tripled! These children have a 70% chance of being obese, morbid obese or super morbid obese adults.
If those statistics don’t scare you then the health problems associated with obesity should.

Children who fall into the overweight, obese and morbid obese categories may suffer from:

· High blood pressure

· Sleep Apnea

· Insulin Resistance

· Type 2 Diabetes

· Bone and Joint Problems

· Tendency to Mature Earlier (overweight kids may be taller and more sexually mature than their peers, raising expectations that they should act as old as they look, not as old as they are; overweight girls may have irregular menstrual cycles and fertility problems in adulthood)

· Depression

· Social Anxiety


These are all serious problems that can greatly inhibit your child’s health and life as a whole! It’s important that parents understand that this is a serious problem and not something that all kids will outgrow or over come on their own. This isn’t a problem that can be solved with fad diets; it’s a problem that can only be resolved with support from friends and family, proper nutrition, and proper exercise. The best thing for these children is to form a team of specialists including a pediatrician, nutritionist, and certified trainer that specializes in youth fitness.
There are now clinics and boarding schools opening up around the country that specializes in solving this problem. One such school is the Wellsprings Academy in California and South Carolina. The Wellsprings Academy has been featured on several shows such as Dateline NBC, CNN, and the Today show. All the programs are designed for children, teens, and young adults ages 11-24, students at the Academies demonstrate the best documented outcomes of any non-surgical weight loss intervention for any age group. They have helped hundreds of children lose weight and transform their lives without surgery. For more information on the Wellspring Academy’s visit their website at www.wellspringsacademies.com.
Like the song says “The children are our future”, but they won’t have much of one if they continue down an unhealthy path. As adults, members of a community, and parents it’s our duty to help these children and teens learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. To learn more about childhood obesity log on to www.cdc.gov (The Center for Disease Control).

Motivation

Trying to lose weight and eat healthy is easier said than done! Everyone who has tried to lose weight has most likely had a problem, even personal trainers, with lack of motivation. There are going to be bad days, but sometimes bad days turn in to skipping a workout session and then skipping a week of workout sessions. When this happens bad habits start to show themselves and we fall back into our "comfortable" lives. It's not until we realize that the weight that we did lose has reappeared around our waist with a couple extra dimples in our thighs that we finally begin to exercise again.

Here are five ways to stay motivated and have fun!

• List your Goals. This means to write them down, big and bold, and post them in a place where they can be seen daily or twice daily if need be.
  
  
• Take a "Before" picture, then cut out a picture from a magazine, one that will represent what you want your "After" picture to look like and post them it next to your goals.
  
  
• Hold a "Biggest Loser" contest at work or with your friends. Set a time limit (like a month or two), you can hold weekly challenges (like taking a Ropes Course or having a trainer hold a Boot Camp just for your group), and have everyone put in 10-20 dollars (this will be the prize money, and who ever loses the most weight at the end of the given time will receive it!)
  
  
• Hold a contest with yourself! Set a goal, like "I want to lose 20-25 pounds in 3 months" and put away 40-50 dollars every time you get paid in those three months. If you reach your goal take the money you've saved and go shopping! (You'll probably need smaller cloths anyway!)
  
  
• Start a support group. Get together once a week and discuss nutrition, current diet trends, and exercise with people who are also trying to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles.
  

I hope this helps. I have personally done number 4 and having a shopping spree as a reward is so much fun and defiantly rewarding when I can buy cloths that would never have fit before!

How do you stay motivated? Leave a comment and let me know.