1.1 Explain The Importance Of Early Education

One major question that is asked today is whether or not the eating habits of kids and teens be regulated by the state? This is a big problem today with young ones. No young teenager or child has ever grabbed an apple over a snickers bar for a snack. Although a snickers bar once in a while is not a bad thing, every day consumption of products like this creates a long-term problem. In the article Junk Food Nation: How Parents are Ruining Kids’ Health, there are a couple different standpoints from select individuals on why or how to solve this problem. The main issue is whether or not parents are doing a good enough job teaching their children to make health food choices.

Nutrition plays an important role in one’s health, an unhealthy diet can be a contributing factor for overall poor health. In fact, it can even lead to numerous enduring illnesses, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. 2and3 Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, affecting 11.3% of adults or 26.6 million. 4 Childhood obesity has been an increasing issue in the United States as well, There has been a rise in childhood obesity in children ages 6-11 years old gone upldren too many vaccinations at nging. are essential to public health and are also free their children too many vaccinations at from 6.5% to 19.5%. In children ages 12-19 years old it has gone up from 5.0% to 18.1% in 1998-2008. 5 In one study, doctors counseled adults and children on diet and nutrition during 12.2% of all visits in a targeted population of 15.2% in 2007. 6 It is recommended that individuals follow healthy diets that consist of health food choices such as fruits and vegetables. 2and3

Initially, children were malnourished during the post-World War II era. Now children are stuck trying to wedge themselves in between the door to a long, healthy life, which may be brutally cut short simply due to the way they ate in school. Eating habits and diets aren’t questioned by the children until they are faced with the decision of choosing the best nutrient filled option. Multiple choices, abundant in carbohydrates, proteins and good, natural fats surround a child, yet the child is an environment laced with advertising, thus alluring a child into picking fries instead of the mixed steam vegetables. Soon, children realize the chocolate taste better than the fruit, yet no child knows at the age of five that fruit doesn’t give its victims

Eating a well balanced meal is crucial for someone in their early childhood stage. During this time period, between the ages of two and six, a well-nourished child can grow up to three inches and gain up to four and a half pounds per year (Berger, 2010). Children at this age also need fewer calories per pound of body weight than infants do. Since children need less food than they did before and many do not diminish the intake of their food consumed, obesity becomes a problem. The article “Child and adolescent obesity: a part of a bigger picture” states, “The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has risen substantially worldwide in less than one generation” (Lobstein, 2015). Obesity is a main factor that is present and can lead to other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. The article also states that, “The food industry has a special interest in targeting children. Not only can the companies influence children’s immediate dietary preferences, but they can also benefit from building taste preferences and brand loyalty early in life, which last into adulthood” (Lobstein, 2015). Once children are hooked on the foods they eat during their childhood, they tend to follow those habits as they grow up. Children in low-income families are vulnerable to obesity because they rely on cheap fast food.

Obesity is a significant problem for today's American children. The Northern California Cancer Center, for instance, calculates that more than 23 million children and teenagers are overweight and that this epidemic is growing. Sharma (2006) recommends that nutrition behaviors should focus on increased fruit and vegetable consumption, decreased fat intake, decreased consumption of carbonated drinks, adequate consumption of water and restricting portion sizes. This recommendation is appropriate for use in the general public particularly since children model what they see around them. If adults practice these recommendations too, children are more apt to model and less apt to become obese.

Kids will live longer because they will not become obese and they will be more active. Kids will also live longer because they will not have diseases and health problems when they are older (Maslow, O’Hara, 2015). “Obesity is the most common health problem associated with an unbalanced diet. Cardiovascular problems are some of the more serious health complications of an unbalanced diet. Another potential risk of an unbalanced diet is type 2 diabetes, particularly when this diet leads to an excessive amount of weight gain” (Severson, 2015, para. 2, 3, and 4). Eating healthy food prevents body fat and keeps skin, nails and hair healthy. Outfits will fit better and the lack of sugary foods keeps teeth white and attractive. People tend to react more positively to other people that look healthy (Benjamin, 2015). In order to meet the nutrient requirements crucial for good health, kids need to eat a variation of each of the five food groups daily, in the recommended amounts. It is important to enjoy a mixture of foods within the five food groups because different foods vary in the amount of the nutrients that these foods provide (Cox, 2015). Kids need at least 60 minutes of moderate to strong physical activity each day. Schools can assist the prevention of obesity by recommending higher quality and more active physical education for kids (“School Obesity Prevention,” 2016). Healthy selections,

