Hard Truth
As much as I love to be a cheerleader, there are some hard truths associated with our struggles with weight, one of the gravest being the fact that obese parents tend to produce obese children. What better reason is there to get healthy than to spare our children the misery and ill health, both physical and mental, of carrying excess pounds? I enjoy writing encouraging, uplifting articles but sometimes a splash of cold water in our faces will wake us up when all the soothing words in the world never will. There is massive evidence that our habits can have catastrophic effects on our innocent children, setting them up for an unhealthy life. The link is so strong that in some states, the government has intervened on behalf of the children, considering the allowing of a child to become obese as a crime that can affect parental rights.
Removal From Home
In 2011 a 218 pound third grader was taken from his parents due, in part, to the level of obesity in his home.[1] In recent years a handful of influential doctors have come forth to advocate removal of children from the home if the environment is deemed dangerous for the child.
Parental Obesity
In a prospective study of children aged birth to 9.5 years, parental obesity was found to be the most influential factor affecting childhood obesity. [2] What we fail to realize when we allow our children to become obese is that they can develop diabetes, breathing difficulties and liver problems and die by age 30 if they are allowed to become obese early in their lives. Children are developing Type 2 Diabetes at an alarming rate. The complications of Diabetes are dreadful and include cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, foot damage, skin conditions, Alzheimer’s Disease and amputations. If we do not give our children a healthy start in life, they will likely fall victim to this dreaded disease. The psychiatric stress of obesity is also of consideration for development of various mental illnesses in children including anxiety, depression and aggression.
Responsibility
There is a free style poem about children learning what they live. We owe it to them to live a healthy life before them. They mimic our behavior. Let’s make it good. ;-*
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obese-third-grader-taken-from-family-did-state-go-too-far/