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Mon, May-01-06, 15:58
AAP urges pediatricians, parents to encourage kids to exercise
Posted on : 2006-05-01 | Author : Abdul-Salaam Masheer
News Category : Health
In its latest policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called upon pediatricians to keep a watch on children's physical activity to curb the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. The academy wants the doctors to encourage parents to also undertake physical activity to inculcate the habit of exercising in their children, right from when they are infants.
“(Parents) become good role models by increasing their own level of physical activity. I've been giving this advice for a long time. Most of the time parents don't feel that it is an imposition,” said Dr Jorge Gomez, a pediatrician from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and one of the authors of the policy.
The statement urged pediatricians to note down the time children and their parents spend on sedentary activities, like TV watching and video games, as also active ones like playing. It asked parents to prevent children under the age of two years from watching television and restrict 'screen time' for older children to less than two hours a day. This time should include video and computer games as well.
Getting preschooler to participate in outdoor activities and supervised walks can help imbibe the love of exercise right from the start. Parents should also inspire their older children and teens to spend a minimum of one hour per day being involved in physical activity and even school sports, the statement, which will be published in the May edition of the AAP journal Pediatrics, said.
According to Gomez, parents who find it difficult to make time to include physical activity in their daily schedules should enlist the support of their pediatricians. “We sit down and troubleshoot. (Exercise) doesn't have to be strenuous, it doesn't have to be organized. (It should be) something to promote the habit of being outdoors and active,” he added.
Among the policy's other recommendations are school and community recreation programs that involve physical activity, compulsory physical education programs that are on a daily basis, campaigns and ads to promote physical activity, and better nutritional facilities in schools. Childhood obesity is growing very fast and according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, cases of excess weight among children has gone up by three times between 1960 and 2000. Over 33 per cent of American children are overweight, with around 15 per cent being classified as obese. Fuelling excess weight is children's addiction to the Internet and computers, and increasing use of junk and processed foods.
Pediatricians hailed the policy statement and said that measures like these were the need of the hour. According to Montefiore Children's Hospital pediatrician Peter Belamarich, doctors have a role to play in preventing children from gaining excess pounds. “I think it's fantastic. I think we should be taking a leadership role in this area. This is a national health problem that is going to just overwhelm us as a society if we don't attend to it,” he said.
A study by the American Institute for Research of Dietary Habits said that by 2010, 21 per cent of all American children would be obese. The health and financial implications for the country are immense if obesity continues growing at its current rate, as the condition is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and even some types of cancers.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/6389.html#
Posted on : 2006-05-01 | Author : Abdul-Salaam Masheer
News Category : Health
In its latest policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called upon pediatricians to keep a watch on children's physical activity to curb the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. The academy wants the doctors to encourage parents to also undertake physical activity to inculcate the habit of exercising in their children, right from when they are infants.
“(Parents) become good role models by increasing their own level of physical activity. I've been giving this advice for a long time. Most of the time parents don't feel that it is an imposition,” said Dr Jorge Gomez, a pediatrician from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and one of the authors of the policy.
The statement urged pediatricians to note down the time children and their parents spend on sedentary activities, like TV watching and video games, as also active ones like playing. It asked parents to prevent children under the age of two years from watching television and restrict 'screen time' for older children to less than two hours a day. This time should include video and computer games as well.
Getting preschooler to participate in outdoor activities and supervised walks can help imbibe the love of exercise right from the start. Parents should also inspire their older children and teens to spend a minimum of one hour per day being involved in physical activity and even school sports, the statement, which will be published in the May edition of the AAP journal Pediatrics, said.
According to Gomez, parents who find it difficult to make time to include physical activity in their daily schedules should enlist the support of their pediatricians. “We sit down and troubleshoot. (Exercise) doesn't have to be strenuous, it doesn't have to be organized. (It should be) something to promote the habit of being outdoors and active,” he added.
Among the policy's other recommendations are school and community recreation programs that involve physical activity, compulsory physical education programs that are on a daily basis, campaigns and ads to promote physical activity, and better nutritional facilities in schools. Childhood obesity is growing very fast and according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, cases of excess weight among children has gone up by three times between 1960 and 2000. Over 33 per cent of American children are overweight, with around 15 per cent being classified as obese. Fuelling excess weight is children's addiction to the Internet and computers, and increasing use of junk and processed foods.
Pediatricians hailed the policy statement and said that measures like these were the need of the hour. According to Montefiore Children's Hospital pediatrician Peter Belamarich, doctors have a role to play in preventing children from gaining excess pounds. “I think it's fantastic. I think we should be taking a leadership role in this area. This is a national health problem that is going to just overwhelm us as a society if we don't attend to it,” he said.
A study by the American Institute for Research of Dietary Habits said that by 2010, 21 per cent of all American children would be obese. The health and financial implications for the country are immense if obesity continues growing at its current rate, as the condition is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and even some types of cancers.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/6389.html#