Obesity is often termed as having an overly high body mass index (BMI). When a person’s weight is extremely more than its ideal weight, we call it obesity. As Malaysia is rich in a variety of food, it is common to see one in every ten children having the symptoms of obesity. There are many factors that result in obesity such as the role of the media, choices of food and parenting style. Fortunately, there are also several solutions to overcome these factors.
Firstly, children are active individuals. Television captures the children’s attention, instead of playing outdoors, they would rather watch cartoon television programmes. Due to lack exercise, the fat in the body builds up gradually to cause one to become obese. In that sense, parents need to limit the time spent on watching television. By limiting the time spent on television, children are more likely to be more active playing outside the home. Playing in the park enables them to move their limbs and fight the accumulation of fat.
Secondly, when it comes to the choice of food, “fast food” ranks top in children’s food choices. Fast food is high in sugar and carbohydrate. When children consume too much fast food, eventually the excess glucose will be converted into fat. As children are easily tempted by eating fast food, parents need to be stricter with the choices of food their children consume. A balanced diet is needed for children’s growth. Instead of fast food, more vegetables and proteins are recommended. As vegetables have antioxidants which boost the body’s immune system and protein increases brain power, a healthier choice of food will produce healthier children.
Thirdly, parenting style also plays a role in children’s health. Most parents are overworked and when they came home, the tired adults are too tired to prepare a meal. Thanks to technology, they just need to call for fast food delivery and it will be delivered in front their of door step. In addition, parents do not bother much about what their children consume. This gives freedom to the children to eat whatever they want which includes junk food, a contributor to obesity. To overcome this problem, busy parents should sacrifice some time preparing home cooked meals. If they are very busy, they could opt for catered food provided that they make healthy choices.
In conclusion, “you are what you eat”. The causes of obesity are numerous. Time spent watching television, poor choices of food and parenting style are some of the causes of obesity among children. To overcome the problem, one should ensure that they limit the time their children spent on watching television, make smarter choices of food, and improve their parenting style.
Written by: Lai Siew Tim
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Causes and Solutions for Obesity among Malaysian Children
Obesity is often termed as having an overly high body mass index (BMI). When a person’s weight is extremely more than its ideal weight, we call that individual obese. As Malaysia is rich in variety of food, it is common to see one in every ten children having the symptoms of obesity. There are many factors that result in obesity such as the role of media, choices of food and parenting style. Fortunately, there are also several solutions to overcome these factors.
Firstly, children are active individuals. Television captures the children’s attention, instead of playing outdoors; they would rather watch cartoon television programmes. Due to lack exercise, the fat in the body build up gradually to cause one to become obese. In that sense, parents need to limit the time spent on television. By limiting the time spent on television, children are more likely to be more active playing outside the home. Playing in the park enables them to move their limbs and fight the accumulation of fat.
Secondly, when it comes to the choice of food, “fast food” rank top in children food choice. Fast food is high in sugar and carbohydrate, when children consume too much fast food, eventually the excess glucose will be converted into fat. As children are easily tempted by easting fast food, parents need to be stricter with the choices of food their children consume. A balanced diet is needed for children’s growth. Instead of fast food, more vegetables and proteins are recommended. As vegetables have antioxidants which boost the body’s immune system and protein increases brain power, a healthier choice of food will produces healthier children.
Thirdly, parenting style also plays a role in children’s health. Most parents are overworked, when they came home, the tired adults are too tired to prepare a meal. Thanks to technology, they just need to call for fast food delivery and it will be arrived in front of door steps. In addition, parents do not bother much about what their children consumes. This gives freedom to the children to eat whatever they want which includes junk food, a contributor to obesity. To overcome this matter, busy parents should sacrifice some time preparing home cooked meals. If they are very busy, they could opt for catered food provided that they make healthy choices.
In conclusion, “you are what you eat”. The causes of obesity are numerous. Time spent watching television, poor choices of food and parenting style are some of the causes of obesity among children. To overcome the problem, one should ensure that they limit their children watching television, make smarter choices of food selection, and improve their parenting style.
