Baby fat is only cute when you’re a baby
Nowadays people would rather be comforted with a lie than confronted to face the truth. “You look great!” It’s time we start being more honest with each other as hard as it may be to swallow. Instead of letting our youth eat out, and unhealthy regularly we should stop this bad habit before it even starts. One thing is for sure your body doesn’t break down food the same way it does when you’re younger compared to the way it does when you’re older. According to conventional wisdom “your resting metabolic rate tends to drop as you age because you lose a small amount of muscle each year.” As you age whether you realize it or not your metabolism changes drastically over time. You also get weaker as you get older. This is why you see professional athletes retire when they no longer have the energy or muscle endurance they did just a few years back. For example older people tend to have a lower metabolic rate, and also eat and exercise significantly less. Instead of letting our youth face the consequences later we should introduce them to healthier eating habits before a unhealthy one even starts.
Children, and adults are both fall victim to peer pressure but children are more easily manipulated than the average adult. According to SFgate “The old adage “you are what you eat” couldn’t be more accurate in an age where unhealthy food is far more accessible than healthy choices for many American children. Over one-third of American children are now overweight and at risk for various associated diseases.” Most children nowadays go home after school and eat what they can find and cook expediently as they wait for their parents to get home from work. Majority of parents, like their children would rather prepare or eat something quick regardless if it’s the healthiest option or not. Children in their adolescent stages could really care less what they eat as long as it tastes good and satisfies their hunger. Children can suggest but ultimately have no say when what gets put on the table is finalized. It comes down to either eat what is on the table or starve until tomorrow. Until they can support themselves parents call the shots. The parents should be held responsible for their child, and childhood obesity should be considered a crime.
It is time parents are held responsible for their child now more than ever. Not only does unhealthy eating habits affect them in their youth but carries on to cause serious health problems down the road. A perfect analogy is what you eat is what you wear. Unhealthy eating can easily be prevented more times than not. The media targets children in more ways than not. Yet parents fail to teach their children the difference between desire and necessity. Moynihan a medical faculty member at the University of Newcastle states “In a study of 4–7-year-old American children, Galst & White (1976) showed that the more commercial television that was viewed, the more food requests were made to the parent.” The media is manipulating. We see something on television and immediately want it. When we act on impulse it usually leads to a negative outcome we need to start thinking smarter. Media isn’t all bad lets get that straight but something should be done to start promoting healthier living or getting out more and active compared to today where every other commercial is a fast food, or just anything quick, and cheap. Sounds pretty American to me. For example you may be driving back from class or work you want to get food but do not know what to get. You flip the radio on and hear a sprite commercial with a superstar like LeBron James telling you to buy it, just as that happens you drive past a McDonalds billboard and suddenly you find yourself in the McDonalds drive thru. The thing is that it’s not and obesity is a serious problem that is affecting way more people than it should. With that being said it’s not as hard as it seems to introduce your child to a healthier way of life. Perpetrators who fail to meet these requirements should face a punishment. Possibly a rehab for weight loss or take a personal training class and pass so they can be a better parent. Being heavy is not the problem being unhealthy is. It’s time we do something to reduce this increasingly big problem the United States faces currently today. It’s not hard to be healthy just ask your doctor and he can steer you in the right direction.
Works Cited
“Sound Body Sound Mind, Los Angeles, CA.” Sound Body Sound Mind, Los Angeles, CA. UCLAhealth, n.d. Web. 21 Nov.2016.
Galst, Joann Paley, and Mary Alice White. “The Unhealthy Persuader: The Reinforcing Value of Television and Children’s Purchase-Influencing Attempts at the Supermarket.” Child Development, vol. 47, no. 4, 1976, pp. 1089–1096. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1128446.
Rowan Counterintuitive 