Levels of childhood obesity continue to rise. One in three children in the U.S. is overweight or obese. This is a shocking statistic, yet despite universal outrage, kids get fatter and parents happily let their offspring sit in front of a computer all day rather than encourage them to play soccer or ride a bike. The question here is whether it should be up to parents to instill the fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle in their children, or whether the government should step in and take charge.
Anyone working in the health care sector sees kids and their health problems on a daily basis. Student nurses studying on online doctoral nursing programs will be very familiar with the problems caused by childhood obesity. Heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, joint and bone problems, fertility issues, liver and gall bladder problems – the list is endless. And yet the cure is so simple.
Fifty years ago, childhood obesity was a rarity. Most kids were physically active, at school and at home. They played outside, ran around all day, and almost never sat down other than to eat a meal or study. Today, the situation is very different. Our lives are dominated by technology and most kids are glued to a screen of one type or another for every waking moment. Sports and outdoor games have lost their allure and many kids would rather play video games than kick a soccer ball around.
Modern diets are also to blame. Junk food has become the diet of choice for children and with mothers choosing to work outside of the home rather than be stay-at-home moms, many families live on a diet of processed food, which is full of salt, saturated fat, and sugar. Such a diet is terribly unhealthy, as any MSN to DNP online student knows all too well.
This toxic combination of poor diet and a lack of exercise is one of the primary reasons why childhood obesity is so common. A lack of education doesn’t help, neither does the fact that obesity has become normalized in today’s society. Ask any parent of an obese child whether their child is overweight and 90% would say “no”. If parents can’t see that their children are obese, what hope is there?
A government’s role is to educate families on health and wellness. Nobody can force a parent to feed their child healthy food and encourage them to take more exercise, but in many cases, the problem is caused by sheer ignorance. By educating parents on the benefits of healthy food and exercise, at least some of them will sit up and take notice.
The government also needs to put pressure on food manufacturers, as they are responsible for producing food that is full of sugar, salt and saturated fat. A “sugar tax” is a political hot potato, but it may help ensure the next generation of kids are not saddled with the same health problems as the kids of today.