Two important things parents can do to change the childhood obesity epidemic

The following is a repost from Stanford School of Medicine's Scope blog:

Following a controversial commentary published last week in the Journal of American Medical Association, the ever-growing childhood obesity epidemic is once again the subject of many headlines and roundtable discussions. Today, as a guest on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, Stanford pediatrician Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, took on the issue and responded to listeners’ calls and e-mails. Many parents, he said, don’t know how to solve their child’s weight problems – and some don’t know how to identify if their child needs help in the first place.


Robinson, who runs the Center for Healthy Weight at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and serves on the Institute of Medicine’s standing committee on childhood obesity prevention, says the most important thing for parents is to set a good example, and he offered up two simple suggestions: Turn off the TV and don’t bring foods you don’t want your children eating into the home. “If you know that they shouldn’t be drinking sodas all the time… then you shouldn’t have them in your home,” Robinson said.

A great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder

Kids in your life?  Read this!!  Eating disorders aren't always about body size or body image -- sometimes it's about feeling like life is out of control.  Here's a great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder.

“What I wish parents knew about eating disorders…”  by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on July 20, 2011

Exercise Guidelines for Toddlers

Do you think this is actually going to work?  Do you think new guidelines will give parents the knowledge it takes to raise healthy toddler's?

British government urging toddlers to ‘get physical’


Margarita Gallardo on July 11th, 2011
In case you haven’t heard, the British government – in an effort to combat childhood obesity – has just issued guidelines recommending that children under the age of 5 get at least 3 hours of exercise a day. The activities can be as simple as playing, walking to school, or lifting kettle balls like in the photo to the right. (Okay, just kidding about the last one).

The U.K. Department of Health is hoping that by encouraging such a fitness plan, toddlers will be encouraged to adopt healthier habits and minimize sedentary activities – like being in a stroller or playpen or in front of the television. Explained Maura Gillespie, head of policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, in a statement:

…It’s vital that parents introduce children to fun and physically active pastimes to help prevent them becoming obese children, who are likely to become obese adults at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.

Worried about your child's weight?

Here is one of the best posts I've ever read talking about the childhood obesity epidemic.  Please read it and see if this approach makes sense to you, too.

Kids and concussions

It seems like this has been in the new a lot lately.  Here is an interesting talk by a neuropsychologist working in the field of brain injuries.  Enjoy!

Vitamin D related to childhood obesity

Many of us are worried about what are children are getting, how much exercise they are getting, and how those things relate to their weight (and ultimately their health).

In walks a study from the University of Michigan, that takes a look at blood levels of Vitamin D and how it relates to weight gain. (Low levels indicate increased risk for weight gain).

The best source of Vitamin D is when our bodies are stimulated to manufacture it's own Vitamin D by exposure of the skin to sunlight.  So here's my question:

Are the kids with lower levels of Vitamin D the ones spending most of their time inside (as opposed to outside playing in the sunshine)?  It seems possible to me that if we sent our kids outside to play more, their levels of Vitamin D would go up and their weight would go down due to the fact they were outside moving around!

Simple enough and a Win-Win situation.  Tell me what you think.

Click here to see the Science A GoGo article.

Call to ACTION

The other day I was listening to a report about some farmer/ranchers/ORV hobbyist out West who were concerned than an native endangered toad would cause the government to legislate how they could use their land in an effort to save the endangered toads' habitat.  Their fear was the government would step in and tell them no more off-road riding, no more ranching, etc.

In an effort to stop the government from doing this, land owners got together and figured out how to create habitat for the toad population in a way that would let them still use their land like they wanted to.  And it worked!  The toad population is on the rise!

The real point I want to make here is the "why" of why this worked.  It worked because people took action together.  They created a tribe of people interested in tackling this problem...now!  People are powerful when they rally together and act -- most of the time we just need a place to come together and get to work.

If you are concerned with our rising inactivity and how our behaviors are effecting our kids -- here is your rallying place.  Sound out and leave a comment.  Let others know your out there and you have the will to take action on this problem!  Today. Let's move (literally) on this today!!!

What we can learn from our Kids

I just read a wonderful article in the Atlantic about how some schools are using creative (and dare I say common-sensical) presentations to get our kids to choose healthier food options instead of the cookie and chocolate milk stand-bys.

Maybe we should consider like-minded changes for our own homes, too.

Great news for our kids!

Young teenagers who play sports are found to be happier with themselves and their worlds!  Great news for parents!

Click here to read the article and study results!

Good news!!

Want your child to be smarter?  Get them moving!!  A recent study found that kids who were better at utilizing the oxygen they breathe (THE measure of fitness), had better developed parts of the brain that control memory and spacial relations (the hippocampus) -- 12% larger than unfit children.

