Western Courier

Issue date: 4/4/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: MCT

The Food Network has unveiled a program that highlights the problem of child obesity. While its intentions are great, it is up to us to reverse this growing health problem.

There are numerous ways to change the fact that about 12 million youngsters are overweight, according to healthiergeneration.org. In our industrialized society, we have become heavily reliant on convenience. Mom and Dad both work, so the likelihood of a healthy, home-cooked meal every night has drastically decreased. It's easier to dine via drive-thru.

Not only is fast food loaded with salt, fat and cholesterol, but the de-emphasis on home-cooking could also give youngsters the idea that preparing a much healthier meal at home is far too time-consuming once he or she grows up.

If we want the children in this country to lose weight, we must wean them off fast food. The Food Network Web site offers thousands of quick and easy meal recipes, some of which can be prepared a week in advance. Instead of picking up fast food, all Mom or Dad has to do is stick a meal she or he already prepared in the microwave.

In addition to fixing the food aspect of this problem, we need to encourage children not to be couch potatoes. The saturation of video games and other technology-driven toys has led children in America to become sedentary, which only increases the probability they will become obese. Parents should limit the time kids spend playing video games and should also encourage their kids to get out and play.

If a child doesn't want to participate in sports, that's fine, but we must teach him or her that exercising is important to stay healthy. The child doesn't have to run a marathon; a brisk walk after dinner every night or riding his or her bike around the neighborhood would suffice.

None of this will work, however, if we don't take the time to explain to children why fast food and being sedentary are unhealthy. Some parents might rely on the child's school health class to teach the child how to be healthy, but most health classes fail miserably at teaching proper nutrition.

Mom and Dad need to take the time to introduce their children to the wonderful world of cooking. By allowing kids to help prepare family meals, they will learn that making dinner doesn't have to be an all-day endeavor. The kids will also be more likely to adopt better eating habits when they learn new ways to spice up their favorite foods.

The problem of childhood obesity doesn't have to remain an epidemic if we can teach our children that eating right and exercising can be fun. While most of us in college aren't parents yet, we can reach out to younger members of our family who might not understand that eating at Burger King every day isn't healthy.

It all depends if we, as adults, are willing to put a little effort into improving the health of this country's children.

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