As even the First Lady is trying to get kids to move more and eat better, one study is saying that one of those initiatives just won't help solve obesity. Yep, believe it or not, researchers from the EarlyBird Diabetes Study found that physical activity has little if any role to play in the childhood obesity epidemic.In fact, in the study, physical activity had no impact on weight change. However, weight clearly led to less activity.
The study states that "The implications are profound for public health policy, because the physical activity of children (crucial to their fitness and well-being) may never improve unless the burgeoning levels of childhood obesity are first checked. If this cannot be achieved through physical activity, the focus has to be on what--and how much--children consume."
Of course being active has a slew of health benefits associated with it, but this is food (pun intended) for thought for those hoping to reverse the obesity trend, isn't it?
29 comments:
I can understand where the premise of this is coming from. I am a mom who doesn't allow her children to eat like typical children. Potato chips, twinkies, cheese balls, and oreo cookies will never be found in my home. If my kids (7 and 9) are hungry, they have an apple, banana, carrots, sugar snap peas (yep, I said sugar snap peas), a homemade granola bar, or a piece of toast with natural peanut butter. It is the sugar, artificial sugar, preservatives, and artificial flavorings and colorings that lends a huge role in the obesity epidemic. We need to get parents and kids eating real food not food from a box.
Karen hit the nail on the head. We are turning into a chemical society because we don't have enough discipline to to not eat crap. We as Americans can't stop feeding our fat faces with horrible junk so the food companies are putting chemicals in them. Zero calorie brownies? WHAT?
We need to start and keep eating on "the outside of the grocery store".
I find it very hard to believe that kids being active will not help their obesity problem. I agree that we need to get them eating good nutritional food, but they must exercise as well.
As a physical therapist I hope this doesn't give parents the wrong idea; that somehow activity is not important. It might not be as important in fighting obesity but it IS important in obtaining other health benefits.
~JTrempe PT, ATC
http://www.joint-pain-solutions.com
Totally agree with Karen. As an exercise physiologist with a background in nutrition, the data clearly suggests that exercise alone is a relatively poor tool for producing weight loss.
However, when paired with diets replete with whole, natural foods, exercise can be an effective tools. It's just that trying to undo all the sugary crap in our diets with exercise is a fools errand.
It takes 90 seconds to eat a chocolate bar, but to burn off those 300 calories would take 30 minutes of exercise. You do the math.
Exercise may not play a part in childhood obesity but it is vital for many other things like cardio vascular.
Rick
I do think BOTH proper nutrition and physical activity are necessary in preventing childhood obesity. If a kid is eating healthy but eating a lot and is also spending hours a day sitting in front of a tv and playing video games I guarantee that they will be gaining weight regardless because the energy they are taking in the form of food is not equaling the energy being expended due to lack of activity.
A balanced wholesome and nutritious diet is what every child needs. It's the way to go.
The problem lies in getting them to enjoy healthy food. I'd say, we get them involved in plenty of outdoor activities and they'll get hungry. Getting them to enjoy wholesome food then wouldn't be too much of a problem. I guess, they'll be too hungry to care.
Healthy wholesome and nutritious meals is the way to go. But the challenge is in getting children to enjoy healthy meals.
This is where exercise comes in. When our children get involved in plenty of outdoor activities, they'll get hungry. I guess they'd be less inclined to fuss over food then. We must also find ways to whip up some delicious meals that children simply can't resist.
This is what really irks me when it comes to health and fitness articles/studies. Of course physical activity is the not the only factor in ending childhood obesity. But it is a crucial component when paired with healthy eating. It's fairly simple: Cut out the junk foods, get your children away from their computers and get them moving. I can't believe we are in 2010 and this basic premise is still forgotten.
As a child who grew up on the staples of snack food (twinkies, pop tarts, oreos, cap'n crunch), I am fortunate enough to have grown up without any serious weight or health issues. Now that I am older, I have come to realize over the past few years how important it is not to just think that I am slender AND healthy on the inside to allow me to eat whatever I pleased. Thanks to the many reports and blogs, just like this one, who are actually out there educating against our old, ignorant ways, the world is starting to grow more conscious about how we treat ourselves, and the world around us.
While portion size, calorie-dense snacks and sugary drinks are all important contributors, early feeding errors seem crucial -- and physical activity is not the answer.
Maybe if we trained enough are children to adore and get to used eating healthy foods and be proactively involved in physical activity, maybe we can resolved the obesity issue. Dogs and Cats can be trained, how much more our children?
Not only is physical fitness important but if children still eat junk food, even if they exercise, i can see how obesity still can occur. Parents must stop letting there kids eat so much chips, candies and pop. Letting kids have this once in a while is okay, but to fight child obesity, we must get this out of there daily foods as much as possible.
Yeah right.Junk foods are foods that can help adding your weight.How to lose your weight if you just let yourself eat whatever you like wherein you already know that food is not good loosing weight.Well only yourself can possess to take good care of your health.God Bless
Even though it may not play a role, I think people should not take this as an excuse to not exercise. It's bad enough our kids are bombarded with chips, candy, sodas, and everything else packed with sugar or fats.
I think if your eating junk and not exercising enough to compensate for it, then yes it's not going to do anything for you. The majority of kids probably don't eat very healthy, which means they need to exercise more.
A balanced diet that's wholesome and nutritious is what every child needs. It's the way to go.
The problem lies in getting them to enjoy such a diet. That's where exercise comes in. Give them plenty of outdoor activities and they'll get hungry. That's when we feed them wholesome food. I guess they'll be too hungry to care.
diets in children may be difficult to apply, and I was quite surprised with this article. I think this is a matter of what is in consumption by children, but exercise is still a good solution. anyway, Thanks for sharing. ~ Perkembangan Anak
This is my dilemma... i don't want my kids to be obese but it's important that i will be their role model and i looooove junk food... i can't resist...so whenever i eat junk food, my kids also eat junk food...what can i do?
I can't believe researchers found that physical activity has little if any role to play in the childhood obesity epidemic. Almost everybody knows that you should practice a sport in order to stay fit. And of course eat healthy. But Physical activity is also very important!
I think because what they are eating have higher calories that their physical activities are not enough to burn them so you would also consider changing their diet into healthy diet less preservatives, the easy diet plan will be eat traditional cooking foods not fast food
Nice post. i like your insights. I'm very happy to read this blog. I will share this to my friends.
Keep it up.All the best.
processed foods are harder to be processed by your digestive system because their chemical properties are complex due to processing and preservatives found in the artificial fast foods
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the advertising fast food restaurant and junkies are the ones who drives this kids to obesity
It definitely plays a role but not that big as everyone thinks, obesity can be mostly genetic and you can do nothing about it, obviously the nutrition is a factor..
I agree that obesity is becoming a problem. We need to educate people on how to get fit and healthy. Exercising is very important in every day life these days. You need to take care of yourself and eat healthy. visit best ab.
I totally agree with Karen. Activity is not the only weapon to beat obesity. It is all about the manner of eating. Parents should take this seriously, or else their children would stuck on obesity.
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For most children, overweight is the result of unhealthy eating patterns with too many calories and too little physical activity. Since these habits are established in early childhood, efforts to prevent obesity should begin early.
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