It is 9:45, you
are tired from the thought of work the next day, yet you are still ready to get
out of bed at a moment’s notice. You get up from your bed and move past your
significant other without them knowing. The hallway is the only thing that
stands in front of you and that loving refrigerator. It has always been there
for you and tonight it will be again. You slowly creep past your child’s rooms
in fear they might wake up seeing you in a different light for not sticking to
your diet. You turn the corner only to realize your child has beaten you to it.
He is face deep in the fridge and he is taking what is his. You position
yourself back into the shadowed hallway where you make sure he can’t see you.
The thought lingers like a morbid migraine. Is this my fault? Many parents are
faced without an understanding of what is in the products they buy, how they
were informed to feed their children, and also how advertisements have targeted
younger audiences as well as parents. With the epidemic of obesity on the rise,
how will we leave our children?
“In 1972, a Las Vegas businessman named Len
Frederick introduced a new kind of lunch. Instead of chicken or meatloaf,
carrots and a carton of milk, students could eat hamburgers, hot dogs and
French fries, and drink milkshakes or soda” This small change was the start to
an epidemic known as child obesity. The older generations didn’t deal with
child obesity as much considering many students walked to school, were in after
school activities, and limited themselves to few snacks. With technology
becoming a bigger part of our lives, video games, watching television, and
sitting at a computer have become normal now to kids. Not much movement is
happening with these younger generations. “Data from
2015-2016 show that nearly 1 in 5 school age children and young people (6 to 19
years) in the United States has obesity”. The rising number of children who are
obese in America is rising at an alarming rate and is only growing to this day.
“By 2030, 42% percent of Americans will be obese”. Only by looking into the
future, can we see how this will affect all of the United States.
Society is
affected in a variety of ways due to the growth of obesity. Obesity can lead to
many different complications such as: high blood pressure, sleep Apnea, heart
disease, stroke, and even cancer. These problems are becoming even more
serious, as the rate of obesity has risen. Many
By making bad eating choices as children my
parents are on many medications to keep their body alive and healthy. Although
signs of fat around the body can visually show obesity, people can be obese
without knowing it. My parents have all the signs of obesity without having
excess fat. The high blood pressure, the headaches from not enough sugar, and
the constant struggle to work out put my parents at risk. While they have never
been checked by a doctor for diabetes, the signs stay with them, and the
choices they made as a kid will follow them for the rest of their lives.
Another example
is one of my childhood friends. While others at school were out playing at the
young age of 9, he would always sit and watch us. He was never really active
and only got true joy in being lazy. Not much was thought of it at the time, by
me or my friends, but later it was revealed that he had diabetes and had to
watch his insulin intake. He wasn’t allowed to run around and play with the
other kids because we had not been to lunch yet. His insulin wasn’t taken
before recess and using too much energy to run could put him in harm’s way. We
all knew he wanted to play, but at our young age we did not put two and two
together and hardly understood why he didn’t. It seems that he had gotten used
to it, but the look on his face was pure shame. The whole class loved him and
wanted to see him smile, but what we got instead, was a kid who just wanted to
go home and hide.
Many parents do
not understand what to feed their children. “Although parents suggested several
ideas to promote healthy child weight‐related behaviors, many of their views
concerned perceived barriers, some of which may be amenable to practical
intervention”. Many parents who grew up in poor homes and are dealing with low
income now, end up spending less money on foods and products. Thus resulting
in, poorer quality of food. With both parents today working between one and two
jobs each, there isn’t much time to sit down and cook a full meal due to the
exhaustion. Understanding of what to cook for a healthier lifestyle is usually
the problem as these parents often don’t cook. So what do they do? They end up
buying frozen foods. Foods that have tricky key words such as lean, green, and
healthy, end up being bought, and cooked as healthy meals. Parents have little
time to look over what their children are eating and often miss them gaining
the pounds. To the parents surprise the obesity comes out of nowhere. What the
parents thought was lean and healthy product, ended up being calorie inducing,
fatty food. Although the toughest step is to change to a healthier lifestyle,
it is the first step when dealing with obesity.
The chances of
your child having obesity are at an all-time high and the numbers are only
growing. “Parents are targeted with that mindset, ‘Your kids deserve more” With
this mindset companies are targeting parents to buy their kids more. They know
the parents want, whatever will make their child happy. The tactics used by
these companies are ruthless and can even go after kids. Kids commercials and
child marketing are a hot topic in the US today. These kids cannot defend
themselves from the world of marketing, as they are too young, and can get
sucked into buying products just as easily as adults. With marketing in the
media today, many kids see foods they do not need, but end up buying them
anyway due to the ads that draw them in. The close up of the succulent burger,
the ice cold beverages, and the mouthwatering junk food is too much for many
people who end up chasing what they see. A solution to this problem is letting
them know how these commercials can affect their everyday life. By having talks
with your child when they are old enough, you can explain the harm these
companies do with the simple ads they place. You can limit how the child feels
about the commercial if you program them at a young age to not like these food
commercials. Children will take advice from a parent whether it is right away
or years down the road. This will likely lead them to feel a certain way about
these commercials and ads and could completely turn their point of view, from
loving them, to hating them.
It is absurd for
many to live healthy. “Just eat a veggie burger, a salad, anything green”, this
viewpoint from people who aren’t obese, can be harsh and irrational. There is
no leeway for these gym addicts trying to get an obese person in shape. You
must put yourself in the shoes of an obese person to truly understand how they
feel. You have to understand them in a different light. It is important to do
this so they will listen. Obese people can easily get offended if felt
threatened, and can back off a workout routine or healthy eating habits.
Nagging isn’t always good either, this could lead to a new reason for eating.
Obese people sometimes eat to prove others they can, to show that nothing bad
will happen after eating unhealthy.
Obesity is only
growing and the consequences of it are tragic. While there are many reasons to
obesity, there are always two things you can control; that is how much you eat,
and what you eat. Making sure you are eating a healthy amount of food can
easily regulate your obesity. As a parent you can always be aware of what you
are buying for you and your children, and how it will affect you. What would a
future look like with everyone weighing over 300 pounds, unable to move, with
multiple health problems? With the few small actions recommended in this
article, the quality of life can be improved upon, starting the decline of the
obesity epidemic.
“Obesity in Children.” Overweight in
Children, Aug. 2014, www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyKids/ChildhoodObesity/Overweight-in-Children_UCM_304054_Article.jsp#.WrQHt2rwaM9.
“Healthy Schools.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 29 Jan. 2018, www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
Pocock, M., et al. “Parental Perceptions
Regarding Healthy Behaviors for Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Young
Children: a Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.” Obesity Reviews,
Wiley/Blackwell (10.1111), 23 Sept. 2009,
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2009.00648.x.
“Blog.” The Parent Trap: Marketing To Parents, www.artinstitutes.edu/about/blog/the-parent-trap-marketing-to-parents.
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