Childhood Obesity and Training our Children.

I believe it is very hard to make a child obese, yet we seem to be making easy work of it. There is no excuse for childhood obesity as a result of lifestyle factors and it falls to blame on no one but the parents.

The incidence of childhood obesity not only in Australia, but the world, is a rapidly increasing and growing concern. In an era where most of our entertainment comes in the form of video games, television and the internet in a society that is growing ever more dependent on technology we are seeing a drastic and devastating decline in the overall level of our childrens health and fitness.

What must be recognised by the parents of Australia, and even more importantly the Australian Government, is that we are condemning future generations to a whole range of lifestyle related diseases and health issues which in turn will put increasing pressure on an already overrun health system.

What we don’t need is more hospitals, more beds, more nursing staff and cardiovascular surgeons, increasing health care costs and more retirement homes and staff.
What do we need? We need to educate the current generation of children and their parents about, and make habitual, the kind of lifestyle which will result in decreasing health and lifestyle related diseases which in turn will lower the amount of heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and the many many other diseases that come about due to poor lifestyle choices. What this will in turn do is to lower the number of hospitals and beds and nursing staff needed, put less strain on the health care system, and lower the number of older adults dependent on care due to loss of independence.

So how do we go about doing this?
First we must realise that our children are totally dependent on their parents as to what food they are eating, how much and how often. They are also dependent to a certain degree on the parents as to how much exercise they get or the activities they can undertake. We are all a product of our environment. What our children learn from us they will continue to do for the rest of their lives and in turn pass it onto the next generation.

So rule number 1 is: We the parents must make ourselves accountable for the way in which our children eat and exercise. We ourselves must lead by example and put in the time and effort not only for ourselves, but for our children to ensure they learn healthy sustainable lifestyle habits.

Rule number 2: We must educate ourselves on the correct foods to eat, how often to eat them, and how much to eat of each.

Rule number 3: We must make time for ourselves and for our children to exercise every day, no matter what else is happening in our lives we must ensure that there is at least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise performed.

Rule number 4: Learn and understand the functions of the body, how we build muscle, how muscle burns fat and how this in turn will keep us fit, healthy and independent. It is only with this knowledge that we will understand the need and benefits of eating right and using resistance training and understand that cardiovascular training is not the only, nor the best way to improve health and fitness and lose weight.
All the information that you need to learn about the above rules can be found on this website. For a little bit of time spent reading and learning you will reap the benefits of what you find for a lifetime, and so will your children.
Understand that unless you yourselves are willing to make a commitment, and make the effort then your children will not learn any other way.

This is the real test in life – where work, stress, family commitments, social activities and a host of other things all compete with you being able to maintain your health and fitness and in turn your families. When its so much easier to just ring up and order take away because you had a long day at work rather then cook, when its easier to just pop on a movie or video game for the kids to play instead of taking them down to the park because you don’t have much energy, these are the times that are going to make the biggest differences to your childrens lives.

So what kind of training or exercise is ok for our children?

There is much debate about what kids should and shouldn’t be able to do in terms of weight bearing exercise.
The general consensus is that children shouldn’t lift maximum poundages, nor any heavy overhead lifts as it has been believed that this causes the early closing over of the growth plates on the bones thus limiting the child’s height. Whether or not this is true is open to debate as I have seen many young power lifters lifting maximum poundages and maximum weight for overhead lifts and they have grown up to be within normal height ranges and without any resulting negative effects from their training.

I believe a safe method is using body weight as a form of resistance, chin ups, pull ups, push ups, body weight squats are all great exercises and the child will not be using a weight that they can injure themselves with. They are also functional exercises in that they are movements that are performed throughout normal daily functions.
As the child grows older I believe the best types of weight training exercises are ones that can be performed on a lifting platform (Standing). Once again this is the way the body was designed to function. The Olympic movements teach the body to use the muscles functionally, and additionally the body will only grow as strong as its weakest part, thus minimizing the risk of injury.
The same as when training as an adult it is important to take a holistic approach to training children and incorporate cardiovascular fitness, resistance training, stretching, core strength, agility and skills development and correct nutrition into the training program.

Apart from resistance training which I believe to be of major importance to a child’s development, health and helps to lower the incidence of injury, any range of activities can be undertaken with the view of keeping children fit and healthy.
Of particular interest is the activities or sports that help them to develop a range of motor skills, hand eye coordination, agility and other skills. Things like athletics where they can participate in a range of disciplines are fantastic.

Another often overlooked but important factor is the fact that a consistent approach to their training and nutrition teaches them focus, dedication, commitment and how to prioritize – all equally valuable and essential factors that will be of benefit throughout their lives.

If you are in doubt as to what kind of training may be suitable for the age of your child, go and talk to a registered personal trainer who is certified as a childrens trainer but remember that unless the child enjoys the activity no matter what it is, they will not stick to it, so it is important to talk to your children and see what they think they might like to do.