Childhood Obesity : The American Heart Association

Alleviating Childhood Obesity

What is childhood obesity? Childhood obesity is a condition in which a child is significantly overweight for his or her age and height. In “What is childhood obesity,” the American Heart Association reports that obesity in children causes health problems (American Heart Association). A statistic is that today, about one in three American kids and teens are overweight or obese, which has tripled the rate since 1963 (American Heart Association). If the rate has increased over the past fifty-two years when will it decrease? It will never decrease if healthier lifestyles are not enforced. We need to improve childhood obesity by having classes to educate parents to keep their children healthy.

There are many classes that parents have taken to educate themselves. They have took classes on topics such as childbirth, breastfeeding, parenting, and technology. There is an article called “7 Lessons in Parenting” by Lynne Ticknor, who has her basic graduate-level degree in the Master of Arts (M.A.). She is a certified parent educator and a writer specializing in child development, parenting, and family issues. In the article Ticknor discussed the best seven lessons parent education classes have to offer (Ticknor). After taking a look at this article we should be persuaded to start classes, and create lessons like Ticknor did to show what parent health education classes have to offer. In the article “Preventing Childhood Obesity: Tips for Parents and Caretakers,” the American Heart Association states six tips that parents should use to keep their children healthy. The first tip is encouraging healthy eating habits because small changes can lead to a recipe for success! The second tip is making favorite dishe...

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...ing all the materials now this change can began in June 2017.

This solution can work if the classes are mandatory to all parents. These classes should be enforced like Jury Duty. It is important that we make a change in childhood obesity, and making the class mandatory would be the only way. Let’s say there is a class out there that could help children make healthy choices, and it would benefit the parents. But no one pays it any attention. Would there be a change in childhood obesity? No it would not be a change because parents are not putting in the effort to help their children. It is time to make a change.

Parents should want the best for their children. They should want their children to be healthy regardless of their weight. The classes will make parents better educated about their children’s health. Therefore, it will be beneficial for parents and children.