When you think of somebody that is malnourished, chances are a starving child in a desolate third world country comes to mind. It can easily be assumed that because somebody is obese, they are getting more than enough nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. However, that is often not the case. Easy access to processed, calorie-dense yet nutrient-deficient foods has resulted in children gaining weight while missing vital nutrients in their diet.
For the first time, the number of people that are obese has surpassed the number of hungry, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross’ Word Disaster Report. Obesity now affects one in five children in the United States. Not only does the excess weight cause health problems, the nutrient deficiencies that are associated with poor food choices are contributing to sickness and disease as well. Diseases that were once associated with the elderly are now being diagnosed in children, diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, and arthritis. Obesity is a rapidly growing issue in the United States. According to the CDC, one third of adults and approximately 17 percent of all children and adolescents 2-19 years old are obese. No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. We are a country of excess, but this excess consumption of processed foods is leaving us starving for nutrients and lacking in health.
We need to remember that food is fuel for our body. In order to keep our bodies working the way they were designed to, we need to be putting in more of the things it needs and less of the things it doesn’t need; more of the foods made by God and less of the foods made by man.
So what are you going to do, contribute to the problem or become part of the solution? Teaching our children healthy eating habits has to be a priority. Children learn their eating habits from their parents, whose parents learned their eating habits from their parents. If bad eating habits are being passed down, the cycle needs to be broken! We need to be good role models and provide healthy meal and snack options for our children.
Try taking small steps to change the way your family is eating. Small changes each day will add up to a lifetime of health and happiness. Make it a priority to work on Essential #3 with your family.
References:
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/
Low vitamin D levels may contribute to development of Type 2 diabetes. The Endocrine Society (2011, December 5). ScienceDaily.
Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease. Dietz WH. Pediatrics. 1998 Mar;101(3 Pt 2):518-25.
Obese Children and Adolescents: A Risk Group for Low Vitamin B12 Concentration Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, MD; Noa Doron-Panush, RD; et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:933-936.
Vitamin status in morbidly obese patients. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 2, 362-369, February 2008
Blood vitamin and lipid levels in overweight and obese women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition [1992, 46(11):803-8]
B vitamins, vitamin C and hematological measurements in overweight and ovese Thais in Bangkok. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand. [2002, 85(1):17-25]
