Are Parents to Blame for Childhood Obesity Essay Example

Introduction

In the current American society, one in every five children is considered overweight or obese a fact supported by the world health organization which further states that childhood obesity is among the most severe threats to public health in the twenty-first century. Additionally, children that are overweight are at a higher risk of adult obesity which in turn carries the risk of other problems such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, certain types of cancers and a wide variety of other disorders such as psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, mortality rates in adults are higher in adults who were overweight as children and teenagers. In light of such staggering revelations, there is a need to tackle obesity as early as possible and such endeavors require the identification of the root of the problem. Consequently, various factors have been attributed to childhood obesity, with many believing that parents should be at the top of the list. In fact, parents as the influential members of the family, play a critical role in the development of the child; thus although not the only reason, parents have significant blame in childhood obesity.

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Lack of Promoting Healthy Eating Habits

A major reason why parents are to blame for childhood obesity is their lack of promoting healthy eating habits. With the presence of a wide variety of food choices for children in the current environment, it is the role of the parent to select and promote healthy eating habits in the family. However, the majority of parents depend on fast foods for their children's meals (Huffman, Kanikireddy and Patel 2807). Parents often look for the best value in purchasing foods, which unfortunately means purchasing inexpensive and high caloric foods from fast food restaurants or buying large quantities of foods on sale in grocery stores. Consequently, children end up consuming excess fat and calories leading to weight gain and eventual obesity.

Role of Parents in Educating Eating Habits

Subsequently, it is the role of the parent to educate the child on eating habits, and self-control. If the child lacks a sense of direction in their eating habits, it will be difficult to adopt a healthy eating habit in their later years. Although schools teach and encourage healthy eating habits, a child first needs to be taught the right eating habits by the parent both in and out of the home, as the parents are the vital source of the child's food, promoting consumption of a variety of healthy foods, supplying a balanced diet and most importantly, the restriction of high fat and sugary foods to prevent unhealthy weight accumulation (Couch et al. 1570).

Encouraging Sedentary Lifestyles

Additionally, most parents are contributing to childhood obesity by encouraging the sedentary lives of their children. Watching television has been revealed by various studies as the favorite pastime for most children and teenagers. In addition to the multiple other technological devices at their disposal for instance smartphones, computers, and video games, most children are not engaging in enough physical exercise. Additionally, most parents justify such pastime activities as bonding moments with their children. These moments typically involve snacking together while watching television (Huffman, Kanikireddy and Patel 2801). As a result, children inadvertently pick their own bad eating habits as their parents use food and poor co-curricular activities to bond with their children.

Similarly, as children are surrounded by all forms of technology, they are, as a result, exposed continuously to numerous shows and video games that further promote their sedentary lives. Furthermore, as parents allow their children to spend the majority of their time engaged in these devices, children continually watch advertisements of fast food restaurants and processed food manufacturers, companies that have resulted to manipulating people, mostly parents, to purchase their products by unfairly marketing to the children. Unfortunately, most children fall for the gimmicks of such companies who in turn persuade their parents to purchase fatty and high caloric foods (Huffman, Kanikireddy and Patel 2801). Thus, the longer a parent allows their child to use technology, the harder it will be to introduce and reinforce healthy eating habits in the family. As such, it is the duty of the parent to curb obesity by restricting video game, phone, laptop and television time.

Parenting Skills and Unhealthy Eating Habits

Parenting skills also contribute significantly to eating habits. Most parents do not take the lead in promoting healthy eating; rather they succumb to the pressure of their children who at times demand to eat unhealthy foods and snack. A majority of people have experienced a situation in some form that involves a child throwing a tantrum because he or she has been denied a sweet, a snack or a sugary drink. As such situations often go, the tantrum continues until the parent yields, and the child gets his or her way. Such cases further prove that parents significantly contribute to the unhealthy eating habits of their children as by employing a permissive parenting style, the parent encourages poor eating habits while reinforcing to the child that by throwing a tantrum whenever he or she is denied something, they can get their way eventually (Couch et al. 1575). Some parents justify such action as making the child happy; however, parenting does not only involve making a child happy but ensuring that the child is healthy and adopts healthy eating habits.

Lack of Information on Healthy Eating

Lack of information relevant to healthy eating and nutritional information also plays a role in childhood obesity. Most parents lack the knowledge to recognize that their child is overweight or obese correctly. According to Couch et al, the majority of parents lack the information and skills to accurately classify their children's weight until the child is exceptionally overweight which is already too late (Couch et al. 1576). As a consequence, most parents do not realize that their child is gaining weight even when it might seem obvious to other people, as most parents underestimate the size of an obese or overweight child. Additionally, the parents that recognize when a child is gaining weight prefer to remain silent with the aim of protecting the child from having negative feelings about him or herself.

Furthermore, parents do not pay close attention to the nutritional information of most of the food they buy for the family. Incidentally, a parent may believe they are providing healthy food to their children based on promotional commercials of certain products such as cereal with added vitamins, added fiber and antioxidants among other benefits mentioned during advertisements. However, processing of cereal among other foods damages the fiber and vitamins utilized in making such products as cereal. Ultimately, manufacturers are forced to add artificial fiber and other vitamins that are not as healthy as their natural counterparts. Also, most of the nutritional information on processed, packaged and fast foods pertains to a single serving; however, most processed and packaged fast foods do not contain a single serving, a fact that parents should be aware of before offering such foods to their children. Such lack of information leads to parents exposing their children to unhealthy foods that lead to excessive weight gains (Huffman, Kanikireddy and Patel 2808).

Neglect and Its Impact on Childhood Obesity

Apart from unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical exercise, neglect has also been attributed to the rising cases of childhood obesity. In this respect, neglect involves a situation where the parent does not show the child enough attention due to the parent's preoccupation with their work or their own problems. Studies have shown that there is a fifty percent chance of a child experiencing neglect becoming obese (Temple University). Unlike other forms of negligence such as psychological aggression and corporal punishment, which a child might anticipate as a consequence of bad behavior, preoccupation in one's work in favor of spending time with a child may cause confusion as the child may not understand the cause of the neglect and consequently the child may feel at fault. Such neglect further translates into stress for the minor, hence influencing their mood and diet. Similar to how adults turn to food to cope with stress, it also holds that a child will also consume more in responses to such experiences of neglect (Temple University). Neglect has recently been contributing more to childhood obesity as more and more parents are joining the workforce, which in turn means that children are left with supervision for extended periods.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the unhealthy food choices and lack of physical activities influenced by parents, lack of information by parents on healthy foods and eating habits and neglect promote the dangerous and high risks of childhood obesity. Although parents are not solely to blame for childhood obesity, they play a significant role. On the other hand, parents are the best hope for slowing the epidemic. By employing and enforcing a combination of healthy eating habits and physical activities at home, the majority of obesity-related problems can be eliminated.

Works cited

Couch, Sarah C et al. "Home food environment in relation to children's diet quality and weight status" Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics vol. 114, 10 (2014): 1569-1579.

Huffman, Fatma G, Sankarabharan Kanikireddy and Manthan Patel. "Parenthood--a contributing factor to childhood obesity" International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 7, 7 (2010): 2800-2810.

Temple University. "Higher Risk of Obesity for Children Neglected By Parents." ScienceDaily, 16 November 2007, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071113100319.htm.