Fending off childhood obesity
Getting children to eat better is a practise that should start at home
OVER 70 million children around the world will be overweight or obese by the year 2025, if the current trend persists. These are figures projected by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century.
Based on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Tackling Obesity in Asean report, Malaysia has the highest prevalence of obesity in Southeast Asia. It stands at 13.3 per cent, and overweight at 38.5 per cent.
Overweight and obese children are likely to stay obese well into adulthood and more likely to develop diet-related non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age.
An observed trend in obesity prevalence is that children whose parents are overweight are more likely to be overweight, and this can be linked to shared family behaviours such as eating and activity habits.
The good news is being overweight or obese is largely preventable and hence, deserves high priority.
With rising concerns of childhood obesity, home appliance brand Beko has embarked on a global mission to tackle this global epidemic by raising awareness and sharing insights into healthy eating for parents and children with the #EatLikeAPro campaign.
The main causes of childhood obesity are poor eating habits and physical inactivity, says dietitian Goo Chui Hoong.
UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE
Parents are the gateway to a child’s eating habits because children are like blank canvases. They mimic how their parents eat.
Weight gain occurs when the energy intake from food or drinks consumed is more than the energy used for daily requirements.
Goo adds that active children should not eliminate food groups such as fat and carbohydrates from their diet.
Children need to get essential nutrients from a variety of food to grow and build healthy bodies. Our approach to this problem should be to encourage our children to choose healthy food.
Children’s attitude towards food is shaped during their growing years, forming the basis for future eating habits.
In Malaysia, greater attention needs to be given to nutritional promotion and intervention in schools considering the increasing trend of obesity amongst schoolchildren.
The Malaysian National Plan of Action for Nutrition III (2016-2025), a master blueprint for nutrition intervention in the country, has formulated action plans such as nutrition training for school caterers and collaboration with food and beverage industries to produce healthier food and beverage products.
“More can be done to encourage children to make the right food choices in school canteens.”
Goo cites the example of some school canteens which offer only healthy food such as sandwiches made from wholemeal bread, brown rice, dishes cooked with less oil (steamed, braised, grilled) to give children the independence to choose only from healthy options.
To tackle childhood obesity, Goo recommends starting from home.
“Parents are the gateway to a child’s eating habits because children are like blank canvases. They mimic how their parents eat. As parents, we can help our children build healthy foundations by encouraging a love of good food, good nutrition and adopting a physically active lifestyle.”
To make it easy and simple for parents to kickstart healthy meal selections for their children, Goo advises use of the plate model as a guide.
Half of the plate should be vegetables and fruits, one quarter of the plate should be rice or other carbohydrates, and the other quarter filled with protein such as poultry, meat or fish.
Parents can decide what healthy meals their children can have, while children can decide how much they would like to consume. This gives children some degree of autonomy which makes them feel like they are still in charge.
When preparing home-cooked food, one should be mindful of the portions of oil and salt. It is also possible to cut out sugar from your diet completely as sugar has no nutritional value and when preparing a meal, use fresh ingredients as much as possible.
A readiness among parents to avoid unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle may well be the key to fending off childhood obesity.
To support parents around the world in getting their children to eat healthy, Beko has launched a website that shows what top FC Barcelona players eat to play at their best.
The website also features a spin and cook wheel that provides choices of healthy recipes and information on how to make your family eat better. All these can be accessed at www.beko.my/eatlikeapro.