Child obesity is a major concern of parents

Child obesity is a major concern of parents

Child obesity is a major concern of parents.
Discuss its causes and effects.

It is true that child obesity is becoming a major concern for parents all over the world. For example, a recent study reported that the number of overweight children has nearly doubled in Australia in recent years and nearly thirty percent of them can be formally termed as obese.

This is a disturbing fact not only for the parents but for the society at large. Obesity in children renders risks towards their long term as well as short term health. Apart from having physical health problems, it can have various negative psychological impacts on children as well. For example, obese children are teased by their peers, thereby, developing a low self esteem in them. They eventually become image conscience and in extreme cases, an affect has been seen on their performance as well, in their studies and other activities.

Several researches are conducted every year to understand the causes for this alarming increase in obesity among children all over the world. The major reasons however projected are faulty eating habits accompanied by lack of physical activity. Growing popularity of the fast food culture is one of the major reasons for children becoming obese at very young age.

Also, with the easy access to internet and social networking websites, children have adopted a very sedentary life style. They prefer spending time on their electronic gadgets for hours together rather than having a physical activity. This leads to storage of calories obtained from food in the body as fat. In very rare cases, however obesity may be genetic in nature.

Steps should be taken to address this problem collectively. Education of balanced diet and healthy lifestyle should be introduced as a curriculum in the schools itself. Moreover, parents should be vigilant regarding what their children are eating and how they are spending their free time. Parental guidance can work wonders to help obese children reverse their obesity.

At the same time, some steps should be taken by the Government as well. Awareness camps for obesity can be a good tool to educate people about its causes and impacts. For example, awareness camps in India for “Polio” has shown dramatic results. People have become so reactive and have taken eradication of polio as a national cause. Whenever, a polio booth is announced, it see’s participation from millions of children accompanied by their parents.

Similar steps should be taken to fight child obesity as well. Moreover, heavy advertisements should be done on television and radio motivating people to follow a healthy life style and a balanced diet regime. This is help counter the excessive advertising done by various fast food giants like Mc Donald’s, Pizza Hut, Dominoes etc.

It can be concluded by saying that child obesity is a major concern but spreading awareness about the same along with taking it as a societal cause can help in its eradication.