There's no question about the annual increase of children and teens that are obese. The numbers are staggering and drastic changes need to be made if we expect our children to outlive us. Obesity is not the only epidemic this country is dealing with. Laziness is another that's at the top of the list.
As parents we "want our kids to have what we didn't have" or we don't want to make our kids do things that we didn't want to do as teens. Nowadays many families hire maids to clean the house, lawn service companies to do the lawn maintenance, we take our cars through drive-thru car washes, etc. The "manual labor" tasks that we used to do as kids and teens are now being done by everyone except our kids!
Teenagers spend countless hours watching TV, playing video games, texting, talking on the phone, on Facebook, Twitter, Skype... you name the electronic device and they probably have their faces glued to at least one right this very moment! All the while us as parents are working, taking care of a household, paying bills, grocery shopping and tending to the family while they do nothing more than waste their day away when they aren't in school.
THIS is one of the major contributors to the obesity epidemic, without question! When did it become reasonable for a teenager to not have chores to do? When did it become only the mother and/or father's responsibility to take care of every last thing in the house? When did it become okay for teenagers to expect to get paid to do chores? And worse yet, when did it become okay for teenagers to sit around doing nothing to exercise their mind and body all the while filling their mouths full of junk food?!
THIS is a problem that MUST be addressed in order to start our children on the right path to a healthy, active, responsible lifestyle. You aren't doing your kids any favors by not giving them a list of chores to do and/or not holding them responsible when they are not done. Allowing children to sit around all day, every day doing nothing is only increasing the chance that they will be obese and have health issues down the road. Furthermore, you are not teaching your children responsibility. If they don't know how to do dishes, empty the trash, do their laundry or clean their room how will they ever make it on their own?! Maybe this is why we have so many 20 and 30 year olds still living at home?!
We, as parents, are solely responsible for getting our teens off their butts and active - even when they don't want to be! There must be guidelines for the amount of time that can be spent in front of the TV, computer and/or video games. YOU have control over the situation and it is of the utmost importance that you exercise your right as a parent to shut the TV off!!
Our kids need to be up off the couch, playing sports, playing an instrument, doing chores, cutting the grass (and not getting a paycheck for it), doing dishes, cleaning their rooms, taking responsibility for cleaning up after themselves and helping out around the house. Making your kids become active, like it or not, is your job as their parent.
If you are buying sodas, chips, cookies, junk food snacks, etc AND not forcing your teenager to get up and get active then YOU are the first person that needs to make a change as that child's parent! It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that your teenager has the proper nutrition, that healthy foods are in the house and available for them to eat and that they have a set guideline for what amount of time they are permitted to "veg out."
I urge parents to take a good, long look at your expectations of your teenagers, look at the foods that you have for them to eat and the example that you are setting for your children and see if a change is necessary. If it is then implement a change! This is the ONLY way that we will reverse this ever growing problem in our country. We don't want our children to be overweight and lazy, do we?!
Make a change! Feed your teenagers healthy foods that will enable them to stay focused and stay awake in school, that will ensure their bodies have the proper nutrients to grow and remain healthy and MAKE THEM get active!!! Put guidelines on TV and computer time and engage them in daily chores and responsibilities around the house. Not only will it help you out but it will show them that there is more to life then hanging out, playing video games and sleeping!
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