Is it Baby Fat or Is Your Baby Fat?

What's becoming a bigger threat than terrorism, according to some doctors and scientists?  It's not global warming, it's what's lovingly referred to as global fattening. Worldwide, generations of children are less and less active, spend more time in from of flickering screens and eat defunct foods that promote cancer, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Reports are surfacing about the psychological effects of excessive media exposure (which are not balanced out by equal parts activity). We've known about the negative repercussions of overfeeding children and not motivating them to move once in a while or turn off the tube. An alarming number of people are starving in the world, yet children in Europe and the Americas are growing at an alarming and dangerous rate. In just four years half of all children in this country could be overweight.

Solutions are available to globally and locally reclaim food and repair broken relationships with food. So then: what gives?

I'm tempted to make a bullet point list of things to do that can help fight obesity in your children and get them back into shape but it would appear that has been done and is also readily available, as well as the resources and political attention paid to the subject.

And yet, I repeat: what gives?

I do believe that in contemporary times marketing is what drives a majority of bad decision making. Lack of regulation and misinformation hamper genuine efforts to make smart, healthy, and sustainable food choices.  Busy lifestyles further complicate matters, and to top it off the healthiest and freshest foods seem to be the most expensive and the unhealthiest foods are the most produced and affordable when it comes to eating out and big-box food stores.

This issue should be on the forefront of everyone's minds because it touches on some of the most important issues of our time: social mobility, the health of a nation (and the world, for that matter), the economy of the food industry and the general inaction of politicians when it comes to focusing on issues that can potentially doom this country. This sounds very apocalyptic, and in the eyes of anyone in the healthcare and wellness industry it is.

Rather than reiterate the direct solutions to the problem, I'd like to give you some pointers on how to realistically make a change in your life, and eventually the world around you:

• Make small changes. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were unhealthy habits. A lifestyle takes time to develop. The best method to success is making small changes over an extended amount of time. Start by swapping out some of the tv time with family activities. Switch one or two dinners a week to meals with fresh produce and lean organic proteins.
• Talk, share information, have conversations. Your child may be at an age where it's tough getting through to them, but that doesn't mean they're not listening. It's not that children aren't able to grasp the concept it's that the frontal lobe--the part of the brain that controls long term thought and consequences--is not fully developed. They probably genuinely don't understand the long term effects of inactivity and an unhealthy diet.
• Make a healthy lifestyle rewarding. Children need to learn from an early age (or any age) that immediate gratification is not healthy or beneficial. The more children (and you) understand what the food is and where it comes from, the better they will be able to make smart choices when you're not around. Take them shopping and have them actively help make choices about what to buy, teach them about preparing the food in healthy ways.
• Don't leave the option for unhealthy snacking. If you keep sugary cereals, chips, freezer pizzas, and Hohos in the house don't expect kids to reach for the carrots or whole grain bagel.