The Role of Parents in Fighting Childhood Obesity

Parents have a key role in fighting childhood obesity, since they are the ones who feed their children. More children than ever before are becoming obese and developing health problems and emotional issues that relate to their weight. Clearly, for so many children to be gaining too much weight there must have been societal changes that have made this situation possible. Parents realise that obesity is bad for their children, yet may feel a sense of desperation and powerlessness, because they don't know what to do to make the problem go away.

It doesn't help that many parents have issues with their own weight, as well. When they are unable to resist the temptation of chocolate and cakes, it seems rather hypocritical to deny their children such treats. Children pick up on their parents' behaviour and try to copy their parents. Parents who mostly eat fast food and snack on lots of junk food may well end up passing on their bad habits to their children. What is worse is when parents do not even recognise that their eating habits are a problem, despite the fact they are carrying too much weight.

Parents are supposed to teach their children to eat healthily and to encourage them to be active, but this is extremely tough when they have lost their way. If it is normal for parents to eat a calorific diet, this will no doubt be true of their children. Children grow up believing their way of eating is normal, so that trying to tackle their eating habits later on becomes extremely difficult. Parents therefore have to address their own eating habits and try to encourage the whole family to eat healthily. Even if they do not know what a healthy diet is, they should be able to find plenty of information online and in books on nutrition.

It is not only diet that parents have to work on, though, since most children are not getting enough exercise, either. Children should be doing at least an hour of exercise a day, but many would prefer to sit in their room playing computer games. However, childhood obesity is the result of consuming an excess number of calories. An inactive child requires fewer calories than one who regularly exercises, so that it becomes harder to stay within a sensible number of calories.

Parents therefore need to encourage their children to take up a sport or at least to get out of the house to play with friends. There obviously comes a point when children are no longer children and have to take responsibility for their weight. However, parents have a crucial role to play in fighting childhood obesity, since they are there to educate their children on matters such as diet and exercise. If parents get it wrong, this could lead their children to develop a weight problem that only becomes more difficult to tackle as they get older. That is why it is so important to focus on teaching children good eating and exercise habits, so that they can carry them into adulthood and hopefully stay healthy.