Because child obesity has been increasing at an alarming rate, it has become a hot topic for policy-makers.

On February 10, 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama  launched her ambitious four prong “Let’s Move” initiative to stem the tide of child obesity. Her initiative calls for steps to implement better school nutrition programs, educate parents on healthier food choices, provide community based opportunities for physical activity, and options for making healthier and affordable food available for purchase everywhere throughout the country.

A number of parents don’t believe this initiative goes far enough.  They want the government to tax or take certain tax incentives from those manufacturers/advertisers whom they see as directly targeting their marketing campaigns of unhealthy foods towards children. (In 2006, McDonald’s spent one million dollars per day on advertising geared to young people.  Some of that million dollar per day advertising budget was deductible as a legitimate business expense; in effect causing what some people see as the government, or American taxpayers subsidizing the fast food industry for peddling junk food to their children.)

When the dust settles, however, it’s still the parents fault their child’s fat. A large number of parents seem to be in denial of this fact.  After all the arguments that the fast food industry should do better labeling of the nutritional contents of the foods they serve, and that vending machines should be taken out of schools, and that schools should serve more nutritious meals, parents are still responsible for the food their child consumes.

It’s not as if some unknown virus or bacteria was suddenly making children blowup as big as one of the Macy’s Parade balloons.  It has been researched and well documented that the cause of the increase in obesity in children, and the entire population as well, is due to low levels of physical activity, frequency of eating out, and overconsumption of convenience and empty-calorie foods.  These child obesity factors are under parents’ control, and parents must be held accountable. The good news is that child obesity is preventable and reversible.

It’s time for parents to “Parent-Up” and step forward and perform their responsibilities and duties as parents. Parents are charged with the responsibility of feeding their children wholesome, nutritious foods from babies through young adults, and teaching them good eating habits. Young children are responsible for eating the foods parents served to them.

It really doesn’t matter how many times a McDonald’s, or a sweeten cereal, or a soda or juice commercial airs on TV. Parents don’t have to buy the stuff.  Children are at risk of developing type II diabetes, heart disease, bone and joint disorders–diseases that they may suffer from for the rest of their lives, all because their parents fed them an over abundance of convenience  and high calorie foods. Parents have to start telling their children “no” when they want fast food every night, or when they want to sit and watch TV or be on the computer hour, after hour, after hour.  If there was ever an area that requires tough love, then this is it.

It may be convenient to buy food at a fast food restaurant after working all day, but parents have to, somehow, find the time to shop for, and cook, nutritious food for their child. Just as some parents sacrifice to find money in the household budget, and time, to make sure their child can take music or dance lessons, or play on a pee wee swim, baseball, football, basketball or soccer team, so, too, parents will have to sacrifice some of their weekend rest and relaxation time to prepare the following week’s menu, or cook greater amounts of food for the upcoming busy evenings.

No one chooses to be obese, particularly a child.  It’s time for parents to take their role of doing those things that are in “the best interests of the child” seriously, and managing weight-related issues before they become uncontrollable is one of them.

Perhaps you’ve been starting to notice that your child has been putting on a little extra weight, or maybe you’ve noticed it for some time now and it’s become a cause for concern. If your child has developed an overweight problem there are some steps that you can take to help them to start getting their weight back under control.

To start with, take your child to your family doctor for a routine checkup. Your doctor can determine whether your child has an under functioning thyroid or any other medical problem that may be causing the weight gain. Once cleared of any medical conditions, the doctor may suggest a certain type of weight loss diet and or exercise program for your child to follow.

At home, you can start to encourage your child to develop healthier eating habits. You can buy more fruits for snacking rather than the usual high fat ones found in the snack isle. You should even let him/her pick which fruits you buy so you know they are ones that they will eat. Also, rather than buying soda for your child to drink, buy sports drinks like powerade or various fruit juices. Also, try to get your child in the habit of drinking more water, and use the sports drinks and fruit juices for occasions like lunch or dinner time.

Plan healthy meals every day, and plan out your child’s portions wisely, and make sure your child never skips breakfast. Skipping breakfast can make your child hungry and looking for less healthy things to eat later in the day. Also try to avoid eating fast food as often as possible. Eating healthy meals at home can help your child start to learn to develop better eating habits. If it becomes a regular household routine, he/she will be more likely to “go with the flow” and start to enjoy eating different healthy foods.

Never use food as a reward for your child to get them to eat healthy. By telling your child that you will give him/her a slice of cake for desert if they eat all of their vegetables, you are in effect telling them that the cake has a higher value than the vegetables. The cake becomes the “pot of gold” you get for reaching the end of the rainbow.

Another thing you can and should do is to encourage your child to get more physically active. Encourage him/her to join an activity at school such as basketball or track. Find out what activities are offered through the community such as swimming or volleyball, and try to find one that your child might enjoy.

