Do you think obesity in children is becoming a major problem?

Question

My husbands niece is 6 yrs old and weighs 105 pounds. I blame the parents. Do you?

to all who have asked there is nothing physically wrong with her to make her gain weight. she is allowed to eat to much and it is all junk food

Answer 1

Has she been to the doctor? There could be something physically wrong with her. 6 year olds shouldn't weigh that much! Does the girl ever go outside and play? You just can't automatically blame the parents unless you know for a fact that they're doing something wrong. She should see a doctor first.

Answer 2

Yes I do agree that child obesity is a problem. But why is it that every time something is wrong with a child it is the parents fault? Yes, the parents could be at fault, but what about society, fast food, genetics, metabolism, etc. more then likely combination of all including the parents. While growing up I was an obese child myself. The worse thing you can do it take all foods away from her and slam her with diets. That will just make her become a closet eater. She will find the sweets and even eat more then she eats now. Her household needs to shop healthier and everyone needs to eat right. If she is only offered healthy food and sees everyone else eating that way she will too. Please remember that she is still a child and she will still eat sweets, she just has to learn that there is good food out there that is not loaded with sugar and eat sweets once in a while rather then all day, every day. If the family will not help than you can. When you visit her take her for a walk, to search for birds, etc., go for a bike ride, or even swimming(playing games in the pool to make her move around) Every little bit will help. She will see this a fun time with her Aunt rather then exercise.
Please do one thing though, do not brown beat her about being FAT. This will cause her eat more and/or become bulimic/anorexic.She is a child and can still be taught how to eat healthy. It has to start with the people she is around everyday. Good luck to your niece.

Answer 3

It depends on the situation: sometime genetics can play a role, some kids gain weight due to a condition call early adrenarchy, and true enough, some kids eat too much a exercise to little.

If there are no health concerns regarding your niece, then I would take a look at what her parents are feeding her and her daily routine.

Certainly, 105 lbs for a six year old seem heavy but if her adrenal system has kicked in early (and it's more common in girls than in boys) her growth may not stop but regular exercise can help it to even out.

She should not be permitted to have fast food at all, no fruit juice (although fruit is okay), lots of water, no soda and cut back on the fried foods and sweets.

Kids resist this change but what would be worse is to end up with a 400 lb 15 year old girl who wonders why no one ever helped her.

If finances allow, encourage her parents to put her in Karate for Kids if there is one within driving distance-it's also known a ATA Black Belt Academy.

These are amazing people who work with kids and adults to encourage social skills, team work, and most of all exercise. It is set up as a win-win situation (there are no losers...ever) and it is one of the BEST kid based athletic programs out there.

If that doesn't work then help her family to come up with something else.

Above all, before placing blame on anyone, they should take her to an endocrinologist and have her tested for some growth issues.

I'm sorry if there are typos, spell check isn't working again!

Answer 4

Yes I do Too. Because no child should weigh that much. My
Daughter is 9 and she will look like a tooth pick standing next
to her. No Offense butt's true. They seriously need to put her
on a strict diet. She could have heart failure. Tell them to give
her healthy foods. No Junk Food, Let that be a treat. Exercises
daily. It seems to me that she is not an active child. There is sports she can get into. Tell them to take her to the park were
she can burn some calories there. If it's too hot outside then
take her by 11am- 12pm, or in the evening when it starts cooling
down. If your active take her for a walk. Someone needs to start.
Talk to your Husband and let him know that Obesity in anyone can kill. And your only concern for her health. They need to stop
with that fatty food. She can still eat Chicken boiled, or baked.
NO FRIED FOOD. Give her apples instead of candy or chips.
substitute with the good and not the bad. Like I said my daughter
is 9 and she weighs 69 pounds and is around 4 feet something.
I just hope they see the bad in the over weight. Other wise
thats wrong.

Answer 5

Child obesity is a major problem in the US. Many of our children are becoming diabetics, are experiencing heart problems and have high cholesterol levels. The reason is that they don't spend enough time outside, exercising, or just playing! Even schools are cancelling PE classes and yet serve or sell junk foods.

While some children may be affected by genes, most of their illnesses and over weight problems can be avoided. Parents should not encourage their children to eat while watching tv, parents should encourage their children to turn off tv's, computers and video games, and spend most of their day outside.

Not only will the child's weight and health be positively affected, if a child is more active, they become more in tune with their imagination.

Answer 6

It is almost an epidemic. Kids do not want to play outside, all they want is to play video games and to be in front of a computer. Also, fast food is replacing healthy home cooked meals, because most families are always in a hurry. The parents should be more concerned about their kids health and give them healthy alternatives. I blame the parents for not being more in control of their children

Answer 7

Absolutely. When I was 6, which was only 23 years ago, seeing a fat kid was RARE! I think becuase there were still a lot of old school values left in the parents back then, and NO still meant NO. Today "parents" seem to let their kids walk all over them and give in to their every desire, even if their 4 year old wants chocolate cake for breakfast.

Answer 8

Yes obesity is a major problem. According to the National Center of Disease Control, the generation coming up is going to be more unhealthy than their parents for the first time in history. More diseases will spring up with them at a early age because of overweight. Diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, high cholesterol.
Parents fault? Hard for me to say, what do they feed him? Is it his diet? Does he go outside and play? How active is he?

Answer 9

the parents of overweight children are certainly to blame I feel because they supply the food or the money for the food and they do not set a good example

Answer 10

yes i do blame the parents because they let their kid eat all that junk and they don't do anything about it. that's crazy, 6 years old and 105?