I have written in the past about coaches telling kids that
they need to get bigger and stronger but fail to follow up those suggestions
with details on how to get bigger and stronger. http://nowforeverfit.blogspot.com/2012/04/yeah-but-how-do-i-do-that.html
As I stated in that article I am not using this as an
opportunity to criticize coaches because even they would acknowledge they are
not qualified to dispense sound nutritional advice to their athletes. That said if a coach or parent is going
to make a comment that a child needs to get bigger or even to lose weight they
must be prepared to follow that up with wise and intelligent advice. And if they don’t have the answer they should
be prepared to provide a resource that can.
I am always concerned that a child can take a comment like
this the wrong way and life at that age is confusing enough without tossing
ill-advised suggestions their way.
What may seem to be a constructive comment may actually have unintended
consequences. For example a young
athlete is advised to “get bigger” without getting any advice to do so and
heads off to the local supplement shop to get advice from a salesperson…not a
good first step!
What of the young lady that is told she needs to slim down
for her next gymnastics competition but again is not advised how to do so. Though it’s frightening to consider
this that child may severely restrict food intake because she thinks she’s
“fat.”
Kids are always listening to us and look up to us whether we
realize it or not. Several years
ago my nephew (6 years old at the time) asked me why I would not eat any pizza
and soda and I said because it’s bad for you. Needless to say he repeated this to his mother when he
wouldn’t eat his pizza and the comment was traced back to me and she read me
the riot act, which I deserved.
While I didn’t think anything of my comment at the time when his mother
called I immediately knew the mistake I had made. When it comes to youth nutrition no food should be labeled
bad. The better approach
would have been for me to say: “I
would rather have an apple and some almonds because I like that better than
pizza.”
With this approach I haven’t confused him and have
demonstrated with my actions that when it comes to food selection you have
choices (also keeps my sister-in-law in good spirits). Making better food choices is a process
that takes time but the key is to be consistent with your own food choices
because remember, kids ultimately get their cues from us.
Along these lines what about a school wide obesity
prevention program? With nearly 1
out of 3 children in the United States overweight or obese this seems like a
needed step. However, A new report
from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health
examined the possible association between school-based childhood obesity
prevention programs and an increase in eating disorders among young children
and adolescents.
The Poll asked parents about obesity prevention programs in
their children’s schools and about food-related behaviors and activity that may
be worrisome.
Overall, 82 percent of parents of children age 6-14 report
at least one school-based childhood obesity intervention program taking place
in their child’s school. Among these programs are nutrition education, limits
on sweets or “junk food” in the classroom, height and weight measurements, and
incentives for physical activity.
Additionally, 7 percent of parents report that their
children have been made to feel bad at school about what or how much they were
eating.
This same group
of parents was also asked about their children’s eating behaviors.
Thirty percent of parents of 6-14 year-olds report at least
one behavior in their children that could be associated with the development of
an eating disorder. These behaviors include inappropriate dieting, excessive
worry about fat in foods, being preoccupied with food content or labels,
refusing family meals, and having too much physical activity.
“The issue of childhood obesity is a serious problem. In
order to intervene in what seems like an epidemic of childhood obesity,
everyone needs to be involved,” says David Rosen, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical
Professor of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Psychiatry at the University of
Michigan Medical School and Chief of Teenage and Young Adult Medicine in the
Department of Pediatrics.
However, Rosen says, “When obesity interventions are put in
place without understanding how they work and what the risks are, there can be
unintended consequences. Well-intentioned efforts can go awry when children
misinterpret the information they’re given.
“Many of these behaviors are often dismissed as a phase,”
says Rosen, “But given what we know about the association of these behaviors
with the development of eating disorders and knowing that eating disorders are
increasing in prevalence, they should be taken very seriously.”
The fact that 30% of parents report at least one worrisome
eating behavior in their children is concerning.
“It’s much better and safer for parents to respond to
worrisome eating behaviors early – even if there turns out to be no problem –
than to wait until there is obviously a big problem,’ Rosen says. “It is much
easier to prevent an eating disorder than it is to treat an eating disorder.”
Rosen offers these suggestions for parents:
·
Be attentive to your children’s eating habits.
If you see behaviors that are worrisome to you, talk to your children about
them. If the behaviors escalate, involve your child’s doctor.
·
Find out what your children’s schools are doing
to prevent childhood obesity.
·
Be involved and engaged in that process.
·
Ask your children if they’re being teased at
school about their food choices or their weight. If they are, go to the school
and find out what is happening. *
While I think school wide programs like those suggested in
the above report are noble in nature it seems to be a bit of an overreach to
me. I started teaching an athletic
development class at a public school last fall and on the first day I asked the
children why they signed up for the class? Several children said they took the class to exercise so
they won’t become obese…
I was a little dumbfounded that 3RD and 4TH
graders had this word in their vocabulary. I am not naïve and obesity is not something to take lightly
in fact it has become even more costly to America’s health than smoking. But it seems like too much attention is
paid to the problem and not enough to the solutions. Rather than scare tactics let’s promote the benefits and fun
of free play and school wide programs that have the potential to have lifelong
impacts such as growing a school garden with the help of local farmers. Some schools are even partnering with
local farms not only to provide fresh food for school lunches but also field
trips to show kids where their food comes from.
It is my strong belief that as parents, teachers and coaches
the most effective steps we can take to resolve the youth obesity crisis or
more appropriately the childhood inactivity, play deprived and over-fed,
undernourished crisis is to model the behavior consistently that we expect of
them. They are watching and they
are listening, closely.
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