Nutrition
Nutritional Awareness
Welcome
Nutrition is an important part of everyone's health. For children, being healthy is more than just eating right and exercising. Children are growing and require specific amounts of each food group to develop properly. We are going to make choosing good health for your child easy by posting a nutrition Newsletter and helpful links to teach you about childhood nutrition.
Did you know?
In very recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the rate of overweight and obese children in the United States. In fact, according to the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, one in five children is considered overweight or obese. Childhood is the time that most individuals form eating habits, good or bad. Statistics prove that children that are overweight generally remain overweight as adults. The rate of obesity seen in children is considered an epidemic, meaning that the rise has increased dramatically enough to cause concern.
Risk associated with obese children
Being overweight or obese as a child may have dramatic effects. Studies show that children that are overweight/obese have lower self-esteem than normal weight children. Carrying the extra pounds can lead to increased risk of developing many diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and increased levels of fat in the blood. Before the epidemic increase in the rate of childhood obesity, the diseases mentioned were seen much less in children. In addition, all of these illnesses are associated with decreased lifespan. This may mean that our children's lifespan is being affected due to their weight.
The increase in such illnesses at such young ages has led to a very public concern. The concern is how can we help combat overweight/obesity to decrease the illnesses? Please click on the newsletter below to see what you can learn about being healthy.
Newsletter will be available this week.
Links