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Overweight American Children and Adolescents Getting Fatter

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Childhood obesity has been increasing in recent decades at an alarming rate. According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and National Institute of Aging (NIA), overweight children and adolescents in the U.S. have been getting fatter over the last decade.

The researchers found in their study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity that over time, U.S. children and adolescents had significantly increased measures of adiposity like body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST). These increases were even more pronounced in black girls and other sex-ethnic groups. The same groups gained more abdominal fat over time, indicated by waist size.

Racial Disparities

The BMIs of black girls also increased more than the BMIs of same-age white girls. Heavier children and adolescents gained more adiposity, particularly waist circumference. The findings were most significant among kids ages 6 to 11. Researchers suggest that U.S. children may be at great obesity-related risk than what was previously thought (based on BMI).

Indications and Recommendations

Waist circumference appears to be a better indicator of future health risks, such as type II diabetes and heart disease later in life. The results of the research are particularly disheartening because they give further credit to the rise in childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity is a major public health issue in the United States which needs to be combated by nutrition education, healthy eating habits, and physical activity. One way to accomplish this? Consider sending your child to a weight loss camp where all healthy philosophies are combined with the exciting elements of a sleep-away camp. It’s a great way to not only learn about a healthy lifestyle, but also implement it and be able to continue upon returning home.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100818112713.htm

Written by Camp Shane Nutritionist, Jessica Bouchard

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Tags: body mass index, Childhood Obesity, healthy lifestyle, overweight adolescents, overweight children, weight loss camp
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Weight Loss Camps, Wellness | 4 Comments »

Are Parents of Overweight Toddlers in Denial?

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Are the chubby rolls you see on your baby just “baby fat” or are they an indication that your child has a weight problem? According to a study published in Clinical Pediatrics, most parents will pick the first option. The study found that 71% of parents of overweight or obese children (ages 2 to 5) felt that their children were a healthy weight or even underweight.

Role of the Pediatrician

This is an important topic, even though most parents do not want to discuss it, because being overweight as a young child can increase the child’s chances of being overweight later in life. If their weight problem continues, it could lead to other complications such as type II diabetes. The study also found that parents whose pediatricians did not talk about their child’s weight were more likely to think that their kid was at a healthy weight. As such, pediatricians should give out weight-related advice to parents because parents will listen to them. If pediatricians discuss the toddler’s weight with the parents, the parents are more apt to have a realistic idea of whether or not their child is at a healthy weight.

Growth Charts and Healthy Lifestyle

Children’s weight-for-age and BMI-for-age can be measured on growth charts from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CD) from the age of 2. Other ways to ensure that toddlers are the healthiest they can be are to expose them to a variety of foods and flavors, involve them in food shopping and cooking, serve real foods (not processed ones), and get them outside to play. If your child’s weight is above the normal weight range (anything above the 85^th-percentile on the growth charts), then these ideas could help to facilitate weight loss and encourage a healthy lifestyle that they will continue to follow into adulthood. Also consider enrolling your child in a summer weight loss camp for children and young adults, such as Camp Shane. Weight loss camp is a fun way to spend a summer meeting new people, eating healthy food, exercising while participating in a variety of activities and beginning on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

Written by Camp Shane Nutritionist, Jessica Bouchard

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/are-parents-overweight-toddlers-denial/6-a-213159

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Tags: healthy lifestyle, obese children, overweight children, weight loss, weight loss camp for children, weight loss camp for young adults
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Parenting, Weight Loss Camps | 2 Comments »

Obese Kids More Vulnerable to Bullies

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Obese children in grades 3 to 6 are more likely to be bullied than normal weight children, according to a recent study in Pediatrics. This statistic may not surprise too many people. However, even obese kids with characteristics that normally discourage bullying, such as good social skills or good academics, still get bullied just as much. Here at Camp Shane weight loss camp, bullying is absolutely not tolerated. Our campers work towards weight loss in a fun, productive way through exercise and nutrition and make many friends in the process.

Bullying

In general, children who are obese are 65% more likely to be bullied than normal weight children of the same age. These results persisted even when other factors were taken into account, such as being from a low-income family or doing badly in school. Prior to this study, researchers did not know how strongly a child’s weight would be related to bullying. Now they have no doubt that obesity is a strong risk factor for bullying among children (in grades 3 to 6).

Struggles of Obese Children

Overweight and obese children tend to have added struggles that their normal-weight peers do not. In addition to be being bullied, overweight children tend to indicate that they feel lonely, see themselves as troublemakers, or say that they are sad, afraid, or “wimpy.”

