When your child is born, your probably never think that you’ll face obesity issues. Yet, here you are looking up information on teen weight loss camp and how to help your child lose weight. What happened? What went wrong?
It’s a blanket order to say that childhood obesity is because of all the junk food in our society and the sedentary lifestyles that our children lead. True, but not informative enough. There are some hidden factors behind this epidemic.
For one, the world is not as safe. When we were children, we often had the run of the neighborhood. Past learning to look both ways before crossing the street and adopting safe biking rules, our parents really let us out in the morning, expected us back by lunch and then out again until dinner. Our kids don’t have that luxury. Is it any wonder why they have so much "screen" time? What else are they supposed to do?
Secondly, super-sized, junk food advertising is a huge enemy to us and our children. The bigger, the better, right? The next time your child is watching something on television, sit down and write down the types of commercials you view along with your child. Any commercials for fruit and veggies? Did the ice cream commercial show a child with a normal sized cone or a huge dripping mass of ice cream larger than the child’s face?
So, what do you do? We need to find creative ways of offering up that physical activity. Team sports are great, but let’s face it, they are seasonal and usually take place only a few hours a week. Arrange "watch" time with other parents in the neighborhood. Maybe each of you could take a day to oversee the kids playing outside. Set up safety cones to slow down traffic.
Get your child into a fitness camp where they can play actively all day long, safely with other kids. Find activities in the house that involve more than sitting: Dancing, indoor obstacles courses, Wii Fit, active games like Hullabaloo.
As far as the advertising goes, remember that though you can’t control the media, you are still in charge of what your child eats. Down-size, don’t super-size! Take them to the produce section and let them pick something new to try each week. Let them know that fruit doesn’t come from a "fruit-roll ups" box. Try to eat dinner together as a family at least four times a week. Children learn what they live more than anything else! And above all, find creative ways of getting them away from that suggestive television!
