Obesity in teens seems to be rising at an alarming rate. One in five teens are overweight. Before going on, it is important to know the difference between being overweight and being obese. A person who is overweight has excessive body weight which includes muscle, fat, bone, and water. Obesity is the excessive accumulation of body fat. Obesity causes many health problems including, heart diseases, high blood pressure, and even premature death.
So what could have caused the obesity rate in teens to rise so drastically? The answer to this is quite obvious, low levels in activity, high calorie foods, and parental guidance.
An average teen spends 31 hours in front of the computer screen and 56 hours in from of the T.V. a week! That's 87 out of 168 hours a week. 87 hours they are missing or physical activity. At the same time they could be missing out on sleep or even the amount of time they could be spending with family or friends.
Our fast pace times make it hard to get healthy and nutritious meals. Many of us choose a T.V. dinner or McDonald's over taking the time too cook. An average meal at McDonald's containing a Big Mac, medium fries, and a medium coke consists of 1130 calories! You are consuming over half of what you are supposed to have in one whole day in just one meal. An average teen should only be having 300-500 calories in one meal.
Now lets be practical, if Mom is having a Big Mac are you really going to choose the salad? I know I wouldn't! If your parents don't have the time to make you dinner most of us wouldn't go ahead and make a meal ourselves because it is much easier throwing a T.V. dinner in the microwave for a couple minutes. Let's all face it, parental guidance effect what our teen diet is going to be like. If Mom and Dad do it, we're going to think it's okay.
With the preceding information there can only be one solution. It all leads back to the parents! Our parents need to face the fact that if they do it or if they allow it we're going to think it is fine . It is extremely important to limit the time they spend on electronic devices a day. Parents must also watch what they buy. If there is always ice cream in the freezer or brownies in the pantry, of course we are going to eat it. Instead of potato chips, why not buy a bag of baby carrots to snack on. If parents make safer and healthier choices, chances are, the obesity rates in teens are going to lower drastically.