More than one-third of the children I see in my practice are obese. Granted, my practice is skewed because we deal with a number of problems in which obesity takes a major role, e.g. obstructive sleep apnea and extra-esophageal reflux disease (reflux from the stomach that comes up into the airways). At least twice a day, two days a week I spend significant time “counseling” children and their families about diet and lifestyle
Most people are clueless about the three prongs of weight management:
- What “healthy eating” means,
- What constitutes “exercise,” and
- What the schools are making available to their kids to eat.
Education, exercise and elimination of school snacks. Sounds simple Not so fast.
First we need parental education (and schools) about the basics of self-regulation of a child’s food consumption. And like everything in today’s world, self-regulation is thwarted by too many choices that tempt even the most resolute. Education about how we digest different foods, e.g. carbohydrates and proteins. Education about calorie consumption. Education about portion control. The number of blank stares I get when we talk about these basics is nothing short of discouraging.
When I bring up the issue of exercise the responses range from: “she has phys. ed. twice a week” to “he starts football in the fall.” Regular exercise is simply not on the radar of most kids and most families with obese children. My “favorite” excuses are “we don’t have the money to join a gym” and “it’s those video games, I can’t get him to stop playing them.” Ever hear of pulling the plug, or finding things around the house to cause children to be active, like chores? Maybe help with the cleaning?
But the most difficult and insidious problem is the food that is available to children at school. Many kids get both breakfast and lunch in school! Subsidized lunch programs have morphed into large profits for corporations. This is no joke, and this is a serious problem. We have to fight for elimination of snacks and drinks at school.
When the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation puts out a newsletter touting how the schools are going to be encouraged to provide “healthier” snacks in vending machines at schools, I know the battle is just about lost. Do kids really need snacks all day long? What happened to a good breakfast, a modest lunch, a small afternoon at home and dinner? What about water fountains? Small boxes of milk? One piece of fresh fruit?
The only winners are the vendors. It is a mistaken to think that children should be “snacking” every few hours. Aside from the calories consumed, this is time taken out of the educational day. The child then gets an “energy bump” and becomes easily distracted. And then we consider a diagnosis of ADHD and medicate him or her.
Eat less, eat right and exercise. Want to do the kids a favor? Make parent education mandatory, create exercise regimens that have a purpose to keep them responsible for their own lives, and eliminate the snack machines from schools.
Next post: Weight reduction strategies for children and their families.
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6 Comments
I feel a lot of sympathy for overweight kids. They are a product of their environment. The constant availability of food is a problem even when parents KNOW about healthy eating. Indoor playgrounds and museums have vending machine problem too. This particular health problem is going to take fundamental change on many levels.
Shirie, I totally agree with you. But first we have to have the parents really understand what this means and then get politically active in changing what is wrong, such as vending machines everywhere that make money for the schools and other places to “pay” for programs like gym so the kids will be healthy. It’s crazy. Thanks for writing!
As a parent of two young boys, I am constantly fighting the “status quo” at our local elementary school. Parents are not allowed to send in homemade snacks, so all snacks must be processed, pre-packaged food. This is supposedly in the name of preventing food-borne illness, but pre-packaged snacks are unhealthy and filled with sugar, fat, and chemical preservatives. I fought for the elimination of “class snacks” (where a parent brings large-scale snacks for the entire class rather than providing their child’s own food for the day). For now, I am able to provide my children’s individual snack and can send them with fruit (they are both of a healthy weight - though my younger son is tube fed due to other medical issues).
The elimination of recess (my children’s school has no recess in any form) is detrimental. Children are not sent outside to run, play tag, and invent their own games. While my children do get gym 4 days out of a six day cycle, the physical education program is short and includes activities like “cup stacking.” Yes, cup stacking. This is not a physically vigorous activity.
The school-provided lunches and breakfasts are abysmal. I have personally observed children pouring chocolate milk over Fruit Loops for breakfast in the school cafeteria. My children eat breakfast at home and I provide them with home-packed lunches. Fruit, yogurt, and a sandwich are much healthier than the ice cream most kids buy with their lunch money (often unbeknownst to parents).
Why can’t schools replace snack time with recess? I think everyone would be happier with this scenario (including the children).
Great comment. Recess is a whole other issue. Liability issues in some places, and the need to use the time to teach to the tests. Educational reform is much needed.
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