Written by: Lai Siew Tim
Firstly, children are active individuals. Television captures the children’s attention, instead of playing outdoors; they would rather watch cartoon television programmes. Due to lack exercise, the fat in the body build up gradually to cause one to become obese. In that sense, parents need to limit the time spent on television. By limiting the time spent on television, children are more likely to be more active playing outside the home. Playing in the park enables them to move their limbs and fight the accumulation of fat.
Secondly, when it comes to the choice of food, “fast food” rank top in children food choice. Fast food is high in sugar and carbohydrate, when children consume too much fast food, eventually the excess glucose will be converted into fat. As children are easily tempted by easting fast food, parents need to be stricter with the choices of food their children consume. A balanced diet is needed for children’s growth. Instead of fast food, more vegetables and proteins are recommended. As vegetables have antioxidants which boost the body’s immune system and protein increases brain power, a healthier choice of food will produces healthier children.
Thirdly, parenting style also plays a role in children’s health. Most parents are overworked, when they came home, the tired adults are too tired to prepare a meal. Thanks to technology, they just need to call for fast food delivery and it will be arrived in front of door steps. In addition, parents do not bother much about what their children consumes. This gives freedom to the children to eat whatever they want which includes junk food, a contributor to obesity. To overcome this matter, busy parents should sacrifice some time preparing home cooked meals. If they are very busy, they could opt for catered food provided that they make healthy choices.
In conclusion, “you are what you eat”. The causes of obesity are numerous. Time spent watching television, poor choices of food and parenting style are some of the causes of obesity among children. To overcome the problem, one should ensure that they limit their children watching television, make smarter choices of food selection, and improve their parenting style.
Written by: Lai Siew Tim
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Comparing and contrasting my parents' generation and mine (edited)
"You are from the stone-age!". "But we are much alike when it boils down to the same issues!". Arguments such as these are common between me and my parents. The generation gap between me and my parents always brings up the so-called "differences". Question is how different can my parents and I be? I can't deny that there are similarities and differences in our viewpoints. The differences between me and my parents are in the areas of interest in music, usage of technology and also how we spend our free time with friends.
Firstly, both me and my parents use music as a source of entertainment. Whenever we workout or drive long distance, music is played. It plays a part in our daily routines. However, the type of music we listen to differs. I enjoy R&B, hiphop and rock music; especially those with fast rythms. In contrast, my parents prefer music which are slow in beat accompanied by meaningful lyrics in them.
Secondly, it is a fact that technology is widely used throughout the world. My parents and I use technology for communication purposes. For instance, we would listen to news via the radio or even chat with friends using mobile phones. However, technology is gradually evolving into a more advance version, and being much of an IT(Information Technology) fan,I can't live without the internet. To me, the internet is a multipurpose package. I use it to communicate with friends via messengers and communicate with the outside world by reading news online. On the other hand, my parents are not well-equiped with the knowledge of using advance technologies, so they prefer calling up their friends with phones and read newspaper.
Lastly, no matter how different my parents and I are, socialization does take place in our lives. We meet up with friends to pass time and have fun. But how we spend time with our friends differs. Being an active individual myself, I would probably hang out with them in a "mamak" stall or even in a club, places which are pretty much noisy and crowded. As for my parents, they prefer hanging out with their friends in a park do Tai-Chi or have a cup of coffee in a quiet cafe.
In conclusion, my parents and I do share some things in common, but our interests in some areas such as our taste in music, usage of technology and how we spend time with our friends might differ because of our age.
Firstly, both me and my parents use music as a source of entertainment. Whenever we workout or drive long distance, music is played. It plays a part in our daily routines. However, the type of music we listen to differs. I enjoy R&B, hiphop and rock music; especially those with fast rythms. In contrast, my parents prefer music which are slow in beat accompanied by meaningful lyrics in them.
