Editorial: Children's Health and Fitness Habits Begin at Home
Here is an article from greenbaypressgazette.com about how health and fitness should start at homes, not at McDonald’s. Eating fast-food is not the only cause of childhood obesity: lack of exercise, emotional and environmental factors are causes as well.
According to a Harokopio University study, children are more than 2.4 times likely to be overweight if they have obese parents, which can cause lifelong struggles.
The fight to solve obesity needs to start with parents and communities by choosing healthier meal choices and increase physical activity at home and school. It is ultimately the public and consumers who should decide what their meal options are not CSPI.
Editorial: Children’s health and fitness habits begin at home
An advocacy group’s threat to sue McDonald’s over Happy Meal toys can further the dialogue about childhood obesity, but real change around raising healthy kids needs to start at home.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest recently announced its intent to bring suit against the fast-food behemoth unless McDonald’s stops marketing unhealthy food to children through the inclusion of toys in Happy Meals. In a release, the group “urged McDonald’s to stop undermining parents and deceiving children” with inexpensive toys like those from the latest “Shrek” film.
“While Shrek may appear on packaging for low-fat milk and Apple Dippers,” the group states, “when children or parents order Happy Meals they are given French fries 93 percent of the time, and offered soda first 78 percent of the time.”
Whatever numbers one uses, the bottom line is health and fitness habits need to start at home, not in line at the Golden Arches. It’s no secret that a good deal of fast-food fare is fat- and calorie-laden and nutritionally deficient, and that countless experts point to eating on the go as a major contributing factor to the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic.
But we also know eating out is only one piece of an incredibly complex childhood health puzzle that also includes holistic nutrition, exercise, and emotional and environmental factors. Removing a plastic ogre from your child’s lunch can have at best a marginal impact.
We encourage parents to make smart choices when eating out, including when it comes to consumption of fast food and other nutritionally questionable fare. But we also urge them to take a look at their own behaviors and what’s going on at home in terms of eating and exercise.
Research like a 2004 study from Harokopio University in Athens, Greece, bears out that parents matter when it comes to their children’s health. That study found children with one obese parent were almost twice as likely to be overweight than children of normal-weight parents. Children with two obese parents were 2.4 times more likely to be overweight.
Related posts:
Tags: active lifestyle, addressing obesity, adolescent obesity, America obesity, Bob Culter, C3, cause childhood obesity, cause of childhood obesity, causes of child obesity, causes of childhood obesity, causes of obesity, center for science in public interest, center for science in the public interest, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CEO Robert Cutler, cheap toys, child behavior, child behaviour, child diet, child discipline, child fitness, child health, child nutrition, child obesity, child obesity facts, child obesity statistics, childhood health, childhood nutrition, childhood obeisity, childhood obesity, childhood obesity america, childhood obesity article, childhood obesity articles, childhood obesity causes, childhood obesity cdc, childhood obesity community, childhood obesity diets, childhood obesity education, childhood obesity effects, childhood obesity exercise, childhood obesity factors, childhood obesity facts, childhood obesity fast food, childhood obesity health, childhood obesity nutrition, childhood obesity overweight, childhood obesity percent, childhood obesity physical activity, childhood obesity physical education, childhood obesity prevalence, childhood obesity programs, childhood obesity research, childhood obesity risk, childhood obesity risk factors, childhood obesity schools, childhood obesity solution, childhood obesity trends, children nutrition, children obesity, children toy, childrens toy, children’s nutrition, clara, communities, conspiracy theorist, consumer choice, consumer education, consumer freedom, Creative Consumer concept, Creative Consumer Concepts CEO, CSPI, CSPI’s executive director Michael Jacobson, debate about toy ban, decrease obesity, decrease obesity in children, diet and nutrition, discipline, discipline child, dolls toy, Don’t Tell Me What To Eat, early childhood obesity, eating fast food, eating out, effects of childhood obesity, effects of obesity, environmental health, facebook, fad, fads, family parenting. Positive parenting, fast food, fast food and obesity, fast food industry, fast food nutrition, fast food obesity, fast food restaurant, fast food restaurants, fast food toy ban, fast food toys, femal force michelle obama, fight obesity, fitness, fitness exercise, food and prizes, food chains, food choices, food police, food purchase, food pyramid, food pyramid severing, free to choose our meals, free toy, free toys, freedom of choice, freedom to choose, freetochooseourmeals.com, fun toys, girls toy, gov health, government control, government issues, growing up, happy meal, Happy meal choices, happy meal lawsuit, happy meal toy, happy meal toy ban, happy meal toys, happy meals, health, health active lifestyle, health and exercise, health and nutrition, health department, health departments, health education, health food pyramid, health info, health link, health media, health nutrition, health sites, health technology, Healthline, home, how to prevent childhood obesity, ideal health, information on obesity, irresponsible parents, is my child obese, issues in California, Jack in the Box, Jim Skinner, Jot Condie, junk, junk food, junkfood, kid obesity, kids, kids behavior, kids behaviour, kids food pyramid, kids nutrition, kids obesity, kids toys, lawsuit liability, liberal, libertarian, limiting parents freedom of choose, limits freedom of choice, Long term effect, McDonalds, McDonalds golden arches, McDonalds nutrition facts, McDonalds toy lawsuit, mcdonals lawsuit, meals, Michael Jacobson, Michael Jacobson cspi, michelle barack obama, Michelle Obama, Michelle obama address, michelle obama barrack, michelle obama children, michelle obama obesity, Michelle Obama obesity act, michelle obama speech, morbid obesity, natural health, nurtritional health, nutrition, nutrition facts, nutrition food pyramid, nutritional facts, obersity facts, obese children, obese parents, obesity, obesity adults, obesity among child, obesity and childhood, obesity articles, obesity causes, obesity child, obesity childhood, obesity children, obesity diet, obesity diseases, obesity epidemic, obesity exercise, obesity health problems, obesity health risks, obesity help, obesity in childhood, obesity information, obesity problem, obesity solutions, obesity solver, obesity statistics, overweight children, overwieght and obesity, parent, parent nutrition, parenthood, Parenthood Post, parenting, parenting advice, parenting children, parenting discipline, parenting issues, parenting skill, parents, parents and children, parents children, parents help, peer pressure, physical activity, physical exercise, poor school cafeterias, potassium sorbate, preservative, preservatives, prevent childhood obesity, preventing childhood obesity, preventing obesity, Ronald McDonald, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Ronald McDonald House Charity, sodium benzoate, solutions to childhood obesity, task force, toy lawsuit, USDA food pyramid, youth obesity