Childhood Obesity Heather Hull November 2007 Introduction Attention: Picture this.

A young girl getting picked on by her friends because she is obese, a boy picked last for a game of kickball because kids feel he will not help the team at all, or a child sitting alone at the lunch table by themselves because they are afraid to sit with other children in fear of getting teased.

Motivation: Do you want this to be your child? With the increase in childhood obesity parents need to take on a major role and help prevent their children from becoming obese. According to in class survey you took, 18 people feel that parents should have the most responsibility in helping the obesity rate in children. Thats 18 out of 23 students. Since most of you are probably going to be parents some day, this number will be very reassuring in knowing you are up to the challenge in preventing childhood obesity. Overview: First off I will explain to you why parents need to take the responsibility in helping childhood obesity. Then, how we will further help the situation and finally what we think about it. With the dramatic increase in childhood obesity, parents need to be responsible and help prevent the issue.

(Thesis)

(Transition) As a parent, helping maintain a healthy diet and promoting good food selection are essential in helping prevent childhood obesity. Body I. Need Step A. There is a need for parents to promote good food selection, healthy diets, and be positive role models to help with childhood obesity. 1. According to the Battle Against Childhood Obesity, The good news is that parents and other caregivers can have a profound influence on children by establishing healthy eating habits (The Battle.. 2005). a. In helping prevent childhood obesity, it is never too early to start. In Pump Up the Family, Researchers believe that a babys first culinary experiences-even before solid foods-could help shape eating habits later on (Kalb, Claudia 2005). i. Women who breastfeed their infants provide many healthy nutrients and a wider variety of tastes.

ii. Breastfeeding also lets the infants have control over how much they consume. b. Also within the early years of a childs life, parents have a role in the amount of food a child intakes and how healthy that food may be. i. In The Future of Children, W. Dietz and L. Stern, say that parents are responsible for offering a healthful variety of foods, while children themselves are responsible for deciding what and how much they want to eat from what they are offered (Gortmaker, Steven 2006). ii. In Pump Up the Family, From a survey done last year of 3,000 infants and toddlers, they found that 1-2 year olds consume about 300 calories more than needed, there are 7 month olds drinking soda, and among 15-24 months, french fries are the most common vegetable (Kalb, Claudia 2005). iii. Parents need to not start offering habits which will be hard to quit such as eating in front of the T.V. and start practicing portion controls. c. As a child becomes older more time is spent away from home, which in turn can encourage obesity. i. In a study done written in The Future of Children, it states, 9 year olds ate dinner with their family half of the time, while 14 year olds ate dinner with their families only a third of the time (Gortmaker, Steven 2006). ii. Parents also need to have healthy food available to their children and reduce the amount of sugar sweetened sodas. 2. Parents also need to limit their control over their childrens eating habits and encouragement. a. According to the Development of Eating Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents it says, Many of the foods that parents encourage children to consume are the fruits and vegetables they would like to see consumed with greater frequency and in greater quantities (LL Birch 1998). b. In contrast many parents like to restrict or forbid the consumption of some foods because they believe it will lead to dislike of that food, but in return, it leads to an increase in liking for that food. 3. Parents also need to be good role models for their children. a. A healthy home is a happy home. According to the Institute of Medicine, Parents are the policy makers at home and they can make the decisions on recreational opportunities, food availability, and many other rules which influence healthful eating (Institute of Medicine). b. Parents can also involve the community to help expand availability for more opportunities of physical activity.