Secondly, it is a fact that technology is widely used throughout the world. My parents and I use technology for communication purposes. For instance, we would listen to news via the radio or even chat with friends using mobile phones. However, technology is gradually evolving into a more advance version, and being much of an IT(Information Technology) fan,I can't live without the internet. To me, the internet is a multipurpose package. I use it to communicate with friends via messengers and communicate with the outside world by reading news online. On the other hand, my parents are not well-equiped with the knowledge of using advance technologies, so they prefer calling up their friends with phones and read newspaper.
Lastly, no matter how different my parents and I are, socialization does take place in our lives. We meet up with friends to pass time and have fun. But how we spend time with our friends differs. Being an active individual myself, I would probably hang out with them in a "mamak" stall or even in a club, places which are pretty much noisy and crowded. As for my parents, they prefer hanging out with their friends in a park do Tai-Chi or have a cup of coffee in a quiet cafe.
In conclusion, my parents and I do share some things in common, but our interests in some areas such as our taste in music, usage of technology and how we spend time with our friends might differ because of our age.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Comparing and contrasting the differences between me and my parents' generation
"You are from the stone-age!". "But we are much alike when it boils down to the same issues!". Arguments such as these are common between me and my parents. The generation gap between me and my parents always bring up the so-called "defferences". Question is how different can me and my parents be? I can't deny that there are similarities and differences in our viewpoints. In this case, I will just focus on these so-called "differences" areas which are our interest in music, usage of technology and also how we would spend our free time with friends.
Music has been there since ages, and it seems to be everyones' interest. Both me and my parents use music as a source of entertainment. Whenever we go for workout or long driving distance, music will be played. It plays a part in our daily routines. However, the type of music we listen to differs. I enjoy R&B, hiphop and rock music; especially those with fast rythms. In comtrast, my parents prefers music which are slow in beat accompany with meaningful lyrics in it.
Secondly, is a fact that technology are widely used throughout the world. My parents and I uses technology for communication purposes. For instance, we would listen to news via radio or even chat with friends using mobile phones. However, technology is gradually evolving into a more advance version, and being much of an IT fan, i couldn't live without internet. To me, internet is a multipurpose package. I use it to communicate with friends (msn) and engage in contact with the outside world by reading news online. On the other hand, my parents are not well-equiped with the knowledge of functioning advance technologies, so they prefer calling up their friends with phones and read news on paper.
Lastly, no matter how different between me and my parents are, socializtion do take place in our lives. We meet up with friends to pass time and have fun. But it only matters on how we spend time with our friends outside. Being an active individual myself, I would probably hang out with them in a "mamak" stall or even in a club. Places which are pretty much noisy and crowded. As for my parents, they prefer hanging out with their friends in a park playing Tai-Chi or have a sip of coffee in a quite cafe.
In conclusion, both of us do share some things in common, but our interest in some issues might differs because of our age.
Music has been there since ages, and it seems to be everyones' interest. Both me and my parents use music as a source of entertainment. Whenever we go for workout or long driving distance, music will be played. It plays a part in our daily routines. However, the type of music we listen to differs. I enjoy R&B, hiphop and rock music; especially those with fast rythms. In comtrast, my parents prefers music which are slow in beat accompany with meaningful lyrics in it.
Secondly, is a fact that technology are widely used throughout the world. My parents and I uses technology for communication purposes. For instance, we would listen to news via radio or even chat with friends using mobile phones. However, technology is gradually evolving into a more advance version, and being much of an IT fan, i couldn't live without internet. To me, internet is a multipurpose package. I use it to communicate with friends (msn) and engage in contact with the outside world by reading news online. On the other hand, my parents are not well-equiped with the knowledge of functioning advance technologies, so they prefer calling up their friends with phones and read news on paper.
Lastly, no matter how different between me and my parents are, socializtion do take place in our lives. We meet up with friends to pass time and have fun. But it only matters on how we spend time with our friends outside. Being an active individual myself, I would probably hang out with them in a "mamak" stall or even in a club. Places which are pretty much noisy and crowded. As for my parents, they prefer hanging out with their friends in a park playing Tai-Chi or have a sip of coffee in a quite cafe.
In conclusion, both of us do share some things in common, but our interest in some issues might differs because of our age.
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