Breastfeeding Benefits!

Breastfeeding to Prevent Childhood Obesity Preventing childhood obesity can take place as early as the first day of their lives. Breastfeeding a child offers benefits on top of lowering the risk of obesity, such as a decreased risk of bacterial and viral infections, and a stronger bond with the mother. It also benefits the mother by helping mothers lose “baby-weight” quicker. It decreases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and due to hormonal responses to breastfeeding, it speeds up the rate that their uterus returns to its normal size again.

Breast feeding provides the baby with nutritious food, and helps them learn healthy eating habits when their young by allowing them to decide when and how much milk to consume. Breastfed children are more likely to have healthy eating patterns than children who were not breastfed. It is recommended to breastfeed a child for at least the first 6 months of life. The introduction of solid foods in this time period has been linked to obesity and food allergies. Obesity during infancy has been linked to childhood obesity, which as I’ve mentioned in previous posts increases the risk of adult obesity along with a slew of additional ailments. photo First

First Lady Michelle Obama advocates breastfeeding as part of her campaign against childhood obesity. One of her goals is to increase the number of mothers who exclusively breastfeed. She is also leading an incredible program known as Let’s Move! that has touched children all across the nation! I encourage you to read more about her plans and her program at http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/NewsInfo/NewsRoom/201002PreventingObesityBeginsatBirth/tabid/169/Default.aspx.

For additional information the American Academy of Pediatrics has great stuff on breastfeeding at http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/Pages/default.aspx.

The Relationship Between Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that children over the age of 2 should engage in a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. These activities should be developmental and stimulating for the child. Physical activity in children has been linked to increased life expectancy and lower riskof cardiovascular diseases. Children who are more physically active are more likely to be active as adults and have been associated with improved weight control, blood pressure, an increase in good cholesterol, and psychological health (http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/).

Physical activity also promotes insulin sensitivity thus decreasing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Children at the highest risk of inadequate physical activity are those living in poverty, children with disabilities, children living in apartments, and children who live in areas where outdoor activity is restricted due to climate, safety, or another unpreventable cause. There also seems to be a lull from preadolescent to adolescent years. In a large-scale study it was found that children ages 6-7 were significantly more active (46 min/day) than children ages 10-15 (16-45 min/day), in which the most significant decrease was seen in the female population. This is thought to primarily be a result of parental inactivity, lack of safe facilities and funds, and limited school physical education (PE) participation. Children spend approximately one-third of their day at school, 5 days a week, which speaks for itself in regards of the importance of PE requirements. In 2000 a comprehensive study looked at physical education across the U.S. and found that 8% of elementary schools, 6.4% of middle schools, and 4% of high schools had PE requirements. 80% of states require students to participate in PE, but without requirements there is no necessity for these children to actively participate because there are no repercussions. There are national recommendations for school PE, but there has been limited implementation.

Recommendations for non-school activities

Infants and toddlers are recommended by the AAP to have zero exposure to television and to have daily exploration of the world around them under supervision. Examples of this are walking around the neighborhood, walking through a zoo, or letting them roam (supervised) in a park.

Children ages 4-6 should be having fun while playing with peers and exploring new things and activities. Open areas for unorganized play engages their creativity and imagination while allowing them to freely run and move around in their own self-made world. It is advised that these children be limited to >2 hours a day of screen time.

Children ages 6-9 organized activities, but walking, dancing, and non-competitive sports are highly recommended children ages 10-12 are recommended to participate in activities that further challenge their abilities to focus, reason, and perform. This is a good time to introduce competitive sports to them. Structured weight training is also encouraged in this age group to help develop motor skills and muscular growth. Lighter weights with higher repetitions are recommended.

Teenagers are encouraged to continue with activities with increasing difficulty. This tends to be the age of rebellion, so encouraging adolescents and providing them with the opportunity to engage in extracurricular activities is key to their continuance of exercise. For more in-depth information visit this link. 

Children and adolescents don’t always know what is best for them, so it’s up to their caretakers and elders to help guide them in the right direction. Physical activity is the largest variable in daily energy needs as well as a large preventative measure for a host of diseases. It is crucial to a child’s health that they get active and remain active throughout their lives. Habits formed through childhood are the hardest to break, so why not try and form some healthy ones?! We all need to help children help themselves so they have a fair chance at making their own decisions when they are capable of it.

