[acb-diabetics] keeping kids slim

Fri Feb 12 18:51:34 GMT 2010

THIS WEEK'S COLUMN:

For links, photos and comments, please read this column

at http://www.Nshima.com <http://www.nshima.com/>  where it was first
posted.

"LET'S MOVE -- TO FIGHT CHILDHOOD OBESITY"

<a href=" http://www.nshima.com/2010/02/obesity.html ">Column at
Nshima.com</a>

Childhood obesity is a major problem these days, and I'm not just saying
that because someone cracked the seesaw in my neighborhood playground. All
you have to do is visit any school and you're likely to spot dozens of kids
who have to walk sideways to enter the gym. That's the only way they can
squeeze past the gym teacher's belly. (If the gym teacher is overweight, you
know the kids are in trouble.)

According to the latest statistics, one out of every three American children
is overweight -- and the other two refuse to step on the scale. Many of
these children are considered "obese," as determined by a mathematical
formula in which a child's body weight in kilograms is divided by the square
of his or her height in meters, then multiplied by the average number of Kit
Kats consumed in a day.

Obesity puts children at risk for a number of health

problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorders, as well
as back and hip pain, which, in most cases, is not related to falling off
seesaws.

Thankfully, President Obama recently launched a campaign to fight childhood
obesity. The campaign, called "Let's Move," will try to educate parents
about the importance of nutrition and exercise. Obama hopes more parents and
children will say "Let's move" to each other, at least half as often as they
say "Let's munch."

It's a good campaign and I wouldn't be surprised if most families do find
themselves saying "Let's move," especially as part of a longer sentence such
as "Let's move to the dining room and munch."

That's not a bad thing, really. As shown by a study

published in the journal Pediatrics, three household habits

can help fight obesity among pre-school aged children: (1) eating together
as a family at least five evenings a week;

(2) making sure children get at least 10.5 hours of sleep during the week;
and (3) placing a large photo of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inside the
refrigerator.

If the Iranian president isn't scary enough, you might try a habit actually
suggested by Pediatrics: limiting your children's screen-viewing time to a
maximum of two hours a day. As any parent knows, this can be a real
challenge, because, let's face it, if your children aren't watching TV,
using the computer or playing video games, they're lying in bed, staring
blankly at the window screen.

Yes, if it isn't one screen, it's another. But don't

despair. Aside from the three habits suggested by the

journal, here are a few other steps you can take to fight childhood obesity:

---Get your children into a sport -- and I don't mean the Nathan's Hot-Dog
Eating Contest. If you ever watch the National Spelling Bee, you'll see that
even those kids are in good shape. Why? Because they're always carrying a
dictionary around.

---Add some exercise to your children's daily routines. If they're addicted
to video games, make sure they get some exercise before they play. This is
best accomplished by throwing their video game disc into your neighbor's
yard. It's a great way to increase their heart rate, especially if your
neighbor has a dog.

---Feed your children fresh fruit and vegetables. In case you're wondering,
French fries are not vegetables, and grape isn't just a flavor of soda. And
believe it or not, you can actually eat black-eyed peas, not just listen to
them.

---Keep desserts to a minimum. If your children want a Kit

Kat bar, make sure they get some exercise first. But please don't throw the
Kit Kat into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor's kid is fat enough as it is.

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<a href=" http://MelvinDurai.com <http://melvindurai.com/>  ">MelvinDurai.

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