Perhaps we are cutting funding to physical education classes prematurely.  Perhaps we should think about how much time kids get in front of the TV.  Perhaps they should be outside running around -- building up their fitness levels so they can grow the brains they need to do well in life.

Sports drinks do not mean health drinks

Okay, this is a pretty big no brainer if you take time to think about it.  There has been a ton of research recently about perceptions of food based on the context it is presented to the consumer.  (Think "anything at Subway must be healthy because Jerod lost a bunch of weight and it's slogan is "Eat Fresh") -- so not necessarily true!

This next study talks about sugar-sweetened sports drinks, who's drinking them, and how much they are drinking.  Many times, kids are presented with these drinks as "Healthy Options" to soda because they are related to sport -- again, not necessarily true. 

Sports drinks do have large value in certain situations -- those who have lost salt and water (whether athlete or senior citizen) can benefit from the replacement factor sports drinks offer.  But if the kids are just drinking them instead of water when their shleppin' around school, then need to know it's the wrong tool for the job.

Do you want to be part of the solution ???

Jamie Oliver has thrown out a challenge to the world -- How can we engage our kids to like/LOVE fresh, real, whole foods -----




Do you have a great idea?  Do you need some good ideas for your own home?  Help the world or let the world help you....click here!

Kids and body image

Alright....  The kids are back to school and the control parents seemingly had during the summer about who their kids were seeing and interacting with is now completely gone.  According to the news, our kids are back in school with bullies, drug seekers, kids having pre-teen sex, and just about all the bad influence  nightmares a parent could have.  We also know that adolescences is a hard time for kids to adjust to their growing, changing bodies -- especially for girls.

I have some good news and I have some bad news.  The good news is there are ways a parent can help kids make it through this age without developing many of the body image issues that plague our society.  The bad news is the help that is out there seems not very helpful when faced with the enormity and lifelong consequences for our beloved kids.

A leading psychologist gives the advice that we should help our kids fight the tendency to gain weight as a means of helping them with body image issues.  The advice seems logical in the "well, duh!" kind of way.

But is that helping them deal with the real issue of liking who they are -- or are we merely keeping them in parameters that help them not become what they (or we) fear?  Yes, I want kids to get more time playing and moving -- that is a healthy choice for all of us.  But rather than weight, should we be teaching our children to focus on the choices that really matter in life?  Like putting effort into their school work, working hard on the debate/soccer/yearbook activities they are involved in?  And then helping them gain an appreciation for how much easier they can participate in debate/soccer/yearbook/etc when their bodies are healthy and well-fueled?  Their (and our) lives are made better by a body that has been well cared for  -- and with some teaching, those choices can seem obvious and easily made.  And then, perhaps, body image wouldn't be such a big deal.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810025239.htm

Pro-Ana???

This weekend, I learned something I didn't know.  I guess it shouldn't surprise me but there are sites on the Internet that help and support people to stay anorexic and bulimic.  There are forums, information, and support for those struggling to stay super-sickly thin.

I guess it shows the power of the Internet that no matter who you are or what is important to you, you can connect with like-minded people. 

I struggled with writing this post -- on one hand, you don't have to talk to me for more than 8 minutes before you will probably get the sense that I am extremely passionate about empowering people for greater health.  Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia (pro-bulimia) sites, although empowering to their members, are not empowering them for greater health.  I don't really want to raise awareness of these sites for the people seeking them -- but... they aren't really my readers anyway, right?

So, Readers, the point of me blogging this news to you is that this is something to be aware of.  If you have adolescent kids (boys are at risk too), it bears checking out some of these sites so you can become aware of the language and kinds of support they offer -- if those phrases start popping up in your child's speech, it may be a sign that professional help is needed sooner than later.  Intervention sooner means healthier kids and fewer unproductive behaviors to relearn.

Burnout

Today at the Eating Coach blog, I talked about burnout (as it relates to chronic dieting).  Burnout it a pretty interesting topic because it takes over so much of the person's life and seems, at least sometimes, to be unrelated to objective measures of success (promotions, salary, success in relationships, etc.)

Especially now, as the economy is slow to come back and jobs are still precious, I am running across more people feeling trapped in their current jobs -- unable to move because they fear there is no place to move to.

On top of that, there is a relatively new study that says parental professional burnout is related to their adolescent children becoming burned out in school.  The study only cited the connection, it did not suggest a solution for the situation.  But I think it is worth the reminder (as a new school year starts) that we do bring our work home with us and if you are burning out, your kids are going to be picking up those feelings and learning those behaviors.  Just being aware of the connection might help break that cycle of burnout transference.