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Obesity: a growing problem among teens
“What’s for dinner mom?” How often do we hear that request at 3 or 4 in the afternoon? In our mind, dinner is a few hours away, but our teens are hungry now! What are we going to do? Whatever we do we better do it quick, and it better be a healthy choice.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) reports, up to one out of every three of our adolescents are obese. It is definitely a growing issue in our country – the easiest one to spot – but one of the hardest ones to fix. Just what is obesity? Well there are a number of factors that go into measuring obesity, and those measurements are different for children and teens then they are for adults. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an excellent, easy to use calculation to determine BMI (body mass index). Generally speaking if your teen is 10% heavier than recommended weight, then they are considered obese.
The causes of obesity are varied. It can be caused by health reasons (thyroid conditions) genetics (obesity runs in families) poor eating and exercise habits (eating more calories than you burn off). Stress, family problems, depression and some medications can cause weight gain as well.
The problems caused by obesity are just as varied, including, but not limited to, breathing difficulty, sleeping problems, high blood pressure and the most dangerous for our children; diabetes.
So, what can we do? AACAP has a list of tips I recommend you read. Obvious sort of things like, limit portion size, and limit snacking, avoid fatty foods are part of the list. I would like to add, don’t make a big deal out of your child coming to you one hour before dinner hungry – instead just give him or her something healthy to munch – carrots are always yummy. Along these lines develop a eating routine where your teen can sit down and eat a smaller portion 'meal' 6 to 8 times a day instead of skipping breakfast, eating a tiny lunch, and a huge dinner – studies show this latter style of eating can effect metabolism, which in turn leads to weight gain. Want some healthy after school snack ideas? Check out iVillage - they have some great advice.
If we inadvertently cause our children shame for the eating habits they develop on their own (i.e. eating when depressed or bored), they could very likely develop very serious eating disorders. Instead, as always, help to set healthy and realistic boundaries for our children in what and when they should eat. Eating should never be considered a way to improve mood even though it works very well to do just that.
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