My research question is:
With childhood obesity at an all-time high and blame placed upon the media,
are parents really to blame for their children's health?
Based on my current knowledge of childhood obesity I believe it is the parents’
fault that their child is overweight. I am a mother of a two year old, and I
have worked in a child care center for four years. I have witnessed many
different parenting techniques as well as different income levels. Every family
is different, but health is something that every family faces regardless of
income or education. I do believe media has some play into the crisis, but
ultimately it is the job of a parent to make decisions for their child
regarding their health and well-being.
Some responses to my research question might be that people think the media
has a huge part of the obesity of children, others might say there can be other
lying health conditions that have been passed from generation to generation
that might be the culprit, some might even believe there is an income barrier
that prevents low-income families the resources and income to make healthy
decisions, and others might agree thinking parents are to blame.
To gain credibility as well as strengthen my argument, I want to find out
statistics of childhood obesity and the sources in which can lead to childhood
obesity. Long-term affects might be able to help strengthen my argument, but
depending on the content I find may dilute my purpose. I want to explore other
opposing viewpoints and figure out what they believe is the main source.
Another area that can help is learning what the average child at each stage in
development needs nutrition wise. I would also like to read about research that
has been conducted regarding the obesity and find correlating links of why it
is still growing after the release of many educational programs have been
released. Finally, I think it would be beneficial to "people-watch"
and see what kind of food choices parents are making for their children, although I do not know if it would be considered credible since it will be me witnessing the behavior.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like it is going to be a really interesting topic. I am looking forward to seeing what information you come up with. I agree with you 100% that it is the parent's who are in charge of children's obesity. I'm sure the media has some effect, but overall I really do think it's the parent's. I think your people watching will be an excellent source. You will get to see first hand what is going on. I think people use the media as an excuse which is pretty funny to me. I don't think people do enough of their own research which is why this will be great for you and everyone else. You will see first hand and report to us. I think when I see bad eating behaviors it makes me want to be even better than I already am!
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job with your entire blog. You have a lot of good ideas about how to observe child obesity but I would have to say I think I am 50/50 on your statement that it is the parents fault why children are obese. I do believe it is partially the parents fault in some cases since they are the adults providing the food for the child. Some parents also have bad eating habits so I believe the child learns from their parent but this is not always the case. I happen to know first hand that some children just have eating problems where they sneak food behind their parents back and eat alone and secretively. A friend of mine is battling this problem with her child now. He is a 10 year old boy who weighs 115 pounds and wears a size 10 men's shoe. She recently learned that he has been hiding food when he goes to bed and eats in his room in the dark when she thinks he is sleeping. She is now meeting with a nutritionist weekly to try to get his eating disorder under control. This is a huge problem in these days in age and America is labeled the most obese county in the world. Very sad situation. I look forward to reading more on your topic.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a great post! I can say that I only partially agree with you. I have a few reasons behind that due to my recent learning experiences with my own son. Here I am a 25 year old mom and my son will not eat at all. He has a lot of other health problems but we will stay focused on the eating one. He refuses to put food in his mouth, and had to end up getting a G-tube because he is so underweight. While I am working with many doctors at The Childrens Hospital of Colorado his specialist mentions this disorder or disease to me called Prader Willi. It is a disease where the body can’t consume enough food so the child eats and eats and eats. They hide food from parents and sneak whatever whenever they can. They usually have to be put in a home where there are locks on the cabinets and strict meal times every day. So you may ask what my son has to do with that since he doesn’t eat. The child with Prader Willi usually don’t start eating massive amounts of food until they are around three or four. The doctors believe that my son has Prader Willi so we are already working with food therapist, nutritionist and have set meal times. I used to walk down the streets and say “Wow, that child is very overweight the parents must not care about what he or she eats.” Now I always say to myself “That child may have a certain disorder or maybe even Prader Willi.”
I also used to think that a parents with an overweight child were not doing their job by letting their child do whatever they want. If your child is overweight there are two things you should focus on. One eating healthy and two exercise. What if your child can’t exercise? Again I relate back to my son. We have to be very careful with him because he has such severe asthma. So I face the future of a child who is overweight and won’t be able to exercise and take care of their body.
I think you have a great blog and an awesome topic just make sure you point out that there could be other reasons that a child or person is overweight and not just because of the things that a parent let them eat. It will be hard for me in the future if everyone always says “You really shouldn’t let your kid eat that one piece of cake because they are already overweight.”
This is a topic that deals with some major issues within our current society. I agree with you that parents are mostly to blame for any obesity within their children, as they are the ones supplying the meals and the eating habits. You brought up an excellent point in that some consider income to be something that people often use as an excuse for the obesity; but I find this to be an easy cop out. Whether you are low income or wealthy, a home cooked meal is much healthier for a family than dining out; regardless if it’s McDonalds or Red Lobster. I think if parents stopped being lazy and took the time to simply make meals at home, the obesity rates would be much lower. Not only would the meals be healthier, but it would also encourage correct eating habits; teaching children that there is a proper time to eat, as well as helping them understand what constitutes a proper portion size for a meal. I think you will learn a lot when doing research for this topic, in fact maybe too much. Good luck to you on narrowing your topic down enough and being able to support your ideas. I’m very interested to see how your blog continues.
ReplyDeleteBrittany,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog. This is very serious and an up front crisis happening among our youth. I have also worked in the childcare field for over 14 years and have seen many different children struggle with obesity. However I have often wondered is it the parents fault or is it genetic make up these poor children have inherited? You have many great points in your blog. However I would like to learn biggest leading cause why you feel it is the parents fault for childhood obesity. Does research and statistics back that up?It could be many reasons and each child may have different leading causes. Yes it could be from genetics but it could also be from lack of income, knowledge, exercise, and etc. But I will say I personal feel like it is part of our corrupted commercialism world we live in. Come on for .25 we can super-size our lunch and get double the calories. People are always looking for the deal and those deals that sound great are killing us. Not to mention the glamor that these vendors are putting out to our children. Toys with every meal free ice cream, play places, clowns and etc. Our children get sucked right in. So is the cause from over eating genetic or is lack of knowledge? Should parent be educated on the topic of a healthy diet? I don't think we have come that far in prevention yet because we have so many obese children and adults.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI think you hit the nail right on the head, so to speak, on a topic that a lot of American families have struggled with or have had to face in todays world. I think a lot of the attention as to why the rise in obesity amongst children has occurred is primarily focused on how the media has been affecting the children that watch it, when in fact you are right when you state that it is the parents primary responsibility to teach their children how to eat right and be healthy. I think you have found yourself a great idea for your research topic and are headed in the right direction for your paper.
I'm really excited to read more from you. I think that obesity is a huge issue that we're facing at all ages, but it's most frightening to see in children. A lot of it really does have to do with parents, in my opinion. I think that parents have a huge influence on how their child eats and what they can eat. It is up to them to be able to provide a nutricious meal for them. I can't tell you how many times I go to a restaurant and I see a family sitting down. The parents are very obese and are the children. I think to myself that these kids only know this lifestyle. When the parents are taking them to McDonald's to eat, what are they going to do? I think it's really hard for a child to have any say or control in what their parents are giving them and I think it's a huge responsibility on the parents to make sure that their children are leading a healthy life. Are you focusing on children in America or children all over the world? I think it would be so interesting to see how the percentages match up between the children obese in America and somewhere else, like Europe. I think that America has a huge trend in this. I really am excited to see where you go with this. I want to know more about what is causing this epidemic but also what we can do for the children who are obese.
ReplyDelete