The causes of the overweight/obesity epidemic in our country are many, but the primary reasons point to our need for more physical activity in our daily routines and better nutrition (including proper portion control, more fresh fruits and vegetables, more water and less sodium, fat and sugar).
As children move into the routine of school their opportunity for free play naturally declines. Often elementary school children become involved in organized sports for the first time, but for overweight children the opportunity to play and enjoy success is often less. This sets up a cycle of reluctance to be more physically active.
As a child grows and learns during the elementary school years (5 -11 in age) , they become more independent, and they begin to make their own food choices. Those food choices can be greatly influence through advertising messages. Each year billions of dollars are spent in advertising to children and according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of those advertising dollars sell food using thousands of television ads.
Helping children establish healthy habits early in life and encouraging them to sustain those habits as they mature needs to be a priority for parents, educators and the community at large.