Issue Date: January 21, 2007
Ward off child obesity
Make this year an active one.
If you saw your children playing on the train tracks, would you make sure they understood the dangers of doing so? Of course!
Many children today have adopted habits that put them squarely in harm's way. Health risks are charging down the tracks toward them, and we parents must provide our children with the example they need to clear the tracks.
According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17% of today's youth are overweight, and an additional 15% are at risk of becoming so. Hence, kids now face health problems -- high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol -- that used to be seen only in adults.
Children are less active at home and school, and they are consuming more junk food than we did growing up. Is it any wonder they're more out of shape and overweight? Quite honestly, it's surprising more of them aren't at risk.
Sounding the alarm on childhood obesity is a major focus of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, of which I'm a member. In 2007, let's take simple steps that can have big long-term benefits. For more information on living a physically active lifestyle, go online to fitness.gov. It's time we got our kids off that dangerous track.
Go to top
|
How to model an active life
Children learn what they live, so make it a point to:
Take the stairs instead of elevators.
Park a few blocks away from your destination or at the far end of the parking lot.
Walk the last few blocks to your destination instead of riding the bus all the way.
Go for walks together.
|
Tedd Mitchell, M.D., president and medical director of Dallas' Cooper Clinic, writes HealthSmart every week.
|
