Kids heading back to school will be weighed down by more than a knapsack -- they'll likely be carrying more fat too.
According to Dr. Mike Bishop, kids pack on the pounds during the summer -- research at Indiana University and Ohio State University showed that kids gained twice as much weight in the summer months than during the school year.
So just what's eating them? "In the summer kids lack the structure and activities of the school year, and have abundant time to engage in the unhealthy behaviours that lead to weight gain -- eating snacks, watching TV, playing video games, and texting their friends," says Bishop, a clinical psychologist and executive director of Wellspring, which specializes in weight loss programs for overweight teens.
Seems fat is a family affair -- genetics plays a key role in whether a kid winds up overweight, but family lifestyle has major impact too.
So if you're modelling unhealthy eating and activity habits, you can bet the kids will follow in your fat-steps.
"Parents are partly to blame, but so are several factors: super-sized portions, more eating out, decline of physical education in the schools, increased car usage, and the preponderance of fairly passive entertainment options such as computer time, TV, and video games," says Bishop.
Unfortunately, there is also the attitude that weight loss is easy and that overweight people are lazy, he adds.
Childhood obesity is an epidemic -- it's psychologically contagious, says Bishop.
"It is almost a natural consequence of living in what researchers now call an 'obesogenic culture.' Obesogenic is a term that means becoming obese is almost a natural consequence of living in North America."
One out of three kids is overweight, says Bishop, plus one out of six kids is obese -- more than four times the rate of 40 years ago. "Nearly 90% of overweight children become overweight adults."
Protective parenting adds weight to the issue.
Children playing outside unsupervised is now seen as unacceptably risky and dangerous, says Bishop, so they're actually missing out on free play. Plus an increase in scheduled activities has more families eating out.
Nearly 50% of our meals are eaten outside of the home, says Bishop, which means we give up control of ingredients, method of preparation, and portion size.
Kids are hooked on digital entertainment which often leads to overeating.
"Almost half of all children ages eight to 16 watch three to five hours of TV a day. With such inventions as the Xbox and Playstation, that number can be much higher. These activities also lend themselves to increased snacking."
But don't despair. Body mass indexes can be managed, even though "some of us are simply born with bodies primed to gain weight easily from day one while others may resist weight gain" Unfortunately, children born to obese parents are four times more likely to end up the same way.
"However, biology is not destiny," he adds. "Families that eat healthy and stay active absolutely can lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle."