Childhood obesity is the most common pediatric nutritional disorder in the United States (Balog, 2015). Most people believe that the solution to stopping childhood obesity relies entirely on education. Sadly, this is not true. While education is one of the main factors for solving this epidemic, there are many other factors that need to be resolved as well. One cannot rely on the simplistic idea that, once educated, Americans would make the healthiest choices. This is because Americans choose, buy, and consume their food based heavily on the taste, convenience, and economic motivations, not health reasons.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in America. "the percentage of obese children doubling from 6.5% in 1980, to 17.0% in 2006. Weight, nutrition, and physical activity are the main components to a child’s overall health.”(1) “When parents become too busy to cook meals in their homes, children learn poor eating habits and develop into unhealthy eaters.”(1) They will take what they learned at home and apply it to anywhere else that they eat. For example a child that drinks milk at dinner and sits with their family at dinner when asked what they want to drink when they are at a friend’s home will ask for milk because the child would associate milk with dinner. Children cannot make healthy choices of their own they need to be guided so

Unhealthy diets are becoming an increasingly profound epidemic affecting the United States of America. Bad eating habits/choices and health related behaviors are consequences to poor food choices which can later develop into detrimental health implications. The prevalence of these unsound diets among the American population has significantly increased in recent years. Unfortunately, studies have shown that like adults, many adolescents are also falling victim to the rising epidemic (Story, Neumark-Sztainer, & French, 2002; Wardle et al., 1997).

It is with acknowledgment that the diet people consume will largely determine not only their general health but also the nation’s wellbeing that the American Society for Nutrition (ANS) (2016) presents the necessity of public policies to regulate health behaviors. However, the view is debatable from the perspective of Erickson’s Developmental Stages in the context of autonomy (Crain, 2011). The reason is that a certain age, developing children develop their own interest that might lead them to unhealthy behaviors which includes their feeding preferences. On one hand, the APA (2014) offers tips for parents and caregivers to act as role models and influence children towards healthy lifestyles that include exercises and appropriate diets. However, there is a challenge as children will naturally be led

Learning to develop healthy eating habits at a young age is important to fulfill a healthy lifestyle as an adult. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the past 30 years, childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in teenagers (CDC, 2015). Unfortunately, statistical data like these will only get worse if there is no requirement for nutrition education in schools. The key to preventing children are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure to high cholesterol due to obesity is to provide education in school environments to interact with other children about this topic. This way they will feel more comfortable knowing that other children are going through the same

Current research indicates that obesity is a result of the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Recent neuroimaging studies find that individuals at risk for obesity show relatively greater activation of the brain’s reward centers in general, heightened responses to images of food, and poorer impulse control. Much recent attention has focused on the availability of unhealthy foods and beverages in and near American schools. Manufacturers of high-calories and high-fat foods have been criticized for marketing these products to younger children, because food preferences are known to develop largely during early childhood. Although schools and advertisers undoubtedly influence what children and adolescents eat and drink, the bulk of what children and adolescents put into their mouths comes from their own

As we look around us and at our youth we need to become informed of what our children are consuming on a daily basis. The statistics are beginning to acquire attention and they are leading our nation’s future down an unhealthy spiral. The finger pointing games will continue until both consumers and producers come to terms which are promoting healthier eating choices and maintaining daily exercise. Without both of these in our children’s lives, our nation is intentionally setting them up for failure. Completely eliminating childhood obesity in the near future will be nearly impossible, but limiting it will make large strides to becoming healthier. With childhood obesity rates rising drastically, the easiest and the most logical start point to our problem is at the core which is the parents. I have lived through this convenience/processed food era and it seems to be a never ending cycle, but by executing some of these key changes that will be discussed, our children’s future will be a bright one!

Food is a necessary part of life. Animals, plants and other organisms take in food substances and process the nutrients within their bodies. Without food humans lose energy, concentration, and control of their bodies. While plants don’t have many options when it comes to food, humans have so many options that it is sometimes hard to make good healthy decisions when it comes to nutrition. In order to receive proper nutrition, it is important for children to receive three healthy and balanced meals a day. While most parents insist upon their child eating breakfast in the morning and a healthy dinner at night, parents cannot control what their child eats at school. There are so many choices in school cafeterias that some children may

Good nutrition is a fundamental part of a person’s health (Corbin et al., 2016). Healthy eating habits can reduce risks of disease and support healthy body composition. Eating a diet rich in nutrient dense foods combined with a regular moderate exercise routine also reduces overall body fat. Poor eating habits have been linked to four of the seven leading causes of death in the United States. It is imperative to implement healthy choices and teach our children healthy eating habits so that we can improve the overall health of families. There are tools available to help people to eat better and to change to a healthier lifestyle. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published in depth informational literature on the best eating habits for Americans called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Their website also provides a number of tools to help Americans make healthy decisions and track their eating habits.