Overcoming the Challenges of Childhood Obesity and the Role of Schools

If you have a child who is overweight or obese, you know how frustrating the problem can be. The fact is that no matter what our efforts are at home, we are faced with a growing number of outside contributing factors to this problem.

One issue is that most children spend all day at school and parents have no ability to control what they eat. Most of their waking lives will be spent at school. When your kids are at school they also spend the majority of their day sitting down. This means that your kids will not be getting enough exercise. As a result of ongoing budget cuts, many children no longer have physical education every day. The educational demands on our kids have increased and this meant that the recess times have shrunk. Many local districts have cut physical education to once or twice a week and each session typically only lasts 20 minutes.

Combine this lack of physical activity with a poor diet, which is common at most school cafeterias, and the fact that childhood obesity numbers continue to grow should come as no surprise. Most cafeteria food has minimal nutritional value and is high in bad, refined carbohydrates. The healthy foods that are available (salads, for example) are not the kind of things that many kids opt for, and even though some meals include fruits and veggies, it often isn't "cool" to eat them.

The schools have to do what they can under budgeting circumstances and other important needs such as academics. The fact is that it is up to US to solve the problem. We may not be able to fix the problems at school, but there are solutions outside the school walls.

One great solution might be using summer weight loss camps for kids. There are many different types of fitness camps including after school programs, weekend, or even summer break weight loss camp. The goal of most of these programs is to teach children how to live their life healthily. The lessons learned at these programs should be life lessons that will serve kids and teens well throughout adulthood.

While weight loss camps can be perfect in many cases, it is also important that parents do what they can at home. Parents need to ensure that the food they serve their children is healthy and that they provide opportunities for their children to exercise. Encouragement is also important, as kids that have developed bad habits over the course of many years will be unlikely to make an instantaneous switch.

We may not be able to control everything that goes on at school, but we can make changes in our lives that your children will carry throughout their lives. When your children are grown and working a full-time job, their employers probably won't provide P.E. either. Teach them now how to incorporate exercise and healthy eating into their lives no matter what the circumstance!

1. Prev:The Link Between Body Fat Obesity And Cancer
2. Next:Help Your Child To Avoid Obesity