Growing concerns have been raised about the modern day issue of childhood obesity, a trend more noticeable in recent years. The multiple factors that have lead to this irregularity and their solutions are well-known, but they require constant action.
Childhood obesity is the leading path to a number of serious conditions that follow into adulthood. The main reason is the rise of the fast food industry, which provides the least healthy, but most attractive food to young people. Their products have enormous amounts of fat and carbohydrates, which signal the most sensitive sensors in the brain as “good” energy sources. The second factor is the sedentary lifestyle many children have, which does not allow them to burn the calories they obtain. These two factors alone, are the perfect conditions to develop obesity, and they can be directly correlated to the emergence of video games and social media.
Considering all the factors, there are a number of measures that can be taken. Family has the biggest influence in a child’s life, and as such it should impose upon them habits that keeps their health at an optimal state, such as physical activity, eating healthy and regular sleeping hours. Additionally, the parents of children should limit their screen time and should be prime advocates for eating inside. Furthermore, educational institutions should take part in the movement too, by organizing sport competitions and lectures that outline the dangers of obesity. Lastly, the governments can impose regulations that prohibit the sale of junk or fast food to children without parental supervision, but this is unlikely to happen.
To sum it up, the solution is highly unlikely to come from the government, but it should originate in the family of the children. They should actively pursue a healthy lifestyle, so their kids learn from them as role models.