Childhood obesity a major problem that is getting worse

Q: We have three grandchildren and we love them dearly, but we are concerned.

Each one of them is getting a little thick around the mid-waist and with each passing year it seems to be getting just a bit worse. They are putting on too many pounds.

I have read any number of reports in the paper about concerns our public health officials have about childhood obesity, and although our grandchildren have not yet hit that level of concern, there is no doubt in our minds that the kids are eating a lot of junk food and they are doing this while being caught in the lethargy of their cellphones and their computer games.

If that great day ever comes when their parents want to talk to us about overweight in their children, we want to be prepared.

What can you tell us about childhood obesity?

A: I am glad that you have taken up concerns about your grandchildren.

Childhood obesity in this country is hitting close to epidemic figures, and it is getting worse. Between 1978 and 2004, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children, aged two to 17, increased to 34 percent from 23 percent. Obesity went to 12 percent from six, doubling its numbers.

Problems once thought to be peculiar to adults, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are now being diagnosed in children.

Of course, the real problem is that it does not stop there. Kids who are overweight or obese carry their nutritional struggles into their maturity and become overweight or obese adults.

The whole thing is frightening. If you can do something now to help your grandchildren you might save them a lot of remorse in the future.

You can start supporting and helping your grandchildren by understanding that childhood obesity is not a personal problem. This is a family problem.

The data is clear. Kids struggle with weight gain when they come from homes with too much pressure and tension. They are susceptible to those monthly bills, and they are sensitive when Mom and Dad are struggling with their own relationship.

If for some reason, the kids do not believe that their parents love them to the moon and back, chances are good that they will gain a pound or two.

It’s also well known that most children learn from their parents.

Put a dad in front of too many TVs with a beer in his hand, and chances are good that his kids are going to be in front of their computer games with plates filled with junk food.

This means that if Mom and Dad want their kids to change, they can start by regulating their own nutritional habits.

Enter the family doctor. Most children are overweight because of poor dietary habits but some aren’t.

Some children, fewer than you might imagine, have been treated poorly through the misgivings of their genetic or physiological structures.

Those who have been victimized will be treated differently. Between the family physician and the local dietitian, an appropriate program can be built for them. Your doctor can help you understand which of the grandkids are overweight because of bad habits and which have been victimized by nature.

No one has all the right answers for the dinner table, but moms and dads together with their children, can start exploring what makes a healthy meal. They can start having fun experimenting with different recipes, and if they reward and encourage each other when those forbidden pounds start to evaporate, they will all be the healthier for it.

Their families as individual units will get better, and because they are part of it, so will the kids.

The healthier they are as children, the healthier they will become as adults.

Jacklin Andrews is a family counsellor from Saskatchewan. Contact: jandrews@producer.com.