what about the kids?

Can you believe that 43.8% of local children (of those surveyed) in Kern County are overweight or obese?  That astounds me!  Children are built to run and play and burn calories.  They have natural instincts to stop eating when they are full and they can even survive without dessert some days!!!  What is wrong here? 
I think back to when I was young and there weren't many overweight kids.  BUT I was one of the few!  I grew tall early so I probably needed a lot of food and I was eating with my older brother and my dad so I was offered a lot of food.  When I reached almost 6 feet and stopped growing up... I started growing out!  A few reasons for this that I can think of.  My parents were divorced, my dad worked and I came home after school, sat on the couch and watched TV and ate peanut butter on white bread!  It had to be the sugary kind too!  We would beg my dad for McDonalds so that was our treat dinner.  My dad was fairly fit and never had a weight problem, my brother was a football player and needed to keep pretty solid so the house was stocked with yummy food and I had free range.  ----> Lack of activity, lack of supervision, lack of education on food/ calories/ portion control, busy schedules!
This is an issue with many families today!  The only detail that cannot be changed by many families is the busy schedule.  Jobs and life don't allow much extra time... unless of course you cancel cable and video games for some people!  We can get our children more active - which does take time but it is vital to their health!  We can also help them understand the importance of being aware of what they eat!  Not nit picking the calories and worrying about every pound on the scale, but being aware of healthy foods that we can eat more of and unhealthy foods that we should eat less of.  If your kids have an insatiable sweet tooth.... limit what you have on hand for them to help themselves to.  Eat at meal times and one snack in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Once dinner is over, the kitchen is shut until breakfast!  These should be house rules for everyone!!!
Your kids are watching you!  If you are sneaking candy at 10pm, they will know!  If you are not getting any exercise, they will see!  Be a great role model and your whole family will benefit!

I would love to help you brainstorm on how you could bring better nutrition and more activity into your families lifestyle!!!  Please contact me or go to my website.  You can also find me on Facebook - just send me a message why you are requesting to be my friend :)