Getting Real about the Epidemic


    

 Let’s be honest here, childhood obesity is a topic that has been overused and exhausted with possible solutions that have yet to work. Parents do not know how to keep their children healthy much less how to get them healthy if they are overweight. With all the studies and suggestions who would know where to start? There are good and bad ways to go about solving the childhood obesity crisis in America. The key to the crisis is not the fault of advertising or marketing of this ‘bad’ food to children. So don’t get confused.  Janice Crouse in "The Fast-Food Industry Intentionally Markets Unhealthy Food to Children” explains that television and Internet marketing to children is what is causing them to eat this unhealthy food. While this is a contributing factor, it is not the main reason! If parents would limit their children’s time when it came to internet and television, the marketing of the “bad foods” would not have any affect on the children.  It is not just the type of food that America’s children are eating that is causing this epidemic. Whether it is lunchroom food or fast food neither is the driving factor in childhood obesity, regardless of the portion sizes. Gregory Green argues that it is fast food that is causing this issue, but fast food has been around for decades and it is just now having a colossal effect on our youth. This proves there is no way that it is purely fast food. However, many people are under the impression that schools or the government should be responsible for childhood obesity. America wants to rely on the government to set standards for lunchroom food or other types of food. The real truth behind childhood obesity is that it starts at home. Yes you read that right! Parents are solely responsible for their children’s health as they grow up, and getting children involved in team sports is the easiest and best way to do so. Although this solution seems simple, it will work. For so long people have tried to solve it all at once, that is not the answer. Starting from inside each home is a direct way for each and every parent to have an affect on his or her child’s health.

Check out this video for more information on childhood obesity: 

Web MD: Childhood Obesity