Are Children Lazier than they Used to be?

It certainly seems that today's children are lazier than they used to be, although it's not all their fault since many parents do not encourage their children to get active. Plus, there are so many more things for children to do these days, as they have hundreds of television channels to choose from; DVDs to watch; and a wide variety of realistic video games to play, and none of these activities require children to expend much energy. It is therefore unsurprising that childhood obesity rates have been on the rise.

Is the fact that children are lazier that they used to be such a bad thing? Well, as already mentioned, more children are being classified as obese, and this is bad news, because carrying too much weight leads to health problems. Children are getting heavier and often carry their weight problem with them into adolescence and adulthood. Unforuntately, once you've got into bad habits, it can be very hard to develop healthier ones, and if you continue to gain weight, you put your body under more and more strain.

Clearly, then, children ought to be doing more exercise. It is recommended that children should get at least an hour of physical activity a day, but many do not, and this is simply storing up problems for the future. The trouble is that it is far easier for parents to let their children play computer games than to accompany them to the park and play with them. Thus, it is not really children's fault if their parents themselves are lazy and lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Should People do More Exercise?

If obesity statistics are anything to go by, many people are not doing enough exercise. Health professionals recommend that you should get at least half an hour of exercise, five days a week; and when they say 'exercise' they mean any kind of activity which elevates your heart rate and leaves you slightly out of breath. Many people tell themselves they are active enough because they 'run around after the kids,' but what exactly does that mean? If it means rushing around to feed and dress their children, before sticking them in the car and driving them to school, that hardly constitutes an active lifestyle!

Unfortunately, many people do not have the time or the inclination to exercise. Of course, lack of time is always a good excuse, because if you do work long hours and have a hectic family life, then exercise is going to be lower down on your list of priorities. Yet, if you look at your schedule, there is a good chance you spend time doing nothing that is particularly productive when you could be strolling around the park or out for a jog. Technology is usually the problem, because instead of getting out and doing something, it is too tempting to watch television or play around on your computer and with other electronic gizmos.

If you want to maintain a healthy weight, however, you really need to exercise regularly. It isn't just about weight control, though, as exercise can help rid your mind of stress and actually make you feel healthier and happier. Keeping active will reduce your chances of developing health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes, and could help increase your life expectancy. The idea of 'no pain, no gain' when it comes to exercise just isn't true, but for many people exercise seems like far too much hassle to bother with. To stay healthy, though, keeping active is a must.

Is There a Stigma Attached to Not Having Children?

Research conducted by Infertility Network UKsuggests that many women aged between 35 and 45 feel that they are judged for not having children. The average age at which women conceive has increased over the years and many women are either choosing to start a family later or finding that they are not in a position to have children until they are in their late thirties or forties.

The trouble is that as you get older, your fertility declines. Even though remaining 'child-free' is a viable lifestyle option, there are women who are desperate to have children, but who find that they are unable to when they finally do try to conceive. Family and friends are not always sympathetic, especially as they may not recognise that a woman wants to have children, but finds herself struggling.

It can be difficult to open up about your fertility struggles and why should you have to when it's nobody else's business? However, when friends start having children you can feel as though you are the odd-one-out and that you have to justify why you don't have children. Similarly, when your parents ask if you intend to have children, you can feel obligated to explain your situation. In today's society, not having children should simply be accepted and not have any kind of stigma attached to it, but, evidently, many people believe that a woman's primary purpose in life is to procreate and nurture the next generation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24652861

Could Alcohol Ruin Your Diet?

When you follow a calorie-controlled diet, you do so with the intention of losing weight, but as well as thinking about what you eat, it is also important to pay attention to the calories you consume through drink- especially the alcoholic variety. It is easy to get carried away on a night out and not really pay that much attention to how much you're drinking, but the calories soon add up. Of course, it is possible to drink alcohol and stay within your calorie allowance if you only drink a glass of wine a day, but if you're at the pub and knocking back vodka shots or drinking pint after pint, you can soon lose track of what you're doing and how much you're drinking.

Not only can you end up consuming more calories than you intended to by drinking alcohol, getting drunk can also affect your ability to make decisions. Instead of being sensible and sticking to your diet, willpower can often go out of the window. If you've already gone overboard, you may not see the harm in picking up some fast food on the way home or eating calorific snacks, which only adds to your calorie intake. Thus, if you regularly like to drink when you socialise, losing weight can become an even tougher battle, because you are less likely to make the right choices that will enable you to lose weight.


https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/understand-your-drinking/unit-calculator#unitcalculator
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2472196/One-slimmers-ruin-diets-drinking-alcohol.html

Should Children Watch Less Television?

