This morning I read a story in the paper about a high school athlete who died on the football practice field while running. 6 feet , 1 inch, 383 pounds and at age 17 died from a heart attack. A very sad and tragic event.
The life expectancy of the younger generation is less than their parents generation...this is the first time ever that this trend is occurring and the reason: childhood obesity.
If you have children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren or other very important young people in your life, and their weight is a problem, please be proactive and be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Rewarding children with non-caloric gifts is something we are not used to doing, but we must learn to nurture and "treat" our young ones in ways that will not harm them.
Remember: poetry fest tonight...Brions Grille University Mall, fairfax Virginia 845 pm...FREE!!! great entertainment! Come join me and my staff!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Fellow bloggers.. also something that already is our reality ... not only are our younger generation at risk of increased illness from unhealthy choices. Our aging population, living longer from advances in science, will not necessarily be "living" as we would hope to find ourselves at that age.. active and healthy.
Our Mr. Willard Scott welcomes the centurians, recounting ages now reaching into the 110s and above. I think wow.. could I live to that age? Then I visit my in-laws and parents. I see them struggle to move.. test their blood sugar with new fangled machines.. recount the aches of the day.. live isolated at home because the diabetic neuropathy prevents them from driving. Maybe I don't want to live to that 100 year mark if this is the quality of living.
Visiting with them has also allowed a view of where there are missed steps in choices accelerating their decline in health. I open their fridge and it is not a collection of fruits and vegetables.. It is the convenience foods that we all see glamorized in the TV comercials. But then they came from the most fascinating discoveries in their years... The microwave.. the dishwasher.. the TV dinners.
All these modern conveniences but at what cost? That frozen TV dinner... major salt, ingrediants we can't pronounce, preservatives, the microwave.. well little to no energy needed to prepare a meal and so quickly eaten with another snack to follow. But no worries over standing at the sink with effort doing the dishes.. we have a machine for that too.
Our modern world has a price, moving less and quick eating of high calorie poor nutrient foods. There is, however, one BIG thing that this modern world also has to offer... EDUCATION.
We now have authors upon authors that can layout for us the science of food and eating. At the tip of our internet fingers we can find the calorie count to anything, design an exercise or food log on EXCEL. And even join fellow bloggers in a health discussion.
So with each moment that I witness this excellerating decline with my aging parents.. I remind myself that if I want different later I have to CHOOSE different NOW. Our current teenage population may not bee here to care for me. Or maybe they will if they see me making changes and think.. wow I want to be doing what she is doing when I'm that age. Best of Health..DH44
Post a Comment