Childhood Obesity and Children's Fitness

Childhood obesity is rapidly becoming a global health problem. According to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the number of American children who are obese or overweight has tripled since the 1960s, escalating from five to fifteen percent. Many other countries are also seeing increases in childhood obesity.

Children's fitness can help prevent or treat childhood obesity. With the boom in electronic entertainment, children are more often found watching TV or surfing the Internet than getting out and moving around. Moreover, tight school budgets have resulted in cuts to the physical education curriculum and the sporting programs schools can offer, further affecting children's fitness.

 

Fortunately, childhood obesity is both preventable and reversible. Even small changes to diet and exercise routines can positively affect children's fitness and weight.

At the 2006 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco, Dr. James O. Hill presented evidence that even small improvements in children's fitness can have a profound effect on childhood obesity. Dr. Hill had investigated the effectiveness of the America on the Move's Families on the Move program, studying 216 families with at least one overweight or obese child between the ages of seven to fourteen.

 

The families were split into two groups: an obesity intervention group and a control group. The 111 families in the intervention group were told to make two lifestyle changes. Overweight children were to walk an extra 2,000 steps a day (approximately one mile) and to eliminate 100 calories from their diet using the sugar substitute Splenda (approximately the equivalent of one candy bar or an eight ounce can of soda).

At the end of the six-month study, Dr. Hill observed that two-thirds of children in the intervention group had either maintained or lost weight. Although no child lost a large amount of weight on the program, Dr. Hill believes the study shows how even simple lifestyle changes can make a difference on childhood obesity.

Changes in home environment can also have an affect on childhood obesity, according to the preliminary results of a Flinders University study in South Australia. The Achieving a Healthy Home Environment Survey is a two-year study of 280 suburban families that completed its first year in 2006. The survey examined over 75 variables that affect children's fitness and childhood obesity.

 

Data gathered from the survey suggests that children with access to larger backyards are more likely to exercise than children with small yards. However, yard size was not the only consideration: children's fitness also increased depending on the amount of play equipment and play areas in the yard.In the house, the food in the fridge is a large factor in determining the risk of childhood obesity. However, parent's lifestyle choices are one of the most important factors. The survey also revealed some interesting figures that contribute to childhood obesity:

• 20 percent of children do not get sixty minutes of daily exercise
• 65 percent watch over two hours of television a day
• 75 percent of children surveyed eat 0 to 2 servings of vegetables daily.

Parents are the most important role models in a child's life. Parental attitudes towards diet and exercise influence children's fitness. Children in families with parents who actively exercise and make careful nutritional choices are less likely to suffer from childhood obesity than children with sedentary parents.

 

Parents can promote children's fitness by playing active games with their children and encouraging children to engage in sports and outdoor activities. Parents with daily exercise routines and nutrition plans lead by example, providing daily reminders of the important of staying fit and healthy.

Parents concerned with childhood obesity may wish to work with their communities to promote children's fitness. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends its professional members advocate for children's fitness. Parents may also wish to advocate for some of the facilities and programs that the Academy views as important, including:· advocating for school cirriculums that teach the importance of proper nutrition· creating safe playgrounds, bike paths and other exercise environments· promoting school programs that stimulate children’s fitness· protecting school recess time· reinstating daily physical education programs.

 

 

American Academy of Pediatrics. (1 May 2006).
Active healthy living: Prevention of childhood
obesity through increased physical activity. www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/may06physical
activity.htm.

Phillips, K. (2 May 2006). Early life in big yards key to
health. www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/
story_page/0,5936,18996898%255E2682,00.html.