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Childhood ObesityMore Than a Health ProblemWhile diseases loom ahead for the overweight child, childhood obesity has a devastating affect on their day to day lives. The health problems seem far in the future and has not sense of immediacy to them. It is the negative impact on their day by day lives that concerns them. Obese children suffer great humiliation. Other children and even adults say cruel and hurtful things to them. It limits in their friendships. Many times dating is out of the question. Society has a negative perception of fat kids. Dancing around the problem by remaining in a state of denial, does not help the child. Parents need to face the problem squarely, acknowledge it, and seek for a solution. Depression is common among obese children and they feel great shame. This can alter the entire course of their emotional and social lives. The psychology and cultural factors behind this epidemic says a lot about us as a people. Remarks like the following are very painful to children struggling to eat and act like "normal" kids. 
Why don’t the fatties recognize what they are doing to themselves? Most children do not understand health issues. At a young age they do not see themselves as fat. Don’t fat kids have mirrors in their houses? Painfully enough, they do have mirrors and spend a lot of time weeping in front of them. No one is more painfully aware than a fat child who has been teased at school, nagged at in the home, and seen the disgusted looks of strangers. Why don’t fat kids see what they look like? Oh, they do after a certain age. I knew one young man who came home from school humiliated because the boys had made fun of his breasts. Another was made fun of because the fat in his pubic area made it difficult to see his penis. Fat girls have even worse problems. It is considered far worse for girls to be fat than for boys. Even fat boys and fat men often insist on a skinny wife. I know of one obese man who actually told his wife that he wished she'd lose weight so it would look as if he could get a slender woman! He thought they'd make a better looking couple if one of them was skinny - and it wasn't going to be him. Why aren’t they able to motivate themselves to eat less? For the same reason that slender people don't spend all their time in a starvation mode. Anyone can fight the hunger and food cravings only so long before giving in. Until they know the cause of the cravings and get on a program that will control them, they are pretty powerless to make lasting changes. Fat kids fighting against food is pretty hopeless without a lot of support. Why don’t they seem to care?The sad part is that they care very much. They are well aware of what they look like - having been told often enough. They are fighting to be "normal" in an abnormal eating environment. The other kids have hamburger and fries - they want to do the same. One thing kids always say is they want to be different. In fact, they have a horror of being different. To eat a balanced meal while everyone else is having pizza and bread sticks, is unthinkable. So a lot of retraining is going to have to take place. In addition, they are conditioned to eating a certain way. They are too young and immature to deal with this tremendous problem. Intervention is important in any addictive behavior and doubly so in eating behavior. Too often, we attempt to punish or humiliate the child. CLICK from Childhood Obesity to HOME PAGE Childhood Obesity Prevention & InterventionThe only way lasting way to change childhood obesity is to change our own lifestyle and set the example for the children. Once you have made changes in your eating pattern, then - and only then - begin the changes in your child's diet and activity program.It pains me when I see a young overweight couple with a couple of chubby children. You can see their future. And I'm sure that young couple is more concerned about their own weight and their children's weight than I could ever be. They are fully aware that an overweight child has a good chance of suffering from childhood obesity. I'm sure they are as baffled as I would have been before I heard about Matol. Most people know little or nothing about childhood obesity prevention. Childhood obesity prevention should be the motivating factor behind every family's eating plan. If children are accustomed to healthy eating in the home and when dining out, they will have a fighting chance against becoming overweight. Childhood obesity can be overcome. It will take patience and time. Is it worth the effort? What do you think? I'm here to help, contact me.
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