Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-child-and-caregiver-health/5011659/
Overweight Children and Caregivers Are Not HealthyChips, cheese curls, fries, cookies, cupcakes, gooey frosting on birthday cakes - are these bad foods? No food is a bad food, but none of us should eat high fat, high sugar foods often, or in large amounts. From early infancy, we learn to associate eating with pleasure and stress reduction. In our culture, we use high fat, high sugar, high salt foods as party foods, snack foods, and as a finishing touch to a good meal. Some of us are learning to reduce our intake of these foods by dividing a portion among several people so everyone gets a smaller amount and no one mindlessly eats too much.
Obesity is on the rise in the United States - for kids and adults. Obesity is common among the staff of child care programs. Should child care directors do something about this problem?
Caregiving requires moving quickly in an urgent situation, getting down to child level, and lifting children. Obesity increases the likelihood injury will occur during these caregiving activities. Also, overweight people have an increased risk of illnesses such as hypertension, heart disease, degenerative joint disease, back or other musculoskeletal injury, and diabetes.
Increased illness and injury affects ...