Children’s weight affected by more than food

Childhood obesity poses a serious public health problem. As a result of excess weight, children are developing adult illnesses, like Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, early in life. What will the health of our next generation look like when these kids are in their 40s?

Solving the obesity problem is a complex issue, and it involves more than just what the child is eating. There are associated factors such as physical activity, access to foods outside the home and even the impact of screen time and television commercials.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as health organizations such as Nemours, recommend that children limit recreational screen time to two hours or less per day.

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics confirms the need to monitor children’s television viewing. There was an association between mothers’ monitoring of their child’s media-watching and the child’s weight.

Parents and children were followed throughout the period when the child was 5, 7 and 9 years old. Mothers who reported spending less time monitoring their kids’ media consumption had kids who tended to get heavier.

Sitting in front of the television is a sedentary activity, and don’t forget the influence of commercials being targeted at children. Food manufacturers pay big bucks to buy airtime on Saturday mornings when kids are watching cartoons.

A 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association analyzed those commercials. Approximately half of the ads were for food. The most heavily marketed were cereals, restaurants, snack foods (cookies, chips, etc.) and candy.

Sadly, the foods that we need our children to eat more of – fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products – are seldom being promoted during this time period.

There are specific steps a parent can take to limit a child’s recreational screen time. First and foremost, keep televisions out of children’s bedrooms.

Parents should set down rules about how much and what a child can view. Seek out quality programming or videos. Whenever possible, watch along with your child – this provides the opportunity to discuss things like food marketing.

Avoid having the television on as “background,” and separate television viewing from mealtimes. Help your child find other things to do – read a book, do sports, play a game, be active outdoors, work on a puzzle or help with cooking/chores.

Record programming and then fast forward through the commercials. If that’s not possible, make a new rule that during commercials, everyone needs to get up and do jumping jacks or stretches.

During the week of May 5-11, people across the country will participate in Screen-Free Week – and will turn off their TVs, videos, mobile games and other screens they use for entertainment.

Screen-Free Week is promoted as a fun and innovative opportunity to reduce our dependence on entertainment screen media, including television, video games, computers and handheld devices.

The weeklong challenge can be organized in a family, school, with a scout troop, faith community, neighborhood, local library or with any community group.

For more information, or to download a free organizer kit, go to screenfree.org.

Marianne Carter is a registered dietitian and director of the Delaware Center for Health Promotion at Delaware State University.