One day back in early September, I saw a little girl of
about 5 or 6 crossing Adelaide Street on her way to school.
She was alone, and eating a bag of candy. What made me first
notice her was her shoes - they were a few sizes too big and she
was having difficulty keeping them on her feet, dragging them along
in a kind of shuffle. I felt such a pang of sadness for this
little girl, that she should be going to school with ill-fitting
shoes and eating candy for breakfast, and I wondered what sort of
school day she would have.
I thought about this little girl again this morning when I read
an article in the London Free Press about the link between
over-indulgent parents and childhood obesity. Dr. Mark
Tremblay from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa
is one of North American's leading experts on childhood obesity,
and was recently in London. He says that parents "bubble
wrap" their kids by not letting them climb trees and monkey bars,
and that parents often orchestrate their kids' social lives instead
of letting them learn social skills through non-organized
(ie. non-parent driven) activities. Dr. Tremblay warns that
the situation is "dire", and that kids spend too much time in front
of screens - video and computer - and often eat while doing so,
just out of habit. Dr. Tremblay warns that this generation of
kids is headed for early heart disease and type II diabetes because
of poor nutrition and lack of exercise.
Over-indulgent parents are most certainly a problem - on many
fronts - and aren't doing their kids any favours in the long
run. On the other end of the spectrum, lots of poor kids in
London go to school hungry every day. I rather doubt
that the little girl with the too big shoes and candy for breakfast
is over-indulged, but I suspect she falls into the poor nutrition
category. Going to school without breakfast impacts kids'
ability to learn and be successful, and no child should have to
start the day without it. The irony is that the
over-indulged kid and the poor kid are both malnourished. It
doesn't have to be so -- kids as young as 4 or 5 can be taught to
spread peanut butter on a piece of bread, pour a bowl of cereal, or
grab an apple or banana and a glass of milk.
This is one of the life skills kids need to be taught early and
well. As a society, we seem to have forgotten how to
cook. Everyone should be able to provide basic nutrition for
him or herself in the form of a simple meal. On a tight
budget, staples such as rice, beans, oatmeal, canned tuna and fruit
and vegetables in season, and using generic or store brands is
cheaper and healthier than buying processed or junk food.
Food banks are an option if needed, and if you've got a good group
of neighbours or friends and little cash, try buying in bulk and
making big batches of stuff, such as homemade soups or stews and
share and trade with the group to add variety. The internet
is full of great, low cost recipes, so it's a good place to start
if your cooking skills are rusty (or non-existent). If your
kids don't like vegetables, grinding them up and putting them in
tomato sauce over pasta is a good way to disguise them (this works
really well for broccoli and spinach). Get the kids to
to start helping in the kitchen when they're really young, and
preparing their own meals will eventually become part of their
daily routine. An added benefit --eating meals as a family
has been shown to help kids do better academically and socially,
and helps establish the traditions that kids always remember.
Exercise is the other piece of this puzzle, and here I think
schools (or more precisely, the Ministry of Education) should share
much of the blame. Phys. Ed. should be a priority,
and it should be a scheduled class every day, not just
twice or three times a week. And maybe rethink the long hours
of homework a bit - kids spend enough time sitting already - give
them the opportunity to be outdoors, at least. All the
academic preparation in the world isn't going to do any good in
helping our kids in the future if they are too ill from diabetes or
heart disease to work or enjoy life. Parents can play their
part by limiting video game and computer time, and making sure the
kids get out of the house to play for an hour or so every
day. Let kids help out with household chores - shovelling
snow in winter, walking the dog, taking out the trash, sorting
laundry, cleaning their rooms - anything to get them up and
moving.
The problem of childhood obesity and poor nutrition isn't going
to go away on its own. It will take a little more work,
a little more planning, a little more oversight and a lot more
structure. Let's make it a priority, even if we have to slow
down and take the time our of our busy schedules. It's good
for the digestion, and our kids are worth it.
