Child Obesity - A Time Bomb For The Nation.
Serious attention must be given to address the growing problem of student obesity in the country.
A recent study on 7,600 students showed that nine per cent of them were overweight and 19 per cent were categorised as obese. Parents must play their role in ensuring their children were fit and healthy. "Obese students cannot fully focus their attention on their studies and are exposed to health risks," said State Education director Datuk Ahmad Azmey Abu Talib. He said parents must encourage their children to be active in sports, do regular exercise and maintain a balanced diet to lead a healthy life.
Datuk Ahmad Azmey is absolutely right. Obesity is the price we pay for development. We have to heed the lessons that advanced nations learnt the hard way. Obesity is the cause of a host of illness including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to name just a few.
As Datuk Ahmad said parents are the ones who must lead the way on this issue. If they give in to demands from their small children for 'junk food' and allow them to consume it on a regular basis, then that is the thin end of the wedge. Actually this is a question of common sense. Take a little time and care in your children's nutrition, encourage them to participate actively in sports or any physical activity and they'll grow up healthy and be alive and well when you are old and need assistance. If you be careless in this respect, then be prepared to be around for your kids' funeral. I'm sorry, but that is the hard truth, plain and simple.
A recent study on 7,600 students showed that nine per cent of them were overweight and 19 per cent were categorised as obese. Parents must play their role in ensuring their children were fit and healthy. "Obese students cannot fully focus their attention on their studies and are exposed to health risks," said State Education director Datuk Ahmad Azmey Abu Talib. He said parents must encourage their children to be active in sports, do regular exercise and maintain a balanced diet to lead a healthy life.
Datuk Ahmad Azmey is absolutely right. Obesity is the price we pay for development. We have to heed the lessons that advanced nations learnt the hard way. Obesity is the cause of a host of illness including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to name just a few.
As Datuk Ahmad said parents are the ones who must lead the way on this issue. If they give in to demands from their small children for 'junk food' and allow them to consume it on a regular basis, then that is the thin end of the wedge. Actually this is a question of common sense. Take a little time and care in your children's nutrition, encourage them to participate actively in sports or any physical activity and they'll grow up healthy and be alive and well when you are old and need assistance. If you be careless in this respect, then be prepared to be around for your kids' funeral. I'm sorry, but that is the hard truth, plain and simple.
posted by The Malaysian. at 7/17/2006 12:06:00 PM
1 Comments:
I wouldn't call the consumption of junk food progress of any kind, but your point's taken.
But it's difficult to get the kiddies to eat right when the parents probably have bad dietary habits to begin with.
The amount of sugar we Malaysians consume - both in the form of condemned, I mean, condensed milk and in its crystaline processed form - is staggeringly scary.
A high carb, empty calorie diet, with little or no exercise is the fastest path towards obesity (or hyperactivity, which is pretty bad too) - and these days we're starting our kids off a lot earlier than the last generation...
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