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Help Your Child To Avoid Adult Health Worries

We see far too many parents these days willing to keep their child subdued with food treats in the hope that they will be still and quiet, needing less attention. This is lazy parenting and quite clear that the parents either don't know or don't care about the knock on effects that this behaviour brings about.

Some parents think that they will score points with their offspring, bringing favour and unconditional love if they give their child everything they ask for. This is not showing love to a child. Sometimes saying no is more loving than giving in.

So, what are the knock on effects and are they really that bad? Given that the incidents of childhood obesity have doubled in the last 25 years, the physical effects of obesity in childhood and later life cannot be ignored.

This is the reason that health insurance companies request information on weight, height and diet. Weight is a serious issue and responsible for a great many health problems that the health insurance companies may well end up paying out for. The higher the weight, the more the health insurance premiums will cost and the higher the risk to your overall health and length and quality of life.

This all begins in early childhood and the diet we receive from our parents is vital in determining our health later on in life. Fat cells are manufactured in the first few years of life to accommodate the amount of fat consumed. At some point the body stops making fat cells and we then have the amount of fat cells that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. They will expand or shrink depending upon the amount of fat we consume but we cannot change the amount in existence.

Massive studies have been conducted throughout various countries and it has been observed that thirteen is a bit of a turning point when it comes to the age of a child's obesity causing lasting effects. For children that are obese, the risk of adult coronary heart disease was proportionally higher. If a child is obese at the age of seven, a sensible diet and exercise plan will reverse some of the damage done. If a child is still obese by the age of thirteen then the chances that they will suffer coronary heart disease between the ages of 25 and 60, are up by 33%.

Of course, there are other factors that can contribute to a child being overweight, but if the reason is purely taking in more energy than is being expended, then this child is exposed to the risk of heart disease, diabetes, vascular abnormalities, thrombosis, stroke and premature death. Health insurance companies are well aware of these factors because they pay out for health care to try and put it right all the time.

In the UK alone, one in ten children six year old children are considered obese. This has doubled in the last twenty five years and this is the time when parents need to nip it in the bud. The government are rolling out initiatives to educate parents and children about healthier lifestyles and diets and it takes a concerted effort for us all to stick to.

If we could take a look inside our bodies at what we are doing, if we could take a look into the future and see not only the health problems that will be avoided but all the heartache that goes with it, we may think twice before we shut our babies up with more food.

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Health expert Catherine Harvey looks at the effects that obesity can have on life insurance premiums and what we can do about it.

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