Preventing And Addressing Pediatric Obesity With Exercise

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show

More than one third of children and adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese. Larry Meiller finds out how we can help to prevent and address this crisis through physical activity.

Featured in this Show

  • Physiologist Says When Addressing A Child's Obesity, Positivity Is Key

    Clinical exercise physiologist Randy Clark takes his work helping children who are obese very seriously, especially given that Americans are in the middle of what he describes as a significant national health crisis.

    More than one-third of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children are dealing with health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure at a very young age, impacting their adult health along the way.

    Clark said that the number of children in the overweight or obese category has doubled or tripled in the last two decades.

    “Our kids right now are heavier and fatter than at any time in our history,” said Clark.

    As manager of the University of Wisconsin Health Exercise Science Laboratory and the manager of and Pediatric Fitness Clinic, Clark works with obese children and their families every day. Some of them are referred to the clinic by pediatricians and other health care providers, but many come on their own.

    Clark said that that when he works with those children, he sees it as important to have parents, caretakers and even siblings involved in the process.

    “This is very much a family issue. This is not isolated to the child” he said. “If you think about it, the family members are really making decisions that impact that child.”

    One of the challenges that he encounters is that parents often can’t see that their child is at an unhealthy weight — or choose not to. Because as a society we have gotten bigger and heavier, he said that the idea of what is normal and healthy has shifted. Denial can also play a role, he said, especially if parents are struggling with their own weight issues.

    Even when parents do acknowledge a problem with their child’s weight, they can sometimes be reluctant to bring up a weight issue with children for fear of damaging their self-esteem or even setting them up for an eating disorder. Clark said that to counter that concern, staffers at the Pediatric Fitness Clinic focus on health instead of appearance.

    Those health impacts can be eye-opening for both parents and children, said Clark. He often informs parents of the risks associated with obesity, and also the fact that the current generation is the first to have a shorter predicted life span than their parents. Coupling that information with blood work, body composition imaging, and other diagnostics for that individual child are often enough to convince a family that they need to address the issue.

    It’s not enough to tell children that they need to be active, Clark said — rather, adults really need to lead the way.

    “The parent really is the key,” he said. “The parent is the role model, and the most important role model in that child’s life.”

    Planning to take regular walks with the child, maybe with the family dog, or going to a local park and bringing along a Frisbee or football can set a fun precedent for being active. He added that for him personally, those times are some of the best time for connecting with his own children as well.

    Today’s children spend a lot of time in front of computers, phones and other digital screens — Clark said that estimates are around an average of 6.5 hours per day per child. For previous generations, he said, that time was likely spent outdoors playing with friends in the neighborhood. While the need for downtime after school is the still there, the way of getting it is very different.

    Clark said that as children are settling into the new school year, he and his colleagues really promote afterschool activities that give them a chance to re-charge physically, mentally, and emotionally. That doesn’t need to be competitive sports, he said, but some activity that gets the blood pumping and clears the mind.

    Children aren’t going to give up screen time completely, but there are ways to combine physical activity and screen-based media. There are a variety of games that incorporate physical activity which Clark called “exertainment.”

    Besides games that children follow along with, there are even some that incorporate stationary bikes and allow the children to race against friends. Games like these can be a great bridge to a more active lifestyle.

    “For some of these kids,” he said, “it’s the first time they’ve ever been turned on to movement.”

    Even in dealing with a serious health issue like childhood obesity, Clark said that positivity is key. When looking at the body composition images, which he said children love to do, he draws their attention to the muscles, not the fat.

    “I’ll say, ‘Take a look at this! You have really strong legs.’ And you can see their affect change completely,” he said. “They stand up straighter, they get a little grin on their face and suddenly they start to feel good about themselves.”

    Clark’s description of how they structure their after school group at the Pediatric Fitness Clinic can serve as a guide to parents as well.

    “It’s part social, it’s part fun, and it’s part activity,” he said, “and they don’t even realize that they’re getting exercise.”

    Editor’s Note: Along the same lines, listener Wreshel Reshel offered this suggestion on Facebook: “If they can’t live without an electronic device, take them geocaching! This could be a transitional activity to get them comfortable with the outside,” she wrote.

Episode Credits

  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Randall Clark Guest
  • Larry Meiller Host