Testing It Up

A study, which surveyed 1,043 Georgia families with children ages 11 and younger, shows that a large percentage of parents are in denial about their own children’s obesity issues.

According to the result, 42 percent of the surveyed families have overweight or obese kids. Of those families, 76 percent of the parents misclassified their children as either underweight or normal weight, the United Press International reports.

Dr. Stephanie Walsh, medical director of wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, noted that many parents fear engaging in a discussion about weight and body issues with their kids more than the talks about sex and drugs.

Walsh recommends that in order for parents to effectively talk with their kids about the problem of childhood obesity, they should have an honest conversation with themselves about family health risks, as well as the habits and the kind of role models they want to be for their children.

“It’s time for parents to be stronger than the thoughts that hold them back,” Walsh said in a statement.

In the United States, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the country who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 20 percent in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent over the same period.

Children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults , and therefore making them more vulnerable to a lot of health risks, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Many times in the past, we have heard experts say that a sedentary lifestyle increases our risk of developing certain diseases, including obesity and cardiovascular problems. Though the claims are backed by quite a handful of studies, many of us still can’t keep the advice by heart.

Recently, a new study featured on the Medical Daily reveals that watching TV for less than two hours a day can increase life expectancy by more than a year. Researchers, Peter Katzmarzyk and I-Min Lee, collected data from various studies done on sedentary behaviour and life expectancy and found that extended sitting time and TV viewing may potentially contribute to reduced life expectancy in the United States.

While the researchers do not conclude that anybody who watches television for more than 2 hours a day will die sooner than someone who is more active, health experts agree that the findings simply suggest the association between sedentary behavior and a shorter life expectancy.

“Given that the results from objective monitoring of sedentary time in NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) has indicated that adults spend an average of 55% of their day engaged in sedentary pursuits, a significant shift in behavior change at the population level is required to make demonstrable improvements in life expectancy,” the authors concluded in a statement.

The problem of sedentary lifestyle is as evident in other countries as it is in America; thus, health care professionals would consistently remind their patients about the importance of engaging in physical activities. With the advent of smarter gadgets, even children who spend more time sitting at home than playing outdoors are at risk of developing sedentary habits early in their life, resulting to children obesity.

According to experts, adults should get at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day to stay fit while children should spend at least 60 minutes of playtime.