Child weight loss problems are increasing every year just the same as adults. I went to a state park at Lake Erie, north of where I live for the weekend, and was amazed at what the majority of the kids look like. I am not trying to be critical and I am definitely not making fun of someone else’s kid. The sad truth though is that as a society, kids and adults alike, we are getting fatter and more out of shape every year. The media, grocery stores, and the food industry in general are literally shoving the worst diet in history down our throats.
I can remember when I was in school as a child, there were a few overweight kids, a few extremely skinny kids, and the rest of the kids were pretty average. I challenge you to go to any public pool, lake, or beach and see if you can find more in shape people than overweight people. You won’t be able to. In fact the “average” kid is overweight!
child weight loss problems
[If you look like this, it is going to be hard for your kids to eat any better than you do. With the food industry shoving as much high carbs, sugars, and useless calories down our throats, our kids need us more than ever to set a good example.]
It used to be that after thirty, your metabolism will slow down and you are going to gain weight.
This is the basis of this blog, actually. This isn’t true of course, and anyone that follows this blog already knows how I feel about this misconception. Lets just say that it was true, though. In today’s world, it would be something like, you just wait till you hit ten. You’ll see, your metabolism is going to slow down and you won’t be able to eat that whole box of Oreos and drink six cans of Coke everyday!
The food that we eat is making us fatter by the day and killing us slowly
With kids, it’s no different than adults. The food that we eat as a society and the empty calories that we drink are making us fatter by the day and killing us slowly. According to Mark Sisson’s incredible book, “The Primal Blueprint“, Around three quarters of today’s Americans will die either of heart disease or cancer.
In case you missed that, I will repeat it, “Around three quarters of today’s Americans will die either from heart disease or cancer!” From someone who lost his father to cancer, believe me, you might want to try and avoid this way of dying. Of course as I talked about in an earlier post, “Fast Easy Weight Loss” we have no way of predicting the future, but I think that we can do our best to stay healthy and disease free as much as possible by our diet and exercise program.
The average person went from average to overweight
So as I was away for the weekend laying on the shores of Lake Erie, enjoying the sun, I was amazed at the “average” people that were around me. I want to stress that I am not trying to be smug or say that I am better than anyone else. That being said, I know that as a society, we need to get a handle on what we are doing to our bodies and how we teach our kids about food. There was a time when we had to worry about if our kids were going to hear us swear, so they wouldn’t pick up any “bad words”. Now, our biggest problem is letting them watch us stuff our faces with “bad food” and sitting around watching TV every night!
[If you haven't watched this movie yet, you should check it out. It will make you sick to your stomach, but will hopefully open your eyes as to what we are putting in to our bodies. Don't worry, it is not a tree hugging or animal rights movie at all. It just exposes the Food industry for what it is. An all for profit industry regardless of what happens to the consumers that eat the food!]
There was a family next to me that all the way from the 12 year old boy to the mom to the dad, were all at least 50 lbs overweight, including the young boy. As they sat around for about three hours by us, I saw the young boy drink four cans of cola, eat Pringles, Chips Ahoy cookies, Barbecue Fritos, a Snickers bar, and then Ice cream from the concession stand. By the way, I wasn’t snooping, they were directly beside us! The rest of the family was about the same in their food choices to varying degrees. I overheard the mom talking to another adult with them, saying that no matter what they do, they can not lose weight! With a cigarette in one hand and a Coke in the other, she said that going to “Weight Watchers” was not an option because they are too expensive.
I don’t think that they should go to Weight Watchers either, but the last time I checked, smoking cigarettes was pretty expensive too. If it came down to one or the other, quitting smoking so you can afford to lose weight might be the better choice! There are many excuses that people like to use including medical issues or genetics. When it comes to a medical condition, only you and your doctor know what is best for you. I am talking about people that are generally healthy and do not have medical problems, although many medical problems are often caused by diet and being overweight. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? For those that want to blame it on genetics, wake up with me at 4:00 am to train and eat what I eat for a month or two. After doing this for awhile, let’s see if your genetics are the problem or is it lack of effort on a consistent basis.
