How does the living
in suburban areas cause obesity in children and how can we prevent obesity in
children who live in suburbs?
Although parents choose to move to suburbs for bringing up
their children, living in suburban has a relation with obesity in
children. Children are growing up in
suburbs as lack of walking and biking. Parents are always picking their
children up form school and drop them to school by their own cars every day. Today, children are who don’t have physical activities
because of addiction of technology. This means that they need to walk and bike
for getting rid of laziness. A study in the December
issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports
that, like their parents, kids who live in the suburbs and usually ride in
cars, weigh more and are more prone to obesity than kids who live in densely
populated urban areas where they can easily walk to destinations. Also, today, many schools are far away from
residential sites in suburban areas and sidewalks are not safety for kids.
Therefore, they cannot go to school without cars.
We
need to think why children don’t choose to walk? There are many reasons of
obesity in children who live in suburbs like dependent of cars and design of suburban
areas. As we know children are our
future and we need to figure out this problem as encouraging the kids to walk.
Thus, we should organize campaigns and create suburbs for making walking more attractive
to students.
That
is why we are saying LET’s WALK and BIKE
TO SCHOOL!
I see the point you are trying to make. The only question that is presented in my mind after reading your post is the parenting of the children. I agree that part of the problem is the suburban make-up but this makes it seem that the only form of activity a child needs in his or her life is to walk or ride a bike. I know when I was younger I never walked anywhere or rode my bike. I got driven to school but I lived in an Urban Environment that, to my parents, was not safe for children. But instead I played cops and robbers with the neighbor kids and ran around the backyards or even in the circle. Our activity was through social interaction with the neighbors not by the proximity to a school or grocery store. The only place I would care about (as a child) is where my friends lived.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you laura. I grew up in west omaha and was never able to walk/bike to nearby convenient stores or shopping centers, however, i was fortunate enough to have a large yard to play in. I was outside nearly everyday, weather permitting of course, and socialized with all of the other children around the block. Although walking and bike to schools and convenient stores helps burn calories, it has nothing to do with the laziness of today's youth.
DeleteWhile I agree that children today are lazier than ever (in part thanks to all the technology) I also think that the correlation of fast-food and unhealthy eating are helping to increase this statistic. Like Laura mentioned, I too, had to be driven to and from school (my schools were over 5 miles away)and when I got home from school, on the weekends or during summer breaks me and the neighbor kids would run around outside, swim, entertain ourselves as there was very limited technology--most of us didn't have a computer, cable was nonexistent in our neighborhood and gaming devices hadn't caught on yet and phones--well they had cords on them and my parents still used the rotary type. I think our imaginations really helped shape us and provide a healthy environment physically, emotionally and mentally. We learned how to make friends, keep them and how to get along.
ReplyDeleteToday's generation of children scare me. They are the first generation, according to many reports, that have the probability to die before their parents because of their lifestyles. The streets are bare and the neighborhoods are silent as kids are inside gaming (units or online), watching tv, texting, etc. Their only physical activity is walking in the house door, to their bed and to their classroom. It is very disturbing and unfortunate but a harsh reality.
I have to place some blame on the parents but a lot of it goes, in my opinion, on society. We have soared the prices of everything and have made it so that most families have to be 2 incomes, we have changed the workplace day and for many work now comes home with them. People go to work when the sun isn't up and come home when it is down. The cost of 'healthy' food is outlandish and people on a budget cannot afford it, they are left with the mac & cheese, frozen cuisines and other high in sodium food. My family tries to eat 'healthy' but the true goal of organic and whole foods is one that we cannot meet due to the cost. It is good to see that their is initiative in the schools to offer a healthier lunch and get rid of the soda machines. Again, in my opinion, it shouldn't have to start at these places, it needs to start at home. Going back to an earlier comment, it isn't ideal to come home at 7 and cook a dinner, but if you knew it could extend your child's life and set them up for a healthy future why wouldn't that be enough for you? Not to mention that sitting at the table as a family and talking does wonders for everyone!
Cell phones have pushed communication in many degrees too far. It is great to get a call from a long distant relative, don't get me wrong but it is depressing to see parents at the playground too busy texting or looking at facebook rather than spending quality time with their children.
It will be interesting to see how the next generation will be like. While I hope that healthy lifestyles will begin to rise, I don't know when we actually see that balance. I read several articles that talk (in a commercial setting) how many design decisions are having to be thought out further because of the expanding waistline of people. For example, toilets are no longer attached to the wall, people need 26-31" instead of the 22" originally space planned for them. Doorways need to be 41", the lists go on.
All of you interested in the role of technology and the lose of "nature" in shaping who and what future generations of children may become, you must read this book, "The Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv.
ReplyDeleteIt is all complexing, i believe that this is way more complex than just suburban development trends. there is the notion of un-walkability, to truly everything, but we have to think about the lifestyle changes and changing demographics of the "family", nutrition/synthetic food, not to mention the quality of food being served in our caefeterias... trends of our public schooling system cutting physical education and "outdoor" recess time...technology...the scare factor of predators represented by the media...
but there are communities starting to create "walk pools" or "walk stops" where older kids [parents] take the lead in walking children to school. older neighborhoods and local governments putting more time and money into rehabilitating green spaces and parks, more community gardens...
another source to look at for the overall health of kids in our country you should visit michelle obama's "let's move" initiative. www.letsmove.gov/