Hi All, those of you who have been following me from the beginning know my original intent with the BLOG was to help parents of overweight and obese children through educating them on nutrition, fitness and taking action to improve their own health. When I started my radio show I started writing about other preventative health topics that came up on my show and the BLOG grew to include more preventative health and wellness advice. While it is fun to have more diversity on things to talk about, the childhood obesity epidemic is what got me started writing this BLOG. I also created a coaching program to help parents of overweight kids and it did not receive the interest I had expected. While I was bummed I wasn’t able to help as many kids as I wanted, I was proud I was able to help two local families with severely obese children. I impacted the kids by working with their Mom’s who were also morbidly obese. I am grateful I at least touched their lives. Had I not made the attempt, I would not have helped anyone. And believe me, this is not a topic I plan to shut up about ever, so I will be attempting to support this group again, because I believe every child deserves the right to a healthy and happy future.
When I moved from California to Texas, I saw something I had never seen before and I live in Austin, a very fit centric city! What did I see? Teenagers and twenty somethings using the electric machine (no idea what it is called) to get around the supermarket. Man, that broke my heart. I had refused to use that contraption when I could barely walk after breaking my back and here were kids that had to use it, because they are to heavy to make it around the market. Now I am sure this happens in all States, including CA. This childhood obesity epidemic is hitting the entire country, some states worse than others.
Usually at this point I throw out some advice, but my goal with today’s post was to create awareness. I think if enough people write about this issue and do their part to help these kids we will make some progress. I could go on and on about fast food, soda, video games, companies marketing to children, etc… There are a lot of contributors to this epidemic, but the truth is parents need take a stand for the health of their children. While I don’t have my own children, I do have a cat I adopted. I took adopting her as serious. I owe it to her to protect her from harm, make sure she feels happy and loved, to feed her nutritiously and to play with her to keep her active. Pawsha, my cat, eats all natural food I have to get from a specialty pet store. There is nothing quick and easy about it. Since I recently relocated I have to drive 20 minute to and from the pet store to get it. Yes, I know I don’t have to cook it once it is here, but I do know people with pets that take the time to cook food for their pets. Now if we wouldn’t feed our furry friends junk, why are we feeding our children junk? I truly think it’s lack of knowledge.
The latest research is showing the obesity rate will reach 50% for adults by 2030 if nothing is done. That’s because our current overweight children will more than likely become obese adults. So lets all do our part to educate parents on how to live a healthy lifestyle. I am hopeful we can make an impact and reduce the projected rate of obesity for 2030.
Parents, if you have an overweight or obese child I would love to help you. You can email me directly at karen@karenhummel.com.
Let everyone you know that September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Be part of making a difference!
With Karen's education and eighteen years experience in the preventative health, nutrition, and fitness fields and personal experience battling weight, she could not ignore the growing obesity epidemic, especially after the announcement by the surgeon general stating, this would be the first generation to die before their parents due to obesity. This is not a legacy Karen wants to leave behind.