Monday, May 23, 2011

New ways for Teenage Obesity Prevention

Teenage obesity is one of the growing concerns in the U.S. and most other developed countries. In America teenage obesity is rising drastically. Among U.S. kids aged 2 to19 years the obesity rate is around 17% which is 3 times the rate in 1980. A child is considered obsessed when the fat percentage is more than 32% (girls) and 35% (boys) or when his/her body weight is more than 20% of ideal weight as per their height. Teenage obesity is led by sugary drinks, inactive lifestyles, genetics and junk food. Children who are obese are at high risk of developing health problems such as heart diseases, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, high blood pressure levels and cancer in future. The first step to stop teenage obesity is to teach them how to control their weight and fight obesity themselves. Refer the article to know the new ways to prevent teenage obesity.


New Ways to Prevent Teenage Obesity:


Exercise to the Rescue
Exercise plays important role in preventing or reducing teenage obesity. Exercise decreases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other associated disease among all age group. Exercise makes the muscles, bones and ligaments strong. Exercise even helps the children who are genetically prone to being obese to overcome. As per study, children who are involved in greater amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at age 5 had lower body mass at age 11 compared to children who were less physically active. Children should get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Parents should engage their children in Aerobic exercises, walking, dancing, jumping, skipping, weight lifting exercise, cycling, sit-ups and swimming in order to maintain high metabolism rate. Children can begin from walking and afterwards increase the intensity as well as do some tough exercise. Perform the exercise early in the morning as this will let the metabolism to burn all day long.

Help Teens Step It Up
In U.S. children aged from 8 to 18 spend an average of 4 hours daily in watching TV and 2 more hours on video & computer entertainment, as per study done by Kaiser Family Foundation. Sports are the excellent way to stay active. Parents should make sports or outdoor games first priority for their children. Parents should encourage their children to play different sports to find out what they enjoy. Sports will help the children to lose some calories and bust some sweat. As per study, children who play sports had reduced their risk of obesity by 48%. Sports also boost the metabolism of the children. During winter months you can take your children outside to go sledding or ice skating. On family trip or picnic include volleyball, basketball, etc. Physical activities particularly in schools are good alternative to remain fit.

A Turning Point for Lifelong Health
85% obese teens will become obese adults in future so it is very essential to keep them on the move. Through the activity level of the children it can be decided whether they will be obese as adults or not. As per study, teenagers who spent each day in physical education reduced their risk of being obese adults by 5% while teenagers who had 5 days a week in physical education reduced their risk of being obese adults by 28%. Body of teenager produces new fat cells. By the late childhood and teenage years the number of fat cells of body appears to be set so the adult who lose weight in later life does not decrease the fat cells number but reduce their size.

The ultimate number of fat cells that a person will have for life can be affected by staying active and consuming right in childhood. Parents must give their child nutritious homemade meals rather than pizza or burger and limit their fast foods and aerated drinks intake to 1 time a week. In place of 3 main meals give your child 6 small meals all through the day. Increase the intake of whole grains, fruits, dairy products, vegetables and lean meats. Also make your child to spend more time out instead of playing video games or watching TV as staying inside and playing games leads to weight gain.

1 comments:

This kind of problem is seen in most of children in US.


Smith Alan

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