Make time to go on bike rides with your child or to take walks through the local park or hiking trail with them and make these things a weekly event you do with them on a regular basis. Have your child help you wash the car every weekend. Give them some household chores to do and make these chores their responsibility every week. The idea is just to have them doing things that will keep them active and moving.

If a reasonable amount of time has gone by after you’ve changed your child’s eating habits and gotten him/her more active and you don’t see them reaching a healthy weight, you may want to consider a weight control treatment program.

Many of these programs will have a variety of people on staff who are experts in specific areas such as doctors, registered dietitians and fitness trainers. They can collectively assess your child’s individual needs and formulate an overall plan to best deal with the problem. They can also help you learn how to keep up the healthy eating and exercise habits for your child after the program ends. Your family doctor can refer you to a treatment center that will best suit your child’s needs.

Remember that the first step is simply the fact that you recognize if there is a problem with your child’s weight. Being in denial about your child’s weight problem if there is an obvious problem existing only serves to lead your child to unwanted, potentially dangerous health problems as time goes by. Taking steps to help your child with this sooner, leads to a healthier life for your child later.

There are a lot of people in my family that are over their ideal weight. Though they are not obese, they could be. The problems with family genetics are downplayed by many, but this does make a difference. It is also about environment and eating habits. Not only should your children have good habits, you should too.  If you try to get them to eat well while you do not, you are contributing to the problem rather than solving it. You want to think about child obesity prevention so that you know your children are as healthy and happy as they can be as they grow to adulthood.

One surprising thing that helped with my child in regards to child obesity prevention was her watching the Wiggles on television. She loved the Wiggles, and at age six, still does – though not with the same intensity. However, the Wiggles spend a lot of time singing and talking about healthy foods, and have even occasionally touched on what happens if you have too much of the wrong thing. Through these songs and shows, my daughter learned about good eating. I am surprised today at her choices. They are usually good ones and I credit the Wiggles for that – though I would like to think I had something to do with it as well.

You are going to have a hand in child obesity prevention, even if you have the help of influences like the Wiggles. You want to have good food choices around, and offer treats only sporadically. When they want to have a snack, give them some choices, but make each of those choices healthy.  They may ask for other things on occasion, but they are going to eat what you have when they are hungry enough. Children will not starve, so don’t worry about that. You have to keep going with child obesity prevention.

You have to keep an eye on what your children are getting in school. Some schools are on top of things in the way of child obesity prevention, but others are not. Schools can not fix everything, but you want to know that they are getting the right foods when they are in school. When your children are in kindergarten or even first grade, they may have to bring a snack to school. I know that my school asks that we do not send in sugary items, and I don’t. Make good choices there for the sake of child obesity prevention.

Another part of child obesity prevention has nothing at all to do with the foods you have your children eat or keep in your home. You have to make sure your children are up and moving each day. Some can get great programs at school for this, but some have been forced to cut physical education totally or at least shorten the program. Children have to be up and moving while eating the right foods. Those together go a long way towards child obesity prevention.

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 25% of children in the US are overweight, and 11% are obese. As with the child obesity epidemic, there has also been a great rise in adult obesity. Obesity means too much body fat. While it may be a crisis in this country, it’s not, however, a problem without a solution.

Just as with adults, there are a variety of potential causes for children being overweight; most of which are preventable or reversible. Only in rare cases is being overweight cause by a medical condition such as a hormone problem. Obesity begins at home; and it doesn’t happen overnight. It starts with what children eat. It is the fault of the parents–not the child. Children are not taking themselves to the fast food restaurants, buying groceries or preparing their own meals.

Childhood obesity affects both the physical and psychosocial health of children. The physical effects put obese children at a greater risk for medical problems that were once associated with middle-aged adults, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, bone trouble, fatty liver, sleep apnea, and gallstone formation.

But often more dangerous than the physical risks of child obesity, experts say, is the emotional pain children feel when they are teased and excluded because they are “fat.” Fat children are not happy children. They are less likely than other children to receive “best friend” ratings from their classmates. When shown silhouettes of fat and thin males and females, nine-year-old children rated the fat figures as having significantly fewer friends, being less liked by their parents, doing less well at school, being less content with their appearance and wanting to be thin. Overweight children are also more likely to be victims or perpetrators of bullying than are their normal-weight peers.

The real causes of child obesity are very obvious but no one wants to change their way of living. The blame is placed squarely on the parents shoulders because they dictate or control the lifestyle of their child. If you’re a parent and are concerned about your child’s weight, there are several steps you can take to prevent them from being included within these disturbing child statistics.

Eating habits must be changed. Parents must cook nutritionally balanced meals, virtually eliminate snacks high in fat and sugar, teach portion control, pack healthy lunches, avoid fast food and help their children increase levels of physical activity. Parents must teach by doing, which means parents must, themselves, also follow a nutritional and exercise plan that leads to a healthy weight.