Childhood Obesity and How to Prevent It

The sheer amount of misinformation on obesity in America is staggering. However, far more troubling is the amount of misinformation on childhood obesity and how to combat it. For all the troubling news stories of how people are dying left and right, the latest vital statistics data from the CDC says that we've hit a new high in life expectancy, as we have every year since 1977.

First you have to establish your child is really overweight. BMI has historically been inaccurate in a majority of the population. BMI would have marked Sylvester Stallone as obese in his Rambo days. In fact, BMI is useless for anyone who exercises since it cannot account for muscle mass. There are athletes with 2% body fat classified as "obese". Any doctor that uses BMI as an indicator of your child's obesity or "obesity" is not being honest. There's actually a very simple way of telling if your child is obese: Look at them. We know what stomach fat looks like and that is the indicator of poor health. It's called "abdominal obesity".

Quite frankly, the best advice is to give your child a good healthy diet, moderating sweets and be sure he gets plenty of exercise. Every one is an individual and their body shape is a combination of genetics and proper eating habits and exercise. There is no one cause of obesity in children or adults as a group. Each person is unique and what is good for one may be bad for another. Science has shown that no single factor is the cause and claims of soda or sweets being the factor have been debunked in published scientific journals using proper scientific method.

The best thing to do for you and your child is educate yourself by reading more than the headlines and never listening to another person. No one knows your child better than you and your child should never be humiliated or embarrassed by anyone with regards to their weight. Proper mental health is a large key to anyone's obesity. If you care about your body, you will take better care of it. The emphasis should be on health, not size.

Faith has been writing articles online for over 4years now. She has her own informational site on Kitchen Appliances Small where she talks about various topics including how a small blender can help make a world of difference in a compact kitchen. When Faith is not writing articles online or working on her many interest sites, she is enjoying the Los Angeles music scene.

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