Childhood obesity is on the rise, and a lot of children are on the heavier side these days. Obesity at any age is a result of consuming a lot more calories than are being burned by the body. In order to burn the calories you are eating, you need to be physically active. A balance of healthy diet and activity is required to keep a person at a healthy weight. However, due to the boom in technology, many kids are spending their time playing indoors on their gadgets instead of going out to play in the parks or the field. This lack of activity, coupled with a high-sugar and high-carbohydrate diet, is resulting in childhood obesity.
The health of children depends on a lot of factors in their surrounding environment. These factors are largely based on how easily healthy food is available to them as well as the availability of unhealthy food around them. The role of parents and teachers is crucial in making sure the children opt for healthier choices and only use sugary food as treats. The market aisles are loaded with unhealthy snacks, and it is difficult for children to make the right choice. This is why they need the supervision of adults in making healthy meal choices.
Sugary diets spike insulin levels that initiate the storage of fats. When insulin levels are high, the body is in storage mode and, as a result, cannot use the already stored fat as fuel. It is important that parents understand the role of insulin in the health of their children. If children continually consume sugar-loaded snacks, the level of insulin will remain high in their bodies and they will continue to store fat, which will eventually lead to childhood obesity. In order to burn fat, the levels of insulin need to be brought down, which can only be done when they eat a diet largely based on healthy, whole foods that have no added sugars in them.
It is crucial to understand that the fast food items that make up the majority of the meals found in school cafeterias convert to sugar as well. This is another factor that promotes childhood obesity. As a result, it is safe to say that when kids eat a majority of their meals outside the house, or even if the meals they eat at home are coming from packages, they will continue to gain weight until they are in the category clinically known as “obese.” With the intense marketing that is being done to achieve just that, to keep children asking for more fast-food meals that are designed to be addictive, it will be challenging to get the children to adopt healthy habits.
This is where parents need to step in, monitor the meals that are being consumed by their children, and instill the importance of healthy eating in them. By teaching kids to enjoy healthy meals and getting them to see unhealthy foods as treats, this crisis can be controlled before it is too late.
