Treatment and Prevention of Childhood Obesity

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The one item I appreciated the most from “The ‘O’ Factor: a Review of the Literature and Strategies to Reduce Childhood Obesity”, “Child Obesity: Prevalence, Treatment and Prevention”, and “Prevention of Childhood Obesity”, not matter how brief they may have been, was that they mentioned either the parents having or needing to take responsibility or at least that the family unit is an important factor in this issue. I feel over and above anything else that any of the article mentioned that the parent’s role is the most important in this situation. No expert suggestions or programs mentioned in any of these articles will be successful tackling this situation without parental or at minimum a respected adults example and supportive behavior.
I don’t know if I have been missing this or if the way it was worded in the ‘O’ Factor article just did the trick for me but the “Roundup of Obesity Studies” information revealing that there are actual differences between the brain cells of obese kids compared to physically active kids was an eye opener for me. Calling the brain cells of the obese kids “damaged” struck me. It also allowed me to wrap my thoughts more clearly around the idea of them suffering from depression, mood swings, and anxiety problems. The differences in feeding styles also stuck out to me. As a parent I am sure I go back and forth form the indulgent and dictatorial styles. I think if we are to make sure we have balance and want our kids to be healthy we are going to be both indulgent and dictatorial at different times. I see it as it is mentioned in the article that if we are to really make corrections in childhood obesity before it is too late it is crucial to their lives that our children in our society today be taught ...

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...e baseball. Plan a trip to a game and make a program that involves throwing the baseball or doing modified baseball type maneuvers. For example catching grounders and fly balls so they have to bend, squat and maybe run some. If they are video junkies then find a way to get them playing interactive games that require them to get up and move.
• Stand: Know what is best for this individual. Stand up for the person, using Protocols has its place but they are not the end all be all. If an event is going to serve as a de-motivator for the person then don’t do it. If they are doing good just to be moving and out of the house then make adjustments to your approach to help build their confidence and an appreciation for being physically active. Make changes to your parameters as necessary it has become almost like working with parameters you would for a disabled individual.

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