Childhood Obesity

Let's be honest, we have all heard of childhood obesity and realize it is a problem, but how big of a problem is it really? Is it finally time to do something or is it too late?

One of the most concerning stats of childhood obesity is that studies show that nearly 30% of the entire childhood population are overweight or obese and it is expected that if obesity problems continue uncontrolled, by the end of this year alone, nearly 50% of children population may be overweight or obese.

Now this stat alone tells me, this is a huge problem that could well turn into an epidemic.

In fact, almost 25% of obese adults were obese as children. This shows two things:
 1. If not controlled, it will lead to obese adulthood and,
 2. There is still hope that times can change with steps taken in the right direction.

Now, what are some causes of childhood obesity:
• The obvious, inactivity. More and more children have come accustomed to living life on the couch and not getting out and doing any physical activity. Because of this, they are not getting the recommended daily exercise they should.

• Parental neglect. Sounds odd right? However, more doctors now feel that parents with obese children are guilty of some form of abuse or neglect. There is dietary neglect where the parent is simply feeding the child too much food, or feeding the child foods high in sugars and fats. Also, some parents cater to the their child's sweet tooth.

• Too much TV. Watching too much TV is a problem as it becomes a substitute for other activities like swimming, biking, or playing sports. Watching TV, movies, and playing video games are not only sedentary activities, they also encourage constant snacking.

• Fast Food. This connection is widely acknowledged and undisputed by many experts in the field. Besides being inexpensive, a lot of fast food is extremely high in fat, sugar, salt, and starch. Take a look at your child's school lunch. Do you see the connection? With fast food being the cheaper option, It's no wonder they are serving burgers, hot dogs, french fries, pizza, soda, and tater tots on a regular basis.

How do we slow this down? After all, this didn't happen over night, nor will it go away that fast. I personally feel this shouldn't be as difficult as people make it out to be. Here is why:

• Get your children moving. There are numerous activities children can participate in. Get them involved early, and they will want to continue throughout their childhood.


• Play with them. Cannot find an activity your child wants to participate with others? Then you get up and get moving with them. Throw the football around, go to the park, or walk the dog, there are many things to do in order to get daily exercise.

• Don't buy junk food. Pretty simple huh. If it is not in the house, they don't eat it. Granted, you cannot control your child's eating habits if they are at a friend's house, but in front of you, you control it and you are to blame.

• Reward. If it comes to this, reward your child for their hard work. If they do X amount of exercise per week, or eat X amount of vegetables, reward them.

It's simple, changes can be made and they need to be made now. This is a problem, yet one that can be shrunk if proper steps are taken.

Water to Lose Weight….REALLY?

What if I told you I have an effective weight loss supplement that is far cheaper than anything you have seen in stores and on TV? Would you be interested? After all, everyone is looking for that next “new” supplement to help them achieve their weight loss goals.

Well folks, here it is. WATER.

No lie, water can and will help you lose weight. How you may ask? I have listed a few ways in which this works for you:

1. Water suppresses the appetite. People who drink more are proven to be less hungry. It works as an appetite suppressant.

2. Water helps tone muscles. If your muscles are dehydrated, you won't see any toning, no matter how much exercise you do. Up your intake in water and you'll see a difference fast.

3. Water helps liver function. The liver metabolizes fat, which is very important when you are trying to lose weight. However, it requires a lot of water to do this successfully, and if it doesn't have enough, it will just store the fat.

4. A certain amount of water can make the body stop retaining water. If you usually don't drink enough, your body will have retained water to make up for it. This water retention can add pounds to your weight, and make you seem very bloated.

5. Water washes the toxins out of your body. Being in a good health is vital if you are trying to lose weight and nothing does it better than drinking water. Water washes out the toxins, making your body “cleaner” and healthier. This is a very important condition under which your body will be able to restore its balance and get into shape.

6. Water confuses hunger and thirst. It can be very easy to think you are hungry when in fact you are very thirsty.

7. Water helps lower cholesterol. Water has a drastic impact on cholesterol, and will reduce the levels in your body. This should help one slim down a lot faster.

As you can see, the benefits of water greatly outweigh the negatives here. So cheers, to a glass of water!

Eccentric Benefits

I bet you didn’t realize that you could bring ‘negativity ‘ into a gym and actually make better results while doing so. It is possible, however, I am not referring to a negative attitude but instead a ‘negative’ movement with an exercise, otherwise known as an eccentric movement.

 For example, while doing a bench press the eccentric phase occurs when you lower the bar down to the chest or when you raise the lat pull down bar back to the starting position. Another way to describe the eccentric phase of an exercise is by simply saying it is the portion of the exercise in which the weight is being lowered. An eccentric movement lengthens the muscle fibers during the exercise while a concentric (raising of the weight) movement is the shortening of the muscle fibers.

 Most people typically only focus on the concentric phase of an exercise but when doing so they are not utilizing all of the benefits of an exercise that they should reap.

Benefits Of Eccentric Training:

-Greater Increases In Strength
-You are able to use a heavier weight with eccentric training causing more muscle trauma to occur which in turn allows you to have greater gains in strength.
-Recruitment Of Type II Muscle Fibers
-Type II muscle fibers are referred to as the fast twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are utilized for more explosive power and speed.
-Longer Gains In Strength
-Studies have shown that individuals who have spent a lot of time focusing on eccentric training are able to      maintain their strength for a longer duration of time if they become sedentary.

You can focus a whole workout around eccentric training, while loading up with heavy weights. If you are going to train solely on eccentric training the eccentric portion should be done at a slower rate, typically at a rate of around 3-10 seconds. If doing this type of training always have a spotter present to take the weight back to the starting position for you to return back to the eccentric phase.

Otherwise while doing any workout just make sure that you are never just letting gravity do its things. Keep everything nice and controlled during the eccentric portion of every exercise and you will be able to show better results!!!