Overweight children are tomorrow’s coronaries

I have been teaching school for 30 years and I am noticing a significant change in the health of my students. More of them are overweight, and they just don’t get enough exercise. I wonder if my observation is accurate, and if so, what is causing it.

You are absolutely correct. A recent medical study conducted at Columbia Children’s Hospital in Ohio has confirmed that today’s children are heavier and have significantly higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels than kids did even 15 years ago. One of the researchers, Dr. Hugh Allens, said, “Unless these trends change, 30 million of the 80 million children alive today in the United States will eventually die of heart disease.”

Dr. Allens said, “Kids need to turn off the TV, get off the couch and stop the nincompooping of America.” The problem is that high-fat junk food has replaced good nutrition. And even when healthy foods are consumed, kids are not exercising the calories off. Between television, carpools, computer games and hanging out at the pizza parlor, kids just don’t run and jump like they used to.

So Mom and Dad should find activities to do together with kids that involve movement — things like walking and bicycling, playing catch or hiking. They can also get their children involved in community or school sports programs, ranging from softball to soccer.

Children are busy forming habits for a lifetime, so eating right and exercising every day will contribute to greater health in the future.

The children in our neighborhood are bratty with one another and disrespectful with adults. This upsets me, but I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t have a right to discipline the children of my neighbors, so they get away with murder. How can I deal with this?

Parents in a neighborhood need to learn to talk to each other about their kids — although that is difficult to do. There is no quicker way to anger one mother than for another woman to criticize her precious cub. It is a delicate subject, indeed. That’s why the typical neighborhood is like yours, providing little feedback to parents in regard to the behavior of their children. The kids know there are no lines of communication between adults, and they take advantage of the barrier.

What each block needs is a mother who has the courage to say to her neighbors: “I want to be told what my child does when she is beyond her own yard. If she is a brat with other children, I would like to know it. If she is disrespectful with adults, please mention it to me. I will not consider it tattling and I won’t resent your coming to me. I hope I can share my insights regarding your children, too. None of our kids is perfect, and we’ll know better how to teach them if we can talk openly to each other as adults.”

Until this openness exists between parents living nearby, the children will create and live by their own rules in the neighborhood.

As a single mother, I’d like to leave my children with friends or relatives for a few days and get some time for myself, but I’m worried about how this might affect them. Will they feel deserted?

Not only is a brief time away from your children not likely to be hurtful, it will probably be healthy for them as well. One of the special risks faced by single parents is possibility of a dependency relationship developing that will trap their children at an immature stage. This danger is increased when wounded people cling to each other exclusively for support in stressful times. Spending a reasonable amount of time apart can teach independence and give everyone a little relief from the routine.

Therefore, if you have a clean, safe place to leave your children for a week or two, by all means, do it. You’ll be more refreshed and better able to handle your usual “homework” when you return.