Childhood Obesity
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I am a ninth grader at Burlington High School. My teacher assigned me the topic of childhood obesity to study, which after a short amount of research I found was a large and growing problem in the United States. One in six children in the United States are now obese, and Vermont is no exception. Around 30 percent of children in Vermont are overweight. Being obese can lead to health problems such as diabetes or hypertension. I believe that educating the parents of the children is the best step to take to reverse this trend.
The problem of childhood obesity came about because of a few different reasons. Unhealthier food is now easier to obtain, such as McDonalds, and is relatively cheap to purchase. Kids are spending more time in front of television sets, playing video games, or surfing the Internet. In order to be healthy, kids need at least one hour of vigorous activity daily. Between the unhealthy food and kids’ “screen time,” Vermont’s youth are becoming fat or obese.
Vermont schools have done a good job trying to address the problem, such as adding healthier foods to lunches. However, the problem though is not in school. As soon as a child leaves school, he is free to eat what ever his parents allow him. The problem does not come down to what the child knows. The problem is what the parent knows about their child’s health and sometimes, problems dealing with a picky eater. Simple things such as forcing children to take bites or sending a child out of the kitchen while cooking can help a child to obesity.
If we want to stop the trend of childhood obesity, we need to focus not only on the children but also on the parents. We all learn the most from our parents. I believe that child-parent workshops in school focusing on children’s health would help with this crisis more than any other option. I ask you to urge schools to get parents involved with their children’s health. We should not only get the children focused on making healthy choices but also the parents. If we want the parents of tomorrow to be more knowledgeable about their health and the health of their children, educate the parents of today’s children.