Childhood obesity

Dear reader,

Something that is well known and talked about a lot is the rapid rise of obesity – so rapid that it could probably be classified as a “pandemic” in certain nations, and NOT just developed nations by the way.

But, did you know that CHILDHOOD obesity is on the rise as well globally?

When most people think of childhood obesity the U.S. is the one country that comes to mind – and while it IS a huge problem in the U.S., America is by far NOT the only country where this is a growing (and rapidly so) problem.

Believe it or not, I’d say that China – a country that has traditionally along with India been considered a nation of “generally fit people” is the #1 country on the aforementioned list. Take a stroll through any of the first or second tier cities in China, and you’ll see what I mean.

Kids with pot bellies, no less. Kids chomping away on Mc. Donalds, blissfully unaware of the “jiggle under the arms” as they dive into yet another helping of “freedom fries”.

Kids raised on sugary crap (might as well call it “slow poison” IMO) such as Coke, Pepsi etc, and slowly getting ADDICTED to it.

I saw a video last night on the Internet which showed an EIGHT year old boy, no less, walking around a swimming pool with MAN BOOBS (yes, you read that right) – and more so, blissfully unaware of them “jiggling” as he walked.

His mother didnt seem too concerned either – and by the looks of the other kids in the swimming pool, while this guy was definitely the “top of the heap”, the others were not lagging too far behind either -and I do NOT mean that in a GOOD way!

That last part about being blissfully unaware could probably also be termed as “unconcerned”, and it is something that quite literally boggles the mind when a parent, no less, is literally unconcerned over his/her kid’s health and fitness levels.

It’s one thing to have a pot belly if your an adult and live on a diet of beer, chips and pizza – but its quite another for a KID – an 8 year old kid to be in the same situation.

It just shows you how far things have gone when a kid with a metabolism quicker than a hot knife slicing through butter is walking around with jugs that rival “Pamela’s”, and a backside that is probably more in place on a junior sumo wrestler than the average kid.

And the main reasons is obvious – diet and zero to little exercise.

But the UNDERLYING reason is not as readily apparent, my friend, and that being – kids follow by example. And when all they see is adults lazing/slouching around and wolfing down unhealthy food by the platter – well, then guess what they’ll end up doing.

The bottom line to all this, and the obvious corollary is to LEAD by example.

So if you’ve got kids, set a good example. Make it a point to get SOME exercise in daily, even that’s just a brisk walk.

Set aside the “TV and videos” time, and pump out some pushups in front of your kid. Watch how quickly they will start and imitate what your doing – the younger the quicker in my opinion.

And most of all, let them – and YOURSELF, as well! –  know, albeit in a friendly manner that occasional treats are just that – occasional. Follow a decent diet 99% of the time, exercise daily and gorge on that pizza every once in a while, and you’ll do just fine – and so will your kid.

Astoundingly simple, and oft ignored. Such as it goes.

All for now!

Rahul Mookerjee

P.S.: – I cover diet in detail in the book as well – get it here – http://0excusesfitness.com/the-book/

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