Childhood obesity, according to the most expert nutritionists, is the result of a prolonged positive energy balance. This means that the child introduces more calories into his body than he consumes.
An alarming fact is provided by the statistics, where in Europe Italy is placed in the first places for the number of overweight children; in fact, in our country one in 4 children is obese.
The problems encountered when one is obese as a child, often continuing to be obese even as an adult, reside in the exposure to certain pathologies affecting the circulatory systems (such as arterial hypertension), skeletal muscle (eg arthrosis ) and metabolic (e.g. diabetes mellitus).In addition to this, the obese child can develop a psychological discomfort due to his appearance, resulting in shame and rejection of his appearance, without neglecting the fact that he often becomes the victim of jokes by companions and "friends". This discomfort can also contribute to the onset of an eating disorder.
The main risk factors of childhood obesity are mainly three:
DIET: which can be excessive, unregulated, frequent and bad;
The solution to be adopted to prevent childhood obesity is provided to us by the Ministry of Health through the document "Food education and nutrition strategies", according to which children must be accustomed to:
- 3 regular meals plus 2 snacks;
- avoid rewarding them with too many snacks, especially if they are rich in sugar;
- do not insist on making them eat at all costs by forcing them even when they are full;
- limit the protein intake by alternating meat, eggs and cheeses and preferring fish;
- accustom them to outdoor games and physical activity to burn calories and for proper physical development.
Regarding the last point, as my personal and professional experience, I believe that it is of fundamental importance (of course always taking into consideration the other points). Today, unfortunately for various reasons - such as the lack or very little physical education in schools, diffusion of video games with the disappearance of those outdoors - the so-called street game is increasingly lacking, that is all those activities that until a few years ago were carried out by children when they gathered in outdoor places, on the street, in the fields, in the parishes of the churches, etc., represented by running, crawling, jumping, rolling, wrestling, climbing, throwing, etc. etc., that is, those simple basic motor activities that are very important for the harmonious development of the child.
Often and willingly, the game is missing because parents too easily scold their children while they play, saying "stay still", "don't move", watch television ", etc. This causes the child instead of being active and therefore in motion (with calorie consumption), you become passive and slowly you begin to become a "stopped engine" that receives only fuel (food).
Play is very important, it is training, it helps to burn, to grow and to interact with what surrounds us. Of course, the game is not just this, according to Freud it allows the "elaboration and expression" of emotional and unconscious experiences. Furthermore, playing is a way of passing on and acquiring new complex knowledge, even when not explicitly defined.
The game, therefore, can and must be inserted as a training method, useful in the prevention of childhood obesity.
According to J. Weineck, the advantages of playing as a training method are:
- development of motor skills and knowledge of personal possibilities and those of the partner through mutual adaptation to the needs and abilities of the other;
- increase in interactions between participants thus pursuing socialization objectives;
- focusing of attention not only on what happens in one's own body, but also on what happens outside;
- establishment of relationships of collaboration and emulation between the participants;
- motivation of the subjects to participate;
- stimulation of creative abilities if personal solutions to motor problems are encouraged.
Endurance, for example, can be trained through routes with climbs, descents, obstacles, or trying to grab a partner with the game of "guard and thieves".
It will be possible to train strength by climbing, playing wrestling games, or playing with the "tug of war"
You will be able to train speed through the relays, by doing it "slalom between companions".
But above all, it will be possible to train neuromotor coordination, one of the skills that is increasingly being lost.
Therefore, through play training it will be possible to train correctly in a playful way, respecting the correct physical development of the child.
The most important duty therefore falls to parents who have the task of accustoming children to avoiding bad eating habits, for too long in front of the
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