Honey, I overfed the kids. According to the Christian Science Monitor, in the past 30 years, obesity has doubled in 2-to-5-year-old children and tripled for those ages 6 to 11 (November 3). Today, over 15 percent of children between 6 and 19 are considered obese.
Experts have always been quick to point out that too much junk food and tv are the big contributors to child obesity, but other problems are now taking the spotlight.
One factor is the academic load for most youngsters. More schools are assigning more schoolwork while cutting back on time allotted for recess. Fewer than 6 percent of high schools require upperclassmen to take physical education classes. The emphasis on academics is sending the message that basic physical activities are unproductive. Some schools are eliminating physical activities from their curricula altogether.
Another factor contributing to the rise of child obesity is the consumer culture in America. Children spend five times more time shopping than playing outdoors.
Perhaps the most disturbing cause is lack of parental supervision during after-school hours. Because parents are not home to keep an eye on any playtime outdoors, latchkey kids are often confined to the home until their parents return from work. According to the same article, more than 14 million children between kindergarten and 12th grade have no parent home after school. This not only prevents them from playing outside, it increases the likelihood of snacking, watching tv and playing video games—it promotes a sedentary lifestyle. This change in family life even has many young children making their own dinners too. (For more information on problems associated with unsupervised children, refer to our August 2004 articles “Motherhood: The Untold Story” and “Fatherhood 101,” which can be found under “Issue Archives” at www.theTrumpet.com.)
To reverse this trend, schools must rediscover the value of physical activity in a balanced education. More importantly, parents must accept responsibility for teaching children how to live.