How do fast food restaurants advertise towards children ?

There are a slew of reasons for childhood obesity, one being the high consumption of fast food. It isn’t by habit that children are drawn to fast foods; these companies do their research. They show photos and videos of delicious, steaming foods, they use menu copy and entice their commercial viewers by enchanting their ears with savory fatty, salty words, and on top of this they target children by advertising toys and other giveaways. According to Alexandra Sifferlin, the author of the TIMES magazine article “Forget the Food: Fast Food Ads Aimed at Kids Features Lots of Giveaways”, a study was published in journal PLOS ONE that compared nationally televised advertisements that were targeted towards children were more likely to include a toy or alternate giveaway than they were to feature the actual foods! 55% of these included some type of movie tie-in.

It’s fairly obvious from these numbers that they can no longer use their product as their sole point of sale. It’s also been found that fast food companies also target the youth more than any other type of beverage and food-company does. Even though children 2-17 years of age don’t normally have steady incomes, these companies rely on the persistency of children to get what they think they need, and this is obviously working.  Over 99% of fast food advertisements between 2009 and 2010 were televised on children’s television networks, and 70% of them contained a toy giveaway. To read more check out the TIMES for yourself!

There is a lot of talk regarding the ethics behind aiming advertisements towards children. In 2011 there was a study done in Santa Clara County that banned toys and other non-food items from kids’ meals. As a result there was an increase in healthier options being offered and consumed (TIMES) by children. From this we can see the strong relationship between fast food consumption and toy giveaways. Children are a vulnerable group of people who have a lot of say in what their parents purchase. Making a child feel like that restaurant has what they need, is one of the most powerful ways to get parents to drive their children to the golden arches. For more information, or to read this for yourself visit Times.

I also wanted to recognize an organization with a great cause, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This is a philanthropist-driven organization that focuses their funds exclusively on health and healthcare and aims their efforts on making the world a healthier place. They contribute to the latest research and help inform people of the nations health crisis. Their website covers health policy, disease prevention, and the cost and value of U.S. health care. They have more specific sub-topics as well, one being childhood obesity. They are incredibly informative, and a reliable source. I encourage you to visit and explore RWJF for yourself at http://www.rwjf.org.

          According to the CDC as of August 13, 2013 1 in 8 preschoolers are obese in the U.S.  Children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are 5X more likely to be overweight or obese as adults compared to normal-weight children.  Though this may seem like a doomsday statistic, they have also reported that since 2008 there has been a slight decline in overweight and obese preschoolers.  Low-income preschoolers have also shown a decline in obesity rates in almost half of the states in the U.S.  It is said that 1 in every 3 children are overweight or obese[CDC].

You can read more about this at http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/childhoodobesity/.

In order to keep the nations weight on a down-hill slope, you (care-takers) can serve more fruits and vegetables to your children and avoid sugar-filled processed snacks.  You can also eat healthier yourself!  If you want to help your child become a healthier person, you might as well jump on the train too by being a good role model for them.  Taking time to clean and cut vegetables when you’re hungry is an improbable task.  Instead, cut up a bunch of vegetables and leave them in a see-through container in the fridge (so you don’t forget what’s in it).  This gives you a quick, healthy snack on the go.  You can also limit the screen-time your child has by encouraging them to join extracurricular activities and play outside.  More healthy tips can be found at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-tips.html.  You can click any of the links on the main page, and they will bring you to a .pdf file that gives you 10 tips on how to incorporate certain foods, or how to ensure you get the recommended servings of food groups!

 

With that said, Childhood obesity is still a serious issue.  The habits formed in preschool-aged children and in adolescence are often life-long.  According to the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Records (NCCOR) children who are obese at age 4 have a 20% chance of becoming obese as adults, and an obese teenager has an 80% chance of becoming / remaining obese as an adult!  Those are fairly promising odds.  High enough to make me want to do something about it!  So, my way to contribute is to educate when I can, and to post to this blog and hopefully gain some followers who share the same passion for helping children that I do.

Thanks for reading!