Read about child obesity causes and see how to make your kid fat!
There are quite a number child obesity causes—a new study shows that parents encouraging kids to finish everything on their plates might be one as well. Read on to find our more about the study.
A dietician from University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Katie Loth shared: “I was surprised at some of the parent behaviours, like feeling that their children should clean their plates and not waste food.”
She added: “Portion sizes have got bigger over time, and if you encourage kids to rely on environmental indicators, like how much food is on their plates or the time of day, they’ll lose the ability to rely on internal cues to know whether they’re hungry or full.”
With growing portion sizes and the pressure to finish what is on their plates, our kids won’t know when to stop. They won’t question their inner feelings of “Am I hungry or not?”—leading them to consume whatever and whenever food is presented to them.
Watch this video for the biggest babies ever–they eat whatever they want…including toothpaste!
RELATED: Sleep and obesity are linked
There were 2,200 teens and 3,500 parents involved in the study. The findings were fascinating:
1. Dads were more inclined to pressure kids to finish their food, compared to mums.
2. Boys were more likely to be placed in a spot to ingest all food than teen girls.
RELATED: Prolonged bottle feeding and probable obesity
Parents who don’t know better
According to chief medical staff at La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Dr Michael Hobaugh believes that child obesity is caused when parents are not able to judge if their kids are indeed the right or ideal weight.
He ventured: “There’s now so much obesity in the United States that when we see a child who is normal weight, inevitably, a parent will think the child is too skinny. But if a pediatrician charts that child’s height and weight, he or she may even be overweight. There’s a wide range of normal, and for many teens it’s normal to be slender and gangly.”
RELATED: Is your child eating too much or enough?
Child obesity causes
There are quite a few causes to obesity in children. It could be genetic, hormonal disorders, exercising to little, eating too much, bad eating habits and perhaps all of the above.
Watch this video of Jessica who was over 400 pounds (over 180 kg) at just seven years of age!
RELATED: Tips to combat childhood obesity
Sure-fire ways to make your kid fat
Please avoid these patterns if you love your child…
1. Neglect breakfast in the mornings because you’re too swamped. Just give your kid a bar of chocolate in case she feels hungry.
2. Only feed them processed foods—avoiding anything fresh and healthy. Processed foods are more convenient anyway.
3. Allow them to snack between meals and with no priority given to main meals.
4. Reward or bribe your child with dessert and sweets. If they try a food they don’t like, make it a point to give them a sweet treat.
5. Approve of very salty or sweet foods of their choice—training their taste buds to prefer only food bursting with flavour. Hey, food needs to taste yummy at all times.
6. Allow them to drink sweet and carbonated drinks only— making them prefer flavoured drinks over water.
7. Allow them to be homebound, glued to the screen, playing computer games instead of being active and exercising.
RELATED: Getting your child to move it, move it!
8. Never eat together as a family. Who has the time?
9. Never pay attention to portion sizes and making them finish everything on their plate– regardless of portion.
10. Allow them to eat anything they want at anytime. When a child has gotta eat, she has gotta eat!
11. Keep a stash of junk food that is easily accessible in the house!
12. Be overweight yourself—so that your child can use you as a fine example.
Watch this video for a far reaching obesity issue that is not only contained in the USA. Please watch this very educational video.