Childhood Obesity – We Are Responsible For Future Generation.

An essential mission of every woman - to give birth to a child. But this is only half the battle. The crucial thing is to bring up healthy and right-minded person. This is the responsibility of nobody but parents and government.

Unfortunately, childhood obesity has become a national problem today. It has actually tripled in the past 30 years. Only statistics about Philadelphia shows that overall childhood obesity is about 55% in the city, with North Philadelphia children being the most overweight - 70 percent of them are too heavy, according to Dr. Donald Schwarz, the pediatrician who serves as both the city's deputy mayor for health and health commissioner. The situation in other states does not differ drastically.

The majority of parents don't know and will be shocked to find out that many American teens have arteries so clogged they could suffer a heart attack and high cholesterol can begin as early as age 3!!!

“Our goal is to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation,” Michelle Obama said during the event in Columbia Heights, near downtown Washington. “We are making this a big, huge generational goal, with the notion that kids born today are going to have a different idea of what it means to be healthy, so that they grow up at a healthy weight, with good habits that they can then teach the generations to follow.”

But of course, everything begins with the family traditions. It's tough being a parent, but for the sake of our children and their health, we must take a revolutionary stand about our eating and exercise habits. If we are going to lick the obesity epidemic, parents cannot remain passive and must make some serious changes in their family's nutrition.

We should stop thinking that a little baby fat is cute. We should stop humoring child's fancy about food. Our children must be accustomed to the healthy lifestyle from the very beginning. When children eat and drink more than their bodies need, they gain excess weight. Left unchecked, this excess weight could spell big health problems down the line like diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

A hot sausage sandwich is not the breakfast of champions. A bowl of whole grains or a whole-grain English muffin with a tablespoon of nut butter is far more nutritious, quicker and less expensive, too.

Sure, getting kids to eat healthy can be challenging, especially when they see their parents with huge plate of chips, hot wings, pizza and a supersized soft drink.

So first of all, we should model good eating behavior, buy only healthy food, establish meal times and, of course, encourage exercises.

Don't keep any junk food in your house. It will be tempting and a child may think that if you buy it, it cannot bring any harm and it's nothing more than your will to forbid him eating it.

Establish family traditions by going outside for a walk or a quick run in the evenings, buy basket-ball and fix backboard in your house yard, do your best to promote love of physical activity and exercising to your children.

Here are some recommendations concerning healthy nutrition.

Have a healthy lunch

Instead of pizza, try lasagna stuffed with spinach or low-fat ground turkey, skim ricotta and mozzarella cheese and low-sodium tomato sauce.

Instead of a hamburger, substitute lean ground turkey or go vegetarian with a Boca brand burger. Serve with a side of broccoli.

Instead of hot wings, make your own chicken strips, either baked or grilled, and serve with your favorite wing sauce.

Go green

Be sure to eat something green at both lunch and dinner and indulge freely in nature's candy - fresh or dried fruit.

Cook together

Cooking meals together is a great opportunity to bond with your child, share and upgrade some old family recipes, and get the kids practicing their math and reading, too. Besides, most kids like helping out in the kitchen.

The bottom line is that kids need to understand the importance of nutrition and how to eat healthy. Ultimately, parents are the No. 1 influence on their children, and it is our responsibility to make family meals a priority, to be a good role model by eating healthy ourselves and to keep the house stocked with healthy food.

You should provide your child with healthy nutrition. Meat, fish, eggs and milk are the essential part of it. If a person doesn't consume proteins, the organism will take it from bones and muscles. Moreover, a new study by UB researchers shows that among children ages 2 to 5, poor nutrition may be a common thread connecting obesity and tooth decay. So to eat properly and to fight with obesity doesn't mean to eat little and cheap – remember it!

The article was provided according to the health nutrition advisory of Kimberly Garrison, a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness.com).