That's right, 26% of children are considered obese. Roughly 1 in 2 are overweight. That's a huge number of huge kids. Off these kids, only 8% of their parents consider then to have a weight problem. This has created a health care crisis. It is estimated that this current generation of children will not live longer than their parents, the first time in over a century. This problem will likely end up costing the health system billions.
Kids are inactive. That's the problem. I don't see many kids playing outside as I did when I was a kid, which wasn't that long ago. The government and the entertainment industry usually get most of the blame. The government is targeted because they supposedly are not providing healthy lunches in cafeterias, physED, and nutritional programs. The entertainment industry is accused of feeding an inactive lifestyle due to television and video games. It's all well and good to play the blame game. Though cafeterias in schools should provide healthier food, physED programs are adequate as they are and nutritional classes are unnecessary. Healthy active living is something that needs to begin at home. The majority of parents of overweight kids are overweight themselves. They also pack so much into their scheduels that they have no time or don't even know how to make healthy meals. Many children these days are brought up on frozen, pre-cooked food. This food is loaded with saturated and transfat, as well as unhealthy doses of salt. Parents simply let their kids sit around the house or are so afraid that a pervert is going to snatch them if they go outside. Quit worring, statistics show that's no more likely than it was years ago. Kids need unstructured play to stay healthy. Peewee sports can also be a good idea but not all kids like sports. They need to be encouraged to be active in other ways. If we get our kids outside, we will eliminate this preventable disease.
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