| Author |
Message |
Jonathan (Jonathan8)
Junior Member
Username: Jonathan8
Post Number: 2
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 12:35 pm: |       |
I was wondering at what age is an appropriate one to start informing children of obesity, and teaching them in a way that they are able to understand how important it is to maintain lifetime physical fitness? |
Joe Herzog (Bigfish344)
Member
Username: Bigfish344
Post Number: 29
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 4:11 pm: | |
It's never to soon to start talking about good health. Overweight/obesity/diabetes is all part of that and should be discussed. Do some social engineering early on. We notice kids who are overweight because they are visual, but talk about kids who might have other illnesses that you cannot see; heart or kidney or gastrointestional problems. Kids pick on kids because the overweight kids stand out. Talk about the role that gentics, family lifestyles play as well as the opportunity to get enough activity. If you school has a set of positive's that it stresses, Respect, Dignity, Honesty, etc., that is a good starting point. You can't be respectful of someone if you pick on them for being overweight, or for any other reason. All children are different and all children have their good points and their bad points. Have kids list what is good about themselves and areas that they think they could improve. Most kids who pick on others are themselves insecure or come from tough home situations. We sought those kids out and asked them to watch out for our kids with CP or with Down's Syndrome and we virtually never had kids picking on others and if on rare instances it happended, everything stopped until we had thoroughly discussed the situation. We tried not to penalize but to come to common understanding.
The longer you wait the tougher it becomes to change personal behaviors.
Joe Herzog, Fresno Ca |
Stephen M. Daniel Jr. (Smd7790)
Junior Member
Username: Smd7790
Post Number: 5
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 9:39 am: | |
I think children should be taught about obesity when they are in kindergarten. Their brains are so nactive at this point, so if you can implant good haelthy behaviors, its more then likely it will become an emphasis in their lives. |
Eric Erb (Erbmeng)
Junior Member
Username: Erbmeng
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 2:33 pm: | |
I think that informing children about being physically active and its importance to their overall fitness level and lifelong quality of life is important. Instilling the value of exercise and being active at an early age is key to children living a healthy life. Also giving the students reasons why being active is important and what can happen to people when they are not active and how they can become sick because of living an inactive life. |
Katie Krouse (Krousek)
Junior Member
Username: Krousek
Post Number: 4
Registered: 3-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - 8:20 am: | |
Childhood obesity is a huge problem in society that is only getting worse. I think starting as soon as you can is the best thing to do. There are ways we can put the topic so that children understand better. Also informing their parents is a good idea as well so they understand the risks for their child. |
Ryan Arena (Ry8632)
Junior Member
Username: Ry8632
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 1:47 pm: | |
I believe it is important to start as early at an age as possible. The problem does not lie with the kids the message needs to be presented out to the families of the students. If you can reach out to them to have an understanding of childhood obesity it will help the at home life of being more active |
sharon ghodsizadeh (Sharonie)
Junior Member
Username: Sharonie
Post Number: 8
Registered: 5-2010
| | Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 9:12 pm: | |
I agree with Ryan, many of the students at the school that I work at are obese. Their lunches are packed with processed foods and sugar. The school lunches are even worse. Teaching children about leading a healthy lifestyle is crucial in the early stages of their life. Parents need to be educated as well and should promote the health habits at home and at school. But what do we do with our students who cannot afford the healthy lifestyle or their parents do not see a problem with what they eat and refuse to change? It should be taught that exercising is not only a way to lose weight, yet it is important to do for health reasons now and in the future. |
Laura Itkin (Litkin)
Junior Member
Username: Litkin
Post Number: 3
Registered: 5-2010
| | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 8:59 pm: | |
I totally agree with Sharon. I have my bachelor's in nutrition and while I am not a practicing nutrition consultant, I think that the sooner children learn to love exercise and engage in healthy eating habits the better off they will be in the long term. Students that eat healthier and engage in after school physical activities are more equipped to pay attention in the classroom. as well. |
sharon ghodsizadeh (Sharonie)
Junior Member
Username: Sharonie
Post Number: 9
Registered: 5-2010
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2010 - 8:07 pm: | |
I agree with Laura when she mentioned that children will be able to pay attention more in the classroom-I also would like to add that the child's energy level will be higher and they will feel good about themselves after exercising. I also believe that when children have a positive outlook on exercising at a young age, they tend to carry it on into the future. |
