Can Parents Prevent Childhood Obesity?
Parents are key to creating an environment that promotes healthful eating and physical activity within their children. They shape their children’s dietary practices and physical activity through their own knowledge of nutrition, modeling of healthful eating practices, level of physical activity, and modeling of sedentary habits including television watching. The choices and practices of a parent are influential in their children’s development of lifelong habits that will contribute to normal weight or to overweight and obesity.
Parents are not the only catalyst in the rising number of overweight and obese children. With television commercials, billboards, and other advertisements that are geared toward the pushing of unhealthy processed and fast food choices on children it’s obvious that the parent is not responsible for all the blame. However, let us as adults and parents not succumb to an attitude of ignorance and helplessness. Don’t be the ill-informed parent at the mercy of the elements who can only be saved by the government enforcing taxes on sugary drinks, junk food, and processed/fast food advertisements. There are good and bad choices within every decision. Choose to be an example of health and self discipline, by showing your children how to maintain a healthy life. It is detrimental to not only theirs but your own longevity and quality of life.
There are three developmental stages in a child’s life that a parents food choices and activity level have direct effect. The first being gestation and early infancy, second, toddlers through preschool, third, middle childhood and adolescence. During all of these phases of a person’s life the parent/s are direct role models for the child and have control over what food options are available within the household. For these reasons it is extremely important that as parents we make healthful choices for ourselves and our children. Leonard Epstein offers three reasons for involving parents in obesity-prevention interventions. “First, obesity runs in families, and it may be unrealistic to intervene with one member of a family while other family members are modeling and supporting behaviors that run counter to the intervention’s goals. Second, parents serve as models and reinforce and support the acquisition and maintenance of eating and exercise behaviors. Finally, to produce maximal behavior change in children, it may be necessary to teach parents to use specific behavior-change strategies such as positive reinforcement.” (L. Epstein, 1996)
It is so important with all the technological advance to promote and model a healthy activity level. The amount of screen time a child spends per day has increased substantially over the last two decades. “Many studies have shown an association between screen time and increased adiposity in children. Evidence supports a number of different, but potentially correlated, mechanisms by which screen time may influence risk for obesity; these include exposing children to a greater degree of food advertising and thus potentially influencing their intake of energy dense, nutrient poor, snack foods, encouraging greater food consumption when children eat while viewing television, and impacting sleep quality or quantity.” (S. Anderson, C. Economos & A. Must, 2008) As parents we need to actively limit the screen time of our children and model a healthy daily activity level.
Parents have a crucial role at home in preventing childhood obesity, with their role changing at different stages of their child’s development. By better understanding ones own role in guiding their child’s food choices, activity/exercise level, sedentary habits, and ultimately weight status, parents can learn how to create a healthful nutrition environment in their home, provide opportunities for physical activity, discourage sedentary behaviors such as television viewing, and serve as positive role models on multiple levels. By doing so, as parents, we have the power to on only positively effect our lives but also the lives of many generations to come.
Refrences:
Epstein, L. (1996). Family-Based Behavioural Intervention for Obese Children. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 20, S14-21. Retrieved April 15, 2013, fromhttp://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/8646260/reload=0;jsessionid=aYCWkxnABaOlnxlhcu2t.0
Anderson, S. E., Economos, C. D., & Must, A. (n.d.). (2008). Active play and screen time in US children aged 4 to 11 years in relation to sociodemographic and weight status characteristics: a nationally representative cross-sectional analysis. Retrieved fromhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/366
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