The way to lose weight doesn’t change and isn’t any different for kids or adults.
You need to eat less calories than you use on a consistent basis and you need to do some form of regular exercise, preferably resistance training. One of the best things that you can do for your child is to learn about proper nutrition and exercise. The next is to actually do it. If you do, I promise you will never regret it. You will live longer so you can spend more time with your kids and you will set a great example for them to live by. If you stay in shape and teach your kids to do the same, then child weight loss will never be a concern for you or your children.
I feel that I may piss a few people off with this post, especially parents of overweight kids. I would love to hear your opinion on this, please leave a comment, good or bad.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Part of our body composition is the result of our genetics. Unfortunately, a LOT of overweight people tend to use that as an excuse for not making the effort to get in better shape.
I grew up eating tons of junk food and can understand how easy it is to unconsciously get into that kind of eating pattern when you haven’t known anything else. I don’t think parents are necessary to blame – we can’t all be obsessed health nuts like myself
– I do think it is their responsibility to expose their children as much as possible to eating real food from an early age.
Darrin´s last [type] ..The Making of a Warrior
Not easy to have a simple answer, it obviously quite complex.
In Australia we are a nation of sports mad people, surrounded by ocean, and because of the weather spend a lot of times outside BUT we are nearly as bad or worse than than US in obesity?
I guess as parents we lead by example and hope the children pick up on the positive ideas but for parents who have bad food habits, you have to rely on external stimulus like govt. advertising and media.
Raymond
Raymond-ZenMyFitness´s last [type] ..Avoid Dangerous Diets That Celebrities Love to Follow
Great post and what a complicated question! Its going to take a major shift in mainstream societies’ philosophy on food before we start seeing major changes in obesity, IMO. From corporation to the individual. I’m not trying to plug Food Inc. and I know its a complex dilemma, but as you can see in the movie, healthy foods are more expensive or at least seem to be, especially to people living with low fixed income who might not be as educated.
Thats why I feel so strongly about getting back to growing portions of our own food (vegetable gardens), hunting (deer, rabbit, etc), and even foraging, when you are able to. Its not a big deal in our home, but the food commercial industry can have a huge influence on a kid’s idea of what is healthy to eat.
Kevin´s last [type] ..Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy Workout for Increased Muscle Mass
Darrin,
I don’t put all of the blame on parents either because the pull of the marketing message is so strong that the deck is really stacked against us as a society. Something that is so obvious and clear to people like us, “health nuts” flies in the face of conventional wisdom. I really feel bad for people that do not understand the effects that food has on our bodies and health. Billions of dollars go in to marketing each year to keep the average consumer in the dark and acting like the little puppet that most of us are. It is a shame and it’s not going to get any easier. As long as they are making money from it, they will never change. It is up to us “nuts” crying wolf to really make our voices loud enough to educate the people.
Kevin,
I agree and as a family, we are trying to grow as much of our own vegetables and some fruits as we can. My wife wants a chicken coop so we can get our own eggs, but our local ordinance doesn’t allow us! Go figure. Once our kids are grown up and out of school, we plan on moving to a warmer climate that will allow us to grow our own foods for a longer amount of the year. If you have kids and watch much of the cartoon network or Nickelodeon, you will see how much they brainwash our kids to eat what they want them to eat with the commercials. If we limit the amount of TV watching, it does them good in more ways than one!
Kelly,
Unfortunately it seems people are evolving into a generation of entitlement. They don’t feel like working hard for results, they just want a magic pill. It’s too convenient to blame genetics and metabolism and forget about putting in any actual effort.
Dave
Dave – Fitness Training Tips´s last [type] ..Circuit Training Exercises and Circuit Weight Training Workout Routines
Kelly
I am so with you on this article! I have a huge passion for overweight kids, it just upsets me to see such young people in such bad shape. In South Africa, we also, like Australia, have a pretty good climate most of the year (no extreme weather conditions like snow, tornado’s etc), but sadly, our nation is getting just as overweight as any other.
