Parents given guidelines to reduce obesity in children

The sedentary lifestyle practised by many of today's children suggests that they may be in danger of developing obesity, writes Martin Wall

Parents should remember that children who are permitted to live sedentary lifestyles, watching too much television and taking limited exercise, are well on their way to developing obesity and all the associated medical problems which go with it, according to a leading public health expert.

Dr Cliona Foley Nolan, a specialist in public health medicine and one of the authors of a new report on childhood obesity, yesterday urged parents to become aware of the danger signs in their children's lifestyles and the implications these have for health.

The report, Our Children, Their Future, Why Weight?, maintains that practices within the family and at school are central to children's wellbeing and health.

The report points to "worrying trends" in relation to children's eating patterns and levels of exercise. It says that 30 per cent of young children eat their breakfasts on their own every day. It also found that one-third of families eat their weekday meals while watching TV.

The report points out that one-third of children surveyed had television sets in their bedrooms. It also found that families tended to prefer sedentary pastimes such as going to the cinema rather than more vigorous pursuits such as walking or swimming.

Dr Foley Nolan told The Irish Times that the evidence now suggested that 16 or 17 per cent of children were overweight.

She said that the best option for parents with young children would be to prevent unhealthy lifestyle practices from developing in the first instance. However, where these already exist, she recommended that parents "do not try to change the world" but set realistic goals which are achievable.

She said that while the location for meals might seem unimportant, there was evidence that people who ate in front of the television tended to eat larger portions.

Dr Foley Nolan suggested that parents should consider breakfast as an equally important part of the morning routine as getting dressed or preparing for school.

Parents should seek to set five minutes aside to eat breakfast with their children.

She said that eating in front of the television should be allowed "as a treat rather than as the norm every day".

Dr Foley Nolan said that, where possible, televisions should only be in a TV room. Allowing children access to televisions in their own rooms was a bad idea.

"The channels most commonly watched by young children are the satellite/cable channels, which are not covered by the children's advertising code set down by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland," she said.

However, she cautioned against parents introducing a sudden ban on television. Instead, she suggested that parents might try to reduce the amount of time their children spent viewing television by about half-an-hour a week.

Dr Foley Nolan said the research indicated that the favourite family pastime was going to the cinema and she believed there was absolutely nothing wrong with this. However, she recommended that families should park their cars some distance from the cinema and walk the rest of the way with their children. Where possible, parents should do the same when dropping their children off at school.

She emphasised that children who led sedentary lives with little exercise were "on the road" to becoming overweight and developing associated medical conditions such as diabetes.

As recently as 20 years ago, diabetes had generally been confined to people over the age of 55. However, doctors were now seeing an increasing number of teenagers with this condition.