Disturbing Behavior: Obesity

In the year 2000, obesity was the cause of 400,000 deaths in the United States. The most recent statistics show that over 15 percent or nine million of our youth are overweight, triple the number from 1980. If this isn’t enough to worry about, studies also show that nine out of ten youth are inactive. Consider the following: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, poor diet and physical inactivity are among the leading cause of death that can be prevented. In fact, poor diet and physical inactivity rank as number 2 for leading cause of preventable death among teens.
It doesn't take much effort to figure out why we have an obesity problem among teenagers. On one side of the problem, we have supersized everything in our culture with fast-food restaurants on every corner and quick-fix convenience foods that don’t qualify as proper diet and nutrition. On the other side, we have video games, the Internet, and cable and satellite television that drain the physical activity out of our kids.

What’s the answer? Consider the following approaches to take with your youth or to pass on to someone you know. The following list is from Dr. Diana Sullivan, coordinator of Cardiac Preventive Medicine Services at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

1. Be positive! Let your children know they are loved and appreciated whatever their weight. Overweight children know better than anyone that they have a weight problem. Overweight kids need support, acceptance, and encouragement from their parents.
2. Focus on your children’s health and positive qualities, not their weight.
3. Try not to make your children feel different if they are overweight. Focus on gradually changing your family’s physical activities and eating habits to help make a difference.
4. Be a positive role model. If your children see you enjoying healthy foods and physical activities, they are more likely to do the same.

While we need to give the above suggestions serious attention, we also need to call on teens to change their lifestyles and to abandon the media-charged, fast-food world they live in. This will not be easy. It will take all of us-parents, educators, youth workers, and significant others in the lives of our kids-to move them to more healthy lifestyles.

Dr. Diana Sullivan suggests these ways to help teens change their eating habits:
1. Follow the dietary guidelines for healthy eating
2. Guide your family’s choices rather than dictate what foods they eat.
3. Encourage your children to eat only when hungry and to eat slowly.
4. Eat meals together as a family as often as possible.
5. Carefully cut down on the amount of fat and calories in your family’s diet.
6. Encourage teens to drink water and to limit the intake of beverages with added sugars, such as soft drinks, fruit juice drinks, and sports drinks.
7. Buy healthy snacks
8. Aim to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
9. Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV.
10. Eating a healthy breakfast is a good way to start the day and may be important in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

In conclusion, Proverbs 23:20 admonishes us to “not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” The bottom line is that we have to get our teens off the couch, away from the computer and video games, and on their feet. Be creative and think about ways to help them become more active and eat right.