It certainly seems that professionals within the medical field believe that children should be encouraged to watch less television, especially if they are overweight. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued guidelines for health workers to tackle children's sedentary lifestyles through their parents. Clearly, it is parents' repsonsibility to ensure their children are doing enough exercise, but often children spend too much time watching television and not enough time outdoors keeping active, which makes it harder for them to maintain a healthy weight.

Doctors and other medical professionals can only do so much, no matter how supportive they are. They can suggest that children keep track of how much exercise they're doing and encourage parents to walk with their children to school, instead of driving them, but ultimately, it is up to the indviduals concerned to recognise what the problem is and to tackle it.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2473093/Overweight-children-watch-TV-Health-watchdog-urges-parents-cut-screen-time.html

Does Food Addiction Really Exist?

There are individuals who do have an addiction to food and their condition is known as binge eating disorder, but it is a relatively uncommon condition, affecting less than three per cent of obese people. However, this has not prevented the term 'food addiction' being bandied about. Those who suffer from binge eating disorder have a compulsion to eat and a sense that they have no control. There are complex psychological issues at play, and yet there are individuals who have a weight problem that claim they have an addiction to food, rather than admitting that they eat too much food simply because they are greedy.

Obesity rates have been on the rise over the past few decades, as people's lifestyles have become increasingly sedentary and cheap, processed foods have become more widely available. Although the idea of a food addiction is a tempting one, it does tend to remove personal responsibilty from the equation. If you have an 'addiction' then it shifts the blame away from you. The trouble is if you believe you have a medical condition which makes controlling your weight more difficult, you basically have a convenient excuse not to do anything to address the problem, which utlimately will not help you manage your weight in the long run.


 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24402163

Should Doctors be Respectful to the Obese?

It is somewhat surprising that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has felt the need to issue guidelines on how to treat overweight patients. It surely makes sense that overweight individuals are treated with as much respect as those people who are a healthy weight, though evidently this is often not the case. Of course, carrying excess weight does put individuals at greater risk of developing health problems, but castigating someone for being obese when they turn up to see their doctor is unlikely to help the situation.

There have no doubt been cases where doctors have used a patient's visit to jump on the issue of their weight and to focus on getting them to lose weight, regardless of their health complaint. Obesity may be costing the NHS a fortune, but blaming a person for being obese without considering the impact on their mental well-being is hardly likely to improve the situation. Besides, a person's weight isn't always the best indicator of their general health, anyway.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24563374

Can Housework Really Count as Exercise?

So many people are failing to get enough exercise that health experts are always trying to find ways to encourage everyone to get more active. Thus, there are fitness 'tips' such as breaking down exercise into small chunks and taking the stairs instead of the lift. Another favourite is the idea that housework can count towards your exercise for the day. Ideally, individuals, should be getting at least 150 minutes of an exercise a week to stay fit and healthy, and yet even squeezing in half an hour of physical activity a day is a stretch in today's world of television, computers and long hours spent in the office.

Thus, of course everybody wants to think you can access the benefits of exercise by doing something that needs to be done - housework. Yet, there is evidence to suggest that individuals who count housework as contributing towards the amount of exercise they do are heavier than those who actually set aside time to play sport or do some kind of formal exercise. The suggestion is therefore that the kind of housework people do is just not strenuous enough to help them burn calories. You have to actually get your heart pumping faster and to feel a little bit out of breath to know you're pushing yourself and keeping fit, which you probaly won't get from dusting and sweeping.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24570276

Is it Right for Bariatric Surgery to be Performed on Children?

Between 2007 and 2012, 45 weight-loss procedures have been performed on children as young as 14 in the UK, including gastric bypasses and the fitting of gastric bands and gastric balloons. An increasing number of individuals are being admitted to hospital for weight-related health issues and this includes children. With rising obesity rates amongst adults, it is hardly surprising that children are following their parents' lead and developing serious weight problems of their own.

The question has to be is surgery really the best option for helping children to lose weight? It must be hard for parents to watch their children being bullied because of their weight and to worry their children may develop health issues because they are obese. Clearly, no parent would want their child to undergo invasive surgery if it could be avoided, and yet losing weight can be achieved in ways which do not include surgery. Thus, for parents to give permission for surgeons to operate on their child indicates a certain amount of desperation.

Bariatric surgery may not be the preferred option, especially when the reality is that no matter what operation takes place, individuals need to change their eating and exercise habits, but it can stimulate rapid weight loss. For children who are dangerously overweight, surgery can give them the impetus to lose weight, but ultimately, it is up to parents to take action to prevent their children developing such a weight problem in the first place.
 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2465808/Children-young-14-having-weight-loss-surgery-45-going-knife-England-2007.html