Healthy Journey » obesity

What is Childhood Obesity? How do we Measure the Rising Weight of Children?

editor — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:00:23 +0000

Baby fat can be cute, for a while. Unfortunately, some parents use this as a way to deny what’s really happening to their youngster. We, as parents, need to face up to facts when we see our children gaining weight that is unexplained and out of control. We need to ask for help and look for solutions to solve this serious health problem.

When it comes to adults, there are ways to readily determine obesity. For instance, in adults we can look at a person and tell if their weight fits their height and body style. Then, we have the dreaded scale. Standing on it at the doctor’s office is often emotionally painful, but as a measurement tool, it is crucial to determine if you are at the right weight for your height as well as your age. This information forms the all important BMI or Body Mass Index which is the true measurement as it relates to obesity.

For children, it’s not that easy. Simply looking at a child will not help you determine if they are overweight. (...)

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Getting Help for Obese Children

editor — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:17:20 +0000

Very often the treatment for children who are obese lies in changing habits and learned behaviors. Of course, the sooner in life that these changes are made, the faster the results can occur. Some of these steps towards a healthier life are immediate, while others are a lifetime commitment. You, as a parent, may not be able to go it alone. Let’s look at what you can do for your child and what other support you may need on this road to recovery.

How Can I Help My Child if They are Obese?

With any program to get your body healthy, there are things that you, and the people around you, need to do to make the program a success. Here is a short list of the steps you need to take to help your child: (...)

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Obese Children in Society — How to Ease the Stigma

editor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:07:13 +0000

Being overweight has always been a stigma in society. Those who are chubby are passed over for jobs, thought to be sloppy or unclean, and the list goes on. Those same unfounded and hurtful thoughts will be conveyed to your children if they are obese.

Obesity is Made Worse by Society’s Changing Fads

Let’s talk about fads. A fad is something that is here and popular for the moment, but quickly fades from view. Think of skinny jeans. Think of bell-bottom pants. Think of parachute pants. These fashions come and go.

Many of society’s fads center on more than fashion; they center on body appearance. The fad now is that you need to be super-thin to be “in” and even to be acceptable in the world, not just the world of fashion. This is conveyed in everyday life in spite of the fact that the average woman is a size 14. Even for plus size clothing, some advertisers use skinny models and profess how good these fashions look on women with larger bodies. How does this make sense? (...)

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How the Eating Habits of Adults Affect Obesity in Children

editor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:16:59 +0000

In order to live, we must eat. Somewhere in our history, we stopped eating to live and started living to eat. This obsession with food has led to not only obesity in adults, but a rising obesity in children. Let’s examine the eating habits that can lead to obesity in children and the ways to change those habits.

Making Poor Food Choices

Nowadays, children have access to all types of food. In school cafeterias, there are snack vending machines, soda machines, and fast food restaurant counters. It used to be that kids brought their lunches to school, but now most kids buy their lunch since it’s easy and they can eat virtually anything they want. At malls, the availability of non-nutritious foods is more prevalent than good, healthy food choices.

And it’s not just about what we eat — it’s about what we drink. According to various studies, drinking sodas even once a day increases the childhood obesity risk by sixty percent — let me repeat that — just one soda a day can increase a child’s risk of being obese by 60 percent! (...)

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Important Steps to Prevent Childhood Obesity

editor — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:58:56 +0000

You may have heard about childhood obesity and have some concern about your own children. If they do not have a weight problem now, that is good news. But, you can be proactive to prevent obesity from ever happening in your family.

Children are impressionable. They learn most of their habits from their parents. This is the time to take your kids under your wing and teach them healthy habits that will help them throughout their lifetime. As they get older (into their teens) their attention will shift from you to their friends. If a life of healthy eating and exercise are already instilled, you have a better chance of them sticking to those good habits. (...)

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The Brutal Truth: The 8 Causes of Obesity

editor — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:53:04 +0000

By now we’ve all heard that America is the most obese country in the world. Every news program and afternoon talk show has produced a segment on the growing obesity epidemic. But, are you clear on what obesity really means?

What is Obesity?

The simple definition is that obesity happens when a person has an access of total body fat in proportion to the muscle mass. Most commonly, an overweight person is considered to have obesity, when their weight is around 20% or greater of what should be their normal weight.

We have all heard of the body mass index or BMI. The BMI is the standard that many will use in determining just how obese someone is. Normally, a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 constitutes being overweight. Those of the BMI of over 30 are considered to be obese.

Unfortunately in today’s society, many people fall into the category of morbid obesity. This is when you have a BMI of 40 or greater or about 50-100% above normal weight recommendations. (...)

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Three Types of Diabetes – Yes, Three!

editor — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Although diabetes touches millions of people in the United States and around the world, many people may not realize is that there are different types of diabetes.

How many types of diabetes are there? The answer is that there are three main types of diabetes mellitus. (...)

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How Important is Family History to Childhood Obesity?

editor — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 01:46:42 +0000

If we want to finally figure out a solution to the growing problem of obesity among children in America, we first have to understand the causes of childhood obesity. Naturally, people tend to look at a child’s family for clues. Does family history and genetics contribute to a child’s weight?

Let’s look at what’s happening in families today, and how behavior, genetics and economics all have a part to play in whether or not a child becomes obese. (...)

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