Posted by mmorand on June 8, 2012
Hello all,
If you or someone you know has an interest in health and fitness for children I encourage you to check out this site! There is a lot more great information about eating issues in addition to the reasons why childhood obesity is rising.
Below is the link for an article that site creator Len Saunders posted recently using key info and quotes from me.
If you like it please pass it on!
Have a great day!
Topic: Reasons Why Childhood Obesity Is On The Rise
Question: Provide a few sentences why YOU think childhood obesity is on the rise. I want your opinion, not something you read.
On the surface, obesity, whether in adults or children is the simple and natural outcome of eating more than our body requires given the amount of energy we are burning. The more we continue to allow ourselves as parents and as a society to focus on the surface the more this problem will continue to grow because we are missing the most important piece of this puzzle: Why are children (and adults) eating more than they are hungry for? Yes, the kinds of foods our kids are choosing is a factor; the proximity to junk foods, ie. sugary treats and processed carbs is higher than ever before and that naturally has an impact. But the amount of food our kids are ingesting
is not in response to their hunger and fullness cues. If it were they would not be obese.
The amount of food they are ingesting has much more to do with the fact that our children are emotionally and psychologically stressed; their emotional needs for support and connection are often being neglected intentionally or otherwise by parents that are drained, stressed themselves, or just lacking the skills to be emotionally present for their kids. They are suffering from a lack of healthy role models for self-care and self-awareness. These children are self-medicating the anxiety and depression that are naturally triggered by these unmet needs for support, nurturing, validation and connection, with processed carbohydrates and refined sugars which have a direct and immediate effect on the pleasure centre in the brain, triggering a dopamine release (akin to that which is triggered by alcohol, cocaine or ecstasy) and making us feel simultaneously soothed, nurtured, and numb.
2. Outline one change that could be made in a child’s life to help them lead a healthier lifestyle.
Meet their needs for love, acceptance and belongingness. Show them, don’t just tell them, that they are important and worthwhile. Help them move out of their chronic feelings of anxiety and depression by showing them how to solve problems and how to trust themselves to manage any of life’s stressful situations with dignity and respect. Understand that this is a problem of emotional and psychological distress and the food is just the coping strategy they are using to manage the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Tags: acceptance, anxiety in kinds, beloningness, childhood obesity, compulsive eating, coping strategy, eating disorders in children, eating to fill nedds, emotional eating, unmet needs, using food to cope
Posted in:
2012, Relationship with Food, Relationship with Self