As a mom of 3 growing youngsters, I DO largely blame the parents! After all, just who provides the food that they eat? Who cooks it, or more often today, buys it ready made…and way too often from the fast food depots? I am a huge believer in the sit-down family meal, at least dinner, as mornings are so rushed. If you can’t connect once a day as a family and with your kids, you are TOO busy, and something must give!
As for pressure from society and the media regarding food choices, just who made them the boss of your kids? And if you’re going to bow down and let your kids dictate what you’re feeding them daily, then shame on you….rather like the tail wagging the dog, I think! As parents, we have the responsibility for our children growing up into healthy, thriving individuals, not giving them a few strikes against them before they even reach adulthood by handing them a weight problem before they’re adults.
As you can tell, I’m passionate about this particular subject…as a baby I was so overfed by my misguided mom, that she struggled to carry me around at 6 months! However, as soon as I could move, I was active, and became quite a skinny little girl. I lost both my parents due to lifestyle diseases (my dad had cancer too, Kelly so I sympathise with your loss). You were afraid of pissing people off as well Kelly, I’m afraid I’m more brutal than you! The truth is the truth….none of my 3 children are overweight….my 17 year old daughter works out with me almost daily. I am also not into freaking my kids out about this, I don’t go on about food and especially not diet with my girls, I just make sure that the food I cook is healthy, plenty of vegetables, fruit and good proteins and carbs. Junk food is (to them) an ocassional treat, not daily, likewise crisps, sweets, chocolates and pastries. You won’t find those in my pantry every day. The children (even my son who gave me an argument at first)are used to the way things are, and they appreciate their “treats” when they get them.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks, Kelly, for talking about these issues.
This is a fantastic article about working out. I’m a college student just trying to learn more about the personal training industry and I really enjoyed reading your article. Keep up the great job!
This is a tough call, I think parents are to blame in a lot of ways. Good subject to think about.
Alejandro´s last [type] ..Update- Body Transformation Before & After
Raymond,
Yeah, this is definitely a complex topic. It is always a touchy subject to criticize a parent but I actually feel that it’s the media and food industry that are stacking the deck against us.
Dave,
I couldn’t agree more! There are so many people that have the something for nothing mentality and want everything handed to them. It just doesn’t work that way, especially with your body. If you think that you can eat all of the wrong foods and still be healthy and in shape, you are sadly mistaken. It doesn’t matter what magic pill they come up with, it isn’t going to work. If you eat too much of the wrong foods, you will eventually have to pay for it, one way or another. Not even a government bailout can save you from it!
Natalie,
Sorry to hear about your parents. The saddest part of it all is that if they were educated about diet and what to eat, they may of lived longer. At least that’s how I feel about my father and I don’t ever want my kids to feel the same way. That’s great that your daughter and you work out together. My oldest son is 21 and just graduated from Penn State University and he gained some weight around his waist from eating like a typical college student! Since he has been back home, he is training and starting to lose the weight.
I try to set a good example with training and diet, so at least when they are home, they see a different side of it than what they see on TV or at friends houses. I think that they think that they can eat what they want now and once they get older, they will have to eat better. I try to find a happy medium with them, though.
I’m glad that this post has got you a little fired up. I love to see people passionate about something. Please come back often, you are always welcome here!
Deshawn,
Thanks. Good luck at college! Where do you go?
Alejandro,
Yeah, I think that parents try there best and of course would never purposely harm their children. I just think that the media and all of the advertising has such a strong influence on us that it is hard to make the right choices.
Kelly
Kelly,
Obesity is a huge problem and will continue to escalate if we don’t take action. I read somewhere that the current generation will be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than the prior generation. This is an alarming and very sad statistic, but it is the reality we face. The problem is that this situation is very complex and there is no single root cause. I believe there are many parties to blame – parents, schools, the workplace, media, advertising, technology, social and cultural habits. The people that will avoid this epidemic are those that go against the mainstream and change their entire lifestyle for the better. Unfortunately, we are talking about a minority that actually do this.
Alykhan
Alykhan – Fitness Breakout´s last [type] ..The Best Cardio Routine is Custom Built
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