A shocking new study from the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine reports that almost one in five American four-year-olds is obese. We’re not just talking about baby fat, but a national problem of epidemic proportions!

All kids should be gaining weight as they grow older, but extra pounds–more than what’s needed to support normal growth and development– is very unhealthy for your child. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start kids on the path to health problems that we normally think of as adult diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. And this is just the short list. Many more health problems also are linked to obesity.

Causes of Childhood Obesity

 Many things can contribute to your child being overweight.  Here are a few:

•  Diet—eating fast foods, lots of snacks low in nutrition but high in calories, soft drinks, candy and desserts
•  Watching too much TV—well, it’s more than just TV.  An inactive lifestyle like TV, video games, internet surfing, Facebook time, talking with friends on the phone.  Does this all sound familiar?  None of these activities will burn off calories
• Genetics—unfortunately this counts.  If Mom and Dad are overweight and genetically tend have more body fat, then the children will have the tendency too. This is made worse by an environment where physical activity isn’t encouraged.
•  Psychological factors—some children may overeat to cope with problems. They may see their parents do it, and think it’s the thing to do.
•  Family factors they can’t control—such as eating what’s in the cupboard.  Most kids don’t do the grocery shopping. Putting healthy foods in the kitchen and controlling access to sweets, candy and other high calorie snacks is key.

Life is tough enough, but being an obese child can be crushing. Overweight children are subject to social isolation, bullying, low self esteem, and depression. However we do find when a child loses weight these negative trends can improve dramatically.

It’s hard, if not impossible for the child to go it alone. The best solution for you, your child, and your whole family is eating healthier (and less) foods, increasing physical activity, and by providing healthier foods and snacks.

Your commitment to helping your child make the needed changes is very important.  Changing eating habits is hard and will take time.

A recent study showed that weight loss can be socially contagious. If one person (like the parent) takes the initiative to start a healthier lifestyle it can have a ripple effect throughout the family. It can increase the chances that children and the spouse will trim down too.

So do your child a favor and start the process today.  The alternative is a lifetime of increased medical problems  that start earlier than normal and end up having a real impact on overall life expectancy.

Technorati Tags: child obesity, childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease, lower cholesterol

Cheerios are probably the biggest and do the most advertising, and also are the first to lay claim to that. General Mills can launch a campaign solely highlighting that, while other companies probably just push to be noticed. Are there lesser known cereals, ones that are probably better for you, that has the same ingredients that lower cholesterol?
It might just be the whole oats/grains in the product. Quaker Oats makes the same claim with their products (though I don’t think instant oatmeal is too healthy, though I’ll eat it in a pinch), as does Kellogg’s Heart Smart cereal. (Although Heart Smart has several listings of sugar, including corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils and listings of preservatives that I don’t consider healthy and will not buy a product if any of these are even listed once.) I shop at Trader Joe’s, which is a chain of low cost health food stores. They have a Cheerios equivalent, Joe’s O’s that have the same comment about cholesterols on them. In my opinion, it just helps to eat a good, healthy diet. My mother-in-law told me last month that her doctor put her on a new pill for her high cholesterol. Now, this woman eats plenty of stuff I don’t even consider food. That day, I noticed she put creamy, fatty dressing on he salad (to me, those types of dressings ruin the salad), and had a nice chunk of red meat for dinner. Typical of her. I had made the diet comment, too. On the other hand, I eat real, whole, good foods and my cholesterol (as of the test I took in late spring/early summer) is low. Other than the American Heart Association site, I’m sure there are sites that offer information on lowering and maintaining good cholesterol levels, but I just can’t think of any good search phrases now.

Cholesterol is often referred categorized as either being good cholesterol or bad cholesterol. However, have you ever taken the time to find out why cholesterol is described this way and what the actual difference is between the two types?

Cholesterol - What is It?

Cholesterol is an important component in our body that is found in the blood stream and cells. The body needs cholesterol in order to properly function because it contributes to a wide variety of hormones and helps the body to produce cell membranes.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol is carried in the blood stream. HDL cholesterol is considered good because it protects our heart from strokes and other cardiovascular diseases. The optimal level of good cholesterol is about 40mg/dL.

On the other hand, bad cholesterol, also known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is considered bad because if present in excessive quantities has a tendency to clog in the arteries which increases the chances of heat attacks or other heart related diseases. The optimal level of bad cholesterol is 200mg/dL or less. Higher amounts tend to increase the chance of heart problems.

Controlling Bad Cholesterol

There are a plethora of cholesterol drugs available and many natural remedies as well. However, it is strongly suggested that you approach any treatment using drugs with caution because many of the cholesterol drugs have serious side effects. Make sure your doctor thoroughly explains the potential side effects before you agree to start on a regiment that involves the taking of any drug.

You see, cholesterol is produced in the liver and one very important point to remember about statin drugs (i.e. drugs used to control cholesterol) is that they in essence, poison the liver so that it produces less cholesterol, which is why all advertisements that promote statin drugs mention that a liver test is required before getting started on statin drugs.

Hopefully, you have normal levels of both good and bad cholesterol and if you do you will clearly want to maintain that proper balance. Steps you can follow to keep your cholesterol in balance is the same as it is for overall optimal health: exercise and proper diet. Health eating includes consuming foods that are low in saturated and trans fat.

Get in the habit of reading food labels as they are required to provide the above mentioned data by law and therefore it’s much easier for you to choose food that is healthy and food that can lead to poor health and improper cholesterol levels.

Although the following food (i.e. egg yolks, poultry, meat, shellfish, butter and cheese) contains what has been determined as high levels of cholesterol it doesn’t mean that you need to totally avoid them. Simply eat them in moderation and you should be fine.

Take the time to learn a few of the basics about what constitutes both good cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, monitor your food intake, get a reasonable amount of exercise (i.e. walking is great) and you’ll be well on your way to overall health and optimum cholesterol levels.

Tip - For options in finding the best lender for you, check out the links below.

Shelby Ryan
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/bad-cholesterol-what-makes-it-bad-88220.html

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