Mimicking Behaviors

One reason why kids may make fun of overweight classmates could be that they are picking up this behavior from the adults around them. Children are prone to taking on adult behaviors if they see adults acting in certain ways. As such, adults should be aware of how their “fat” jokes or other demeaning behaviors (or even those seen on TV) towards overweight or obese people could be transferring to the children around them. In fact, interaction with parents in and of itself has been seen to reduce bullying.

How Adults Can Help

Previous studies have shown that obese children are also more likely to participate in bullying due to their low self-esteem. Obesity is a vicious cycle of low self-esteem, eating, gaining weight, and then more low self-esteem. If parents (or other adult figures) become more interactive with their children they may be able to help them either deal with being bullied or stop bullying others.

Written by Camp Shane Nutritionist, Jessica Bouchard

Source: http://news.health.com/2010/05/03/obese-kids-bullying/

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Tags: bullying, exercise, nutrition, obese children, obese kids, overweight children, weight loss
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Parenting | 2 Comments »

Obese Children Need Good Habits

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

A recent article in Time magazine features a special writeup on childhood obesity. Statistics show that one of of three school-aged children in America is overweight or obese. This is a scary statistic and a big concern is that this number will only get bigger. So what is the cause of this obesity rate? It seems that children of the recent generation are getting much less physical exercise. Their activities consist more of sitting and watching a screen, rather than spending time outdoors playing. This lack of activity combined with unhealthy fast food is lending to the obesity epidemic in America. This also contributes to an increased rick of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even diabetes.

The American Heart Association is offering programs to encourage families to get active together with a focus on diet and exercise, such as Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart (www.americanheart.org/jump). The AHA also supports the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act, which proposes nutritional standards for food served to schoolchildren.

Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, Stanley N. Gershoff, professor nutrition science and policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, suggests ways in which parents can help adjust their children’s eating and exercise patterns:

Stock the pantry with nutritious after-school snacks, such as fresh and dried fruit, whole-grain pretzels, plain popcorn and granola cereal.
Instead of sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit drinks and fruit juice, switch to flavored seltzer and low-fat and fat-free milk.
Sit down to healthy, regularly scheduled family dinners to establish good eating patterns for children.
Start a vegetable garden where children can plant the greens of their choice.
Limit video game and TV time to two hours a day.
Plan physical activity for the whole family, even if it’s just a bike ride or walk. Families that do activities together stay healthy together.

Another option for your overweight or obese children is a weight loss camp, such as Camp Shane. With a focus on proper nutrition and fitness, we assist children in starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

What are your thoughts? We would love to hear other suggestions of helping children get into good fitness and eating habits.

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Tags: Fitness, healthy lifestyle, nutrition, nutritional standards, obese children, obesity rate, overweight children, weight loss camp
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Fitness, Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyles, Parenting | 2 Comments »

Baseball Players Join First Lady’s Anti-Obesity Campaign

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Major League Baseball players have now joined in on the ongoing campaign against obesity headed by Michelle Obama. According to a NY Times article by Jane L. Levere the Major League Baseball Players Association has appointed 30 prominent baseball players including New York Mets right fielder, Jeff Francoeur and Yankees’ Curtis Granderson, to act as team spokesmen in the campaign ads.

Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign is primarily targeted to eliminate childhood obesity and will consist of 30 television and 30 radio sports that will be customized for each league team. For markets that do not have local league teams, the campaign will use different versions of television and radio ads that will feature Curtis Granderson in his role as the campaign’s national spokesman.

The Major League Baseball Players Association joins a list of high profile partners to the “Let’s Move” campaign whose ranks come from government, science, business, medicine, sports and education. The ads themselves will all begin with video of Mrs. Obama saying: “There are so many fun things we all can do to be healthier, no matter who you are or where you are. So let’s move.” Illustrations of each local baseball team will be added showing them as they stretch, tag opponents and celebrate at home plate.

The first of the national ads that feature Mr. Granderson was launched on Tuesday 20 July on the MLB Network and we can look forward to the remaining 29 spots to be introduced into local markets by mid-August. Further than that, the Ad Council will continue distributing the campaign ads to TV and radio stations to be played through July 2011.

The “Let’s Move” campaign will not be limited to the Major League Baseball Players Association only says Camille Johnston, Michelle Obama’s director of communications. The White House is working to include other sports leagues in the campaign, including the National Football League and the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Here at Camp Shane we understand how important it is to have both parent and children’s involvement in order to combat childhood obesity. What is important to note is that this latest addition to the first lady’s campaign targets families and not just children as its primary audience. This means that the message is delivered to both children and the parents whose support is necessary if they are to regain their health.

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, children's weight loss, first lady, michelle obama, obesity, overweight children
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Fitness | No Comments »