Parents Responsible for Childhood Obesity

“Parental behavioral patterns concerning shopping, cooking, eating and exercise have an important influence on a child’s energy, balance and ultimately their weight” said diet specialist, Anne Collins (“Childhood Obesity Facts”).

Childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1980’s (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). Childhood obesity often leads to obesity as an adult which can put a person at greater risks dealing with the heart, diabetes, and many other obese related diseases. People want to blame the schools and today’s technology for childhood obesity, in reality, the responsibility lies in the hands of their parents.

Parents are at fault for childhood obesity. The job of a parent is to teach a child wrong from right, including their eating habits, physical activity, and their overall self-control. If a child has no guidance or sense of direction to what to eat or not to eat and the correct amount of physical activity needed, that child will have more difficulty carrying out the practices of it throughout their childhood and into their adulthood.

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Schools encourage and teach students health of one’s body, but the child needs to be raised by making the right decisions inside and outside of the home. Throughout early childhood, the parents are essential source of children’s food, supplying well balanced meals, encouraging consumption of a wide range of food, restraining access to sugary and high fat foods will help prevent unhealthy weight accumulation (Tackling Childhood Obesity-Who’s Responsibility is it?”).

“Healthy lifestyle habits- healthy eating and physical activity can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases” (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). If a child doe not learn the right ways to eat and exercise, the child will have to put more effort into breaking the old habits. “Parent heavily influence their children’s diet and physical activity habits, and therefore, have an important role in determining whether or not their children experience unhealthy weight gain,” said professor Marie Murphy (“Tackling Childhood Obesity-Who’s Responsibility is it?”). Parents need to realize that they are putting their own children’s lives at jeopardy by making them more likely to develop diseases later in life.

In today’s society, technology has played a big role in everyone’s lives and has taken over. Kids today stay inside and play on the computer, watch TV, play video games, or mess with tablets and smartphones. Several people find other, more entertaining things to do than play outside and be active. Some of the times, physical education in schools is the only physical activity students have on a daily basis (“Obesity”). Kids and teenagers would much rather be wrapped up in a social network than going for a job or going to the gym. Back in the day, playing outside was one of the few entertainments. Parents have no discipline and let their children do what they want to their bodies. Technology has caused people to be less active and not as self-controlled causing them to be obese or overweight later in life.

“Children and adolescents who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults, putting them more at risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, types of cancers, osteoarthritis, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, increases risk for many types of cancer including breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate” (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). A person can increase the risk of getting several diseases if having bad eating habits, exercise habits, and lack of self-control. Lowering the risk of all diseases can be as simple as taking care of the body. A person must practice good habits before doing so though. Parents are increasing the risk of these diseases by not teaching a child how to properly take care of their body.

“One USDA study found that kids consuming school lunch regularly were more likely to be overweight” (“Childhood Obesity: Are Schools Responsible?”). If a child knows how to make the right decision in what to eat and what is the best for them, it should not matter where they are. Schools have to supply healthy foods. Healthy food items are available for everyone, so you cannot blame the schools. Cafeterias sell a la carte snack items and serve lunches which are, arguably, not nutritionally sound (“Childhood Obesity: Are Schools Responsible?”). Just because a school puts out unhealthy items and advertises them does not mean you have to buy and consume the item. The reason schools have them out is because people continue to buy them. Kids and teenagers are only at school for one, maybe two meals out of the day. The majority of meals happen outside of school, inside the home. Parents just do not want to take the blame for making their kids fat so they blame schools for not teaching them how to take care of their body correctly.

Parents are at fault for the obesity of children. Teaching right habits can make for a long living healthy lifestyle. If you raise a child on good habits, it will not be hard for them to follow in the same footsteps and continue that lifestyle into their adulthood.