Childhood obesity is likely a nightmare when parents are seeing it’s interrupting kids’ physical growth. Most of the children feel uncomfortable too. Professor Peter Graham Kopelman, and Ian D. Caterson and William H. Dietz wrote ‘Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children’ in 2005. Their professor Ian Caterson mentioned the cause and consequences of obesity and the fetal origins of disease. Open area with a playground set functioning a vital role in figuring out the problem followed by the causes. It is actually encouraging social skills, physical activity full of fun.
Consequences of childhood obesity
Though childhood obesity starts in childhood, it threatens the physical health now and later. If the high blood pressure and cholesterol level stay high from childhood, which results from childhood obesity, children’s natural growth would be hampered. These two levels are the risk factors of Cardiovascular disease (CVD). In a recent study, 70 out of 100 obese children had at least one of those risk factors, and 39% had both and more. The issue is alarming.
Obesity in childhood can cause diabetes, breathing problem like asthma, and sleep apnea. Also, it is responsible for joint problems and musculoskeletal discomfort. Moreover, fatty liver disease and gallstones often harm physical health due to childhood obesity.
Most of the children remain obsessed in adult age also. It creates several health issues that are the result of obesity. In each step of their life, they feel uncomfortable, and later it turners into severe health problems.
Role of playgrounds
Playgrounds are acting as a savior of this current growing concern. Using the National Survey of Children’s Health data of 2007, Maoyong Fan and Yanhong H. Jin figured out that adding playgrounds may reduce the obesity rate and make children more fit.
The study found significant differences in the presence of playgrounds across regions. In Mississippi, only 54 out of 100 children have a neighborhood play area. The proportion is 91% in New Jersey and only 4% in Washington, DC. Inconsistency in the availability of play areas affects daily recommended levels of physical activity.
University of Western Ontario professor Hammad Ali Qazi also suggested in ‘Childhood obesity and parks and playgrounds: A review of issues of equality, gender, and social support’ that, control of obesity will require exploration of factors present in the built environment such as parks and playgrounds.
In the same article, he mentioned, ‘Parks and playgrounds serve as a reference point for all the children and provide opportunities to engage in and perform physical fitness activities, to play and social interactions.’
Children find fun in the playground, and they become more active if they find the place interesting. Most of the playgrounds are designed focusing on this specific issue. They will be more motivated to do exercise in the playground when it’s fun. The playground teaches children that physical activity is an enjoyable habit. When the playground is using as a place for fun with exercise, this becomes a significant issue of reducing child obesity.
Additionally, playgrounds let the children be themselves and reduce stress. It also helps building friendship with other kids. Socialization helps a kid to become more active physically and mentally. An active body always keeps obesity away.
Children who are suffering may have a lack of motivation to do physical work regularly. Relentless activity can’t be applicable for children were adults may do so. Aa a result, outdoor play activity is the only suitable option to fight against childhood obesity. It helps both psychologically and physically. Keep the child in an enjoyable circumstance where she is willingly doing exercise.
Early prevention of this issue is better than anything doing late. Children who are carrying extra weight at an early age, suffer many physical problems during the whole life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States recommend 60 minutes of exercise every day. It helps to strengthen bones, decreasing blood pressure, reducing stress and anxiety, and manage weight.
To conclude, playground activity not only prevents childhood obesity but also keeps the person safe for the rest of life. It helps increasing immunity and makes them more active.
