Obesity is an issue that many adults have been struggling with for so many decades, but now, it has started affecting children as well. Obesity among children is spreading like wildfire, causing both physical and psychological complications.
According to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), 200 million children worldwide are either obese or overweight. The situation is no different in India, which is an alarming sign. According to a research paper published in 2020, prevalence of obesity among school-going children in India in the age bracket 15-19 years is between 3.6 to 11.7 per cent, which is a high percentage indeed. It is predicted that there will be 17 million obese children in India by the year 2025.
According to Virender Pahal, a celebrity fitness and nutrition trainer, if we don’t start working on this problem, it can be a big issue for our country. His first priority is to create awareness about the fitness among children as well as the parents. The online videos of Pahal Nutrition are helping parents and children remain fit while they are at their homes. In January, they reached 29 lakh people only via Instagram, says Virender. People who watched them on YouTube, Facebook and other social media profiles are far more than this number. “Our only aim is to help people of India to learn how to keep themselves fit and healthy. Our awareness programs helping thousands of people to learn fitness and nutrition training,” he adds.
It’s amazing what happens when teachers, students, and communities come together in the name of health, fitness and hope. “In fact, every time we post a video on our social media handles, we get lots of messages from people around all corners of India, that their son/daughter is fighting with obesity and they really want to see their son/daughter fit as other kids. I love to hear when they write that our videos are helping them to get into the shape. Our children are a beacon of hope and when we put them first, we can expect them to live long, productive, and healthy lives. Prioritising fitness is a powerful way to change our children’s future for the better,” says Virender.
The trainer adds that by combating childhood obesity, children are getting healthy, increasing their energy, boosting their self-esteem, and improving their overall confidence. “Moreover, we are also strengthening their bodies to help them fight this pandemic,” he says.
Virender says exercise is a “vaccine” that helps strengthen our immune system and helps to fight against various infections. However, during these unprecedented times, exercise is needed more than ever. Not only will it help children get in shape, it will also help them improve their mental health, behaviour and academic performance. Research says “young people who exercise more have lower levels of depression, stress and psychological distress, and higher levels of positive self-image, life satisfaction and psychological well-being”.
Building a solid foundation of physical activity at a young age will put children on an upward spiral of success and lay the foundation for them to become strong, healthy adults. “In my personal experience, I have found that when kids are building healthier, stronger bodies, they are also gaining confidence, self-esteem and their mental outlook is much improved,” says Virender. Years of research also support this. Low-intensity exercise has been shown to improve brain function and make people feel better, while high-intensity workouts three to four times a week can reduce clinical depression.
How to avoid obesity
Clean and healthy food: There is no amount of physical activity that can cover up for bad food choices. Try to make your children aware about the benefits of having healthy food. Give them homemade food as much as possible. A balanced diet with all the macro and micro nutrients is very important at their age for overall physical and mental development.
Natural unprocessed sugars: Instead of having processed sugars, switch to natural sugars present in fruits, homemade sweets, fruit juices etc. You may prefer organic juices as well.
Physical games: Let them play games that include physical activity. Group games like football, cricket, seven stones etc. include musculoskeletal activity and burn a lot of calories at the same time.
Limit television/mobile time: One of the drawbacks of technology in the modern era is that children remain glued to televisions or smartphones for hours without taking a break. This is particularly more evident during the pandemic time when schools are closed. Parents need to monitor and limit the amount of time children spend on their smartphone and television.
Avoid overfeeding: Showing affection to children is good but the affection that causes harm to the child should not be encouraged. A child should never be overfed, especially in a short span of time, as it leads to slowing of metabolism, resulting in weight gain and ultimately, obesity.
Quality sleep: Parents should strictly restrict late night sleeping. Quality sleep enables good functioning of the body and maintains hormone levels, which leads to physical and mental development of children. If quality sleep remains disturbed for a long time, it can result in hormonal imbalance, leading to many other issues, including weight gain.
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