Each obese child suffers through their own personal pain. They each confront the increased dangers of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and early onset puberty as well as all the emotional issues of low self esteem and possible ridicule by other children. But with an estimated 1 in 3 children either overweight or obese, this is more than an individual problem for our society. As we have increased our consumption of fast food over the past 30 years so also has the number of obese children increased. There is ample evidence that a fast food diet is a fast track to child obesity.
Calories come in different forms. Some are gotten from fat or carbohydrates while others come from sugars. Our bodies absorb these calories in different ways that are important to your health, but the bottom line is a calorie is still a calorie. If you consume more calories than you burn off through activity you will gain weight. If you burn off more than you consume you will lose weight.
A child who consumes just a few more calories than are burned off through activity and normal growth will gradually become overweight. A very active 5 year old boy with a healthy body weight who is out playing and running around for more than an hour each day will need to consume around 1800 calories each day. If the child is not very active the required calories drops to around 1200 per day. For the same 11 year old boy the range would be from around 1500 to 2500.
Now let's look at some calorie information for common fast food items.
Happy Meal has 555 Calories.
Four piece Chicken McNuggets has 170 calories.
McDonald's medium French fries has 350 calories.
McFlurry with M&M's has 620 calories.
Jack In The Box OREO Cookie Ice Cream Shake has 190 calories.
Dairy Queen Chicken Strip Basket (6 piece) has 1270 calories.
Burger King TRIPLE WHOPPER Sandwich with Cheese has 1230 calories.
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has 770 calories
Big Mac has 600 calories.
McDonald's 16 oz Triple thick shake has 580 calories.
Burger King large chocolate shake has 850 calories.
So a meal at McDonald's consisting of a Big Mac, medium fries and a Triple thick shake will have 1,800 calories. Add to that any other meals eaten in that day or snacks and you can see why even the most active child would have a hard time maintaining a healthy body weight. And McDonald's is not necessarily the biggest offender. A similar meal at other fast food chains could yield even more calories.
Just consider the fact that 1 in 3 children between the ages of 4 and 19 are eating at fast food restaurants each day and 1 in 3 children of the same age are obese. I do not believe this is a coincidence. Over the last 30 years more of us are eating out more. It has been found, when eating out we tend to eat larger portions. Over the last 30 years the obesity rate has skyrocketed. Fast food is not the sole cause for the rise in obesity, but it sure hasn't helped.
Parents play a large role in developing the eating habits of their children. The lifestyle changes that brought on this epidemic of obesity can be reversed. The more we cook healthy meals at home the less likely our children will be overweight. This may take a little extra time and effort, but the payoff will be well worth it.
The most important first step to help your obese child (help-for-my-obese-child.info) is the decision to take action. If you are looking for a complete guide to help you give your child a healthy and happy future you will want to look into this total program to prevent child obesity. If you want to learn how to help your obese child lose weight you will want to get this wonderful package. Fad diets do not work, and some can be dangerous. Go to my obese child (help-for-my-obese-child.info) to learn how to make the long term life style changes to give your child a healthy life.
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