Ending Child Obesity

When I was growing up (I'm 30 years old now), I never thought about child obesity.

I grew up in the town of Framingham, MA. We had a population of 70,000 and 9 elementary schools at the time.

Almost everyone I knew was involved in some sort of athletics and we played tons of kids games throughout the neighborhood.

We had regular gym class. We had sports. We had recess. And, we had lots of outdoor activities to keep us busy.

Probably the most telling difference between now and then is that there was very little media attention on obesity in children.

Now it is apparent everywhere you look.

Do kids of this generation have fewer opportunities? I don't think that's it. It's still easy enough to get outside to play a game of tag (probably the least expensive game I can think of next to "kick the can").

There are things that have changed, though. There is more of a focus on technology by kids and their parents. TV, computers, and video games seem to take up more of the hours of the day than they ever used to.

For parents, the workday is longer. This makes it more difficult for adults to stick to their own routines of making healthy food choices and following an exercise routine.

Does that mean we should give up and just give in to being overweight or suffering from obesity?

No, there is still plenty that we can do to help change the future for kids who are headed down the path of living life overweight.

3 Things You Can Do to Fight Child Obesity

1) Watch TV - Haha...This one sounds funny. I would never tell you or your kids to watch more television than you already do. My suggestion is to plan ahead of time the shows that you will watch as a family. This way, you'll be involved in what your kids are viewing and you'll be able to have family discussions about the topics in those programs. Total television time for the week will probably go down and you can always elect to restrict television time outside of "family tv hour" and replace it with "family physical activity."

2) Talk About Your Workouts - One of my newer Personal Training clients told me this week that she introduced her class to some of the exercises we had been doing. It's a great break from sitting at a desk all day and it helps get kids excited about exercise. Kids really are better listeners and learners than we think. Plus, it may be easier to get them excited about health and fitness than it is to get them excited about cleaning their rooms.

3) Volunteer Your Time - This one is for health professionals looking to reach more people within their communities. Contact principals and teachers at your local schools and volunteer an hour of your time to talk about health and fitness. Advocating childrens fitness is a great way to build a quality reputation and begin promoting exercise programs for both kids and adults.

...About the Author...

David Bohmiller, BS, NSCA-CSCS is the owner of My Personal Trainer School LLC http://www.My-Personal-Trainer-School.com in Manhattan Beach, CA.

He specializes in weight loss, fat loss, and fitness fun for men, women, and children. To talk to David about health lectures for schools, your community, or your business or for group or individual personal training, Contact him at Manhattan Beach Personal Trainer.

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