Family Lifestyle

 Entry 2 9/25

Childhood Obesity

            Family lifestyle, in my opinion, is a major contributor to the childhood obesity epidemic. We have two income, single income, and single parent families who are working longer hours, and more days to maintain their standard of living which leaves them with little time and energy to prepare home cooked meals.

There are two extreme ends to the contribution towards childhood obesity.  At one end we have families who are on the go with many extracurricular activities which leaves them little time for home-cooked meals so their options are usually on the go fast food choices.  The other end of the spectrum is many children are living sedentary lifestyles.  Nowadays it seems the majority of time is spent in front of the television, computer, playing video games, on our phones, and social networking.  All these activities promote sedentary lifestyles and, in my opinion, are contributing to the unhealthy lifestyle most Americans are living and the rise in childhood obesity. These activities contribute to snacking and filling up on junk causing us to feel full so we’re not hungry when it is time to eat a real meal.

When I was a child I spent barely any time indoors. My days consisted of riding bikes, climbing trees, and playing at the playground until dark.  I grew up in Upstate New York and the winters were brutal, but on almost any given day I was outside playing.

We are raising our children to believe that eating pre-cooked, high calorie processed foods are an acceptable means of nutrition. When really we are serving our children foods loaded with preservatives, sugar saturated fats and high sodium.

Interesting Statistics!

•  “Eight- to eighteen-year-olds spend more time with media than in any other activity besides sleeping—an average of more than 7½ hours a day, seven days a week” (Rideout, Foehr & Roberts, 2010)

•  "There are over 25,000 fast food chains for Americans to choose from. The yearly total Americans spend on fast food is over $140 billion a year” (The healthy eating guide, 2011).

References

Rideout, V., Foehr, U., & Roberts, D. (2010). Generation M2 media in the lives of 8to18year olds. A Kaiser family foundation study. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/ upload/8010.pdf

The Healthy Eating Guide. (2011). Health eating statistics: American’s obesity crisis. Retrieved from http://www.thehealthyeatingguide.com/healthyeatingstatistics.html