B. Parents also need to promote physical activity to help the obesity rate in children. 1. In Pump Up the Family, One quarter of all adults get no exercise al all, and half of all kids between the ages of 12 and 21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis (Kalb, Claudia 2005). a. Keeping children physically active is a key part of preventing childhood obesity. b. It will lower risks of weight gain and most children who stay physically active will have lower body mass indexes. 2. Parents also need to be supportive of their childrens physical interests and athletics and be involved with them. a. During the early grade school years, parents need to encourage their children to get involved in a variety of physical activities. i. According to the article, Will Your Child be Fat, Kids at this age should get about an hour of moderate to vigorous activity each day, with rest breaks (Sachs, Jessica Snyder 2006). ii. Children can also do various little types of physical activity with their parents such as walking or going on bike rides. b. As children get older physical activity still needs to be continued but at times it can become very competitive. i. According to pediatric exercise physiologist Randy Claytor, in Will Your Child be Fat, he says, Thats unfortunate, as it means that less athletically inclined kids tend to drop out (Sachs, Jessica Snyder 2006). ii. If this happens, you still need to encourage your child to be involved in some type of physical activity so they do not become obese.

(Internal Summary)

As you can see there are various reasons why parents should be responsible in helping prevent childhood obesity. So, if this is all true, then how can we further help the situation?

(Transition) II. Satisfaction Step

A. Because parents know that they have a major role in their childs life, to further help them prevent childhood obesity, I feel that they should set up intervention programs and support groups to encourage each other to help the situation of obesity. B. Of course this is not going to be an easy task. I. In addition to parents helping each other it also needs to be a community wide project. 2. These interventions need to be included in the schools and health services so everybody can be included in them.

(Transition)

My plan will help involve parents more in the problem of obesity so they can become more aware of the situation. Some may still not agree with me, but parents are the biggest part of a childs life and need to be responsible for everything.

III. Visualization Step A. Parents play a huge role in preventing childhood obesity as they can control what their child consumes and what they are doing throughout the day. B. With support groups parents will have the chance to interact with other parents and evaluate how they are doing compared to other parents. 1. Without any extra support, sometimes it might be hard to motivate the parents to try to help their children. 2. They could also give up hope if something is not going right. C. Parents do have the strongest influence on their children, but if everybody gets involves and helps with the problem of obesity it will speed up the process (Transition) Childhood Obesity is a major problem which is still growing and needs to be prevented.

IV. Action Step To help with the problem of childhood obesity, you can take steps to start eating healthier yourself, and to teach other children the risks of obesity. You can also join or start one of the support groups to get more people involved. Conclusion Underview: According to The Future of Children it says, National data indicates that 16 percent of children aged six to nineteen years are overweight (Gortmaker, Steven 2006). Parents need to take a major role in helping prevent childhood obesity.

Last Thought: Childhood obesity is not just an epidemic that is going to disappear. We need to start today to help prevent it. It could be your child that becomes obese. Do you want your childs life to be at risk for a variety of things? Or are you ready and willing to do obesity unfold. Do something about it!

Works Cited The Battle Against Childhood Obesity. Ebony 60.5 (2005). FirstSeach. InfoTrac. Hewes Library, Monmouth College. 13 Nov. 2007 <http://firstsearch.oclc.org/images/WSPL/wsppdf1/HTML/ 03505/LRZUK/6F5.HTM>

Birch, LL, JO Fisher. Development of Eating Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics 101(1998). Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Hewes Library, Monmouth College. 13 Nov. 2007. <http://web.ebscohost.com> Gortmaker, Steven, Juhee Kim, Ana C. Lindsay, Katarina M. Sussner. The Role of Parents in Preventing Childhood Obesity. The Future of Children. Childhood Obesity. 16.1 (2006):2-9 Institute of Medicine of the National Academics. Parents Can Play a Role in Preventing Childhood Obesity. Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance. (2005) <http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:XSIIAHyHfEJ:www.iom.edu/File.aspx%3FID%3D22617+Parents+can+play+a+role+in+preventing+child hood+obesity&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us > Kalb, Claudia, Karen Springen. Pump Up the Family.Newsweek. 145:17 (2005). Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Hewes Library, Monmouth College. 13 Nov. 2007 <http://web.ebscohost.com> Sachs, Jessica Snyder. Will Your Child be Fat? Parenting 20.3 (2006):112-14, 116-17.FirstSeach. InfoTrac. Hewes Library, Monmouth College. 13 Nov. 2007 <http://firstsearch.oclc.org/images/WSPL/wsppdf1/HTML/06555/17W12/1FX.HTM>