It’s official: exercise and physical activity are not enough to tackle childhood obesity. This according to a British study that followed 202 children over three years and found that while physical activity is important, the growing obesity problem is mostly related to what kids eat, not how much exercise they get.

This is sobering news for parents and administrators alike who have been trying to find better ways to fight the problem of childhood obesity. The study states: “If this (weight loss) cannot be achieved through physical activity, the focus has to be on what — and how much — children consume.”

While this study is important, it is certainly not groundbreaking, regular readers of this column are well aware of the nutritional deficiencies of our modern-day diets. Simply visit any school cafeteria and you will a see an abundance of junk food, soda, transfat and very few fruits and vegetables. And by the way, French fries do not count as vegetables.

And yet, there are still some that will argue that genetics are the primary cause. This argument always frustrates me because it doesn’t explain the recent explosion of childhood obesity in the past 15 years. We have not had a population explosion, so how could it actually be a genetic problem? This argument makes no sense.

While no one in their right mind would ever claim that physical activity and exercise are not important in a child’s development, perhaps this study can help us refine our strategy to combat childhood obesity. Maybe we have placed too much emphasis on the effects of TV watching and video games on a child’s health and not enough emphasis on diet and nutrition.

A recent television program hosted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver called for a Food Revolution in British and US schools as well as on the home front. He taught parents and children the value of a nutritious diet based on whole, healthy foods. As a solution to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, maybe its time we start our own Food Revolution right here in Canada. Who’s with me?

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It’s time to face the facts: Most Canadian kids are not getting the required amount of daily physical activity. Obesity rates are climbing and traditionally adult disease such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are rapidly becoming commonplace among young adults and children.

According to Active Healthy Kids Canada, a research group formed to promote physical fitness, less than half of Canadian kids under five are getting regular physical activity as part of their daily routines. They also found that only 36 per cent of children between two and three and 44 per cent between four and five regularly engage in unorganized sport and physical activity each week.

With summer rapidly approaching, parents and children alike need to take advantage of the warm weather and start creating a culture of physical activity at home. This can be structured activity such as baseball teams or cheerleading squads, or unstructured activities like a family mountain bike rides or even a neighborhood game of hide and seek.

The solution to this problem begins by shutting off the TV and video games and exposing kids to healthy activities such as sport and play early on, so that they will carry these habits with them into adulthood. Parents must play an active role in this by encouraging (and in some cases financing) healthy childhood activities and also by limiting/restricting unhealthy habits and sedentary lifestyles.

Many people are convinced that genes control destiny when it comes to their family’s health. Although there are certain illnesses and diseases that have a strong genetic component, there is new hope for parents and children suffering from lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

You may have heard these sentiments before: “My father and mother were both obese, so naturally my kids and I will be too. It’s genetic,” or “Heart disease and diabetes run in the family.” While some people still hold fast to these beliefs, an entirely new filed of study called Epigenetics says you and your family can actually reprogram those bad genes for better health.

Researchers and healthcare professionals alike are scrambling to find ways to turn genes on and off. While drug manufactures have had minimal success creating a product that consistently does just that, some in healthcare are now looking at lifestyle changes as a better way to reprogram these bad genes.

Consider the example of the fat mouse. There is a certain type of lab mouse bred for its genetic predisposition to obesity and diabetes. It has the gene for both diseases. However, when scientists fed these same pregnant mice a diet rich in B vitamins (folic acid and vitamin B12) they produced healthy pups with normal weight and no diabetes. They were able to change the baby mices’ genes before they were born!

While genes for heart disease, diabetes and obesity may run in the family, so do eating habits, attitudes towards exercise and lifestyles. Often, shared family habits can be far greater predictors of future disease and illness.

It’s clear that simple lifestyle changes can reduce your risk from some of the most common illness. While exercising 30 min a day and eating a diet of healthy meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar, may be a good start, one study also showed regular, long-term chiropractic care can actually repair DNA and reduce the effects of oxidative stress caused by poor lifestyle.

While it may be popular to blame genetics for poor health, Epigenetics suggests you have way more control over your destiny than you might think. Simply making the right decisions for your family’s health today, can have lasting effects tomorrow.

References:

1. http://www.newsweek.com/id/238162?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+headlines%2Fhealth+%28Updated+-+Headline+Feed+-+Health%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
2. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1951968,00.html
3. https://www.jvsr.com/abstracts/index.asp?id=243

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A while ago, I wrote and article about chiropractic and childhood ear infections that generated a lot of interest
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On one hand, many parents were thankful for the new information and sought out chiropractic care for their children who are now ear-infection-free. On the other hand, some readers were skeptical and asked for more evidence, which I happily provided.

Whenever a new idea hits the mainstream, it is always met with some initial skepticism. This, of course, is normal and appropriate. So I was pleasantly surprised to read “Chiropractors Treat Infants: Gentle Touch is Key When Taking Care of Babies” in the online edition of the Winnipeg Free Press this week.

The article’s author followed one Calgary chiropractor, Dr. Judy Forrester, as she cared for infants and children in her practice with a variety of conditions such as ear infections, colic and digestive problems. Parents were interviewed and reported that their children had benefited greatly from her care.

I love pieces like this because it further solidifies what the chiropractic profession has been saying for decades — although chiropractic is not a treatment for these conditions, by working on the spine an nervous system we can promote health by increasing the body’s ability to self-heal and function properly.

Where the article falls short, however, is the author then proceeds to interview so-called experts to provide a counter-point. Now, these are people who are not chiropractors, have no training in chiropractic and minimal knowledge of chiropractic research, who are of the opinion that there is zero evidence to support these claims. Apparently, they can’t use Google either.

I don’t know about you, but I will never ask my mechanic for dental advice, or my chiropractor’s advice on plumbing. If I am seeking expert opinions, isn’t it reasonable to seek out an expert in the same field of study?

Or better yet, how about asking the millions of satisfied chiropractic patients every year? As a matter of fact, chiropractic enjoys some of the highest satisfaction rates of any healthcare profession with 83%. And yes, for the left-brainers out there, there is research to support the benefit of chiropractic care for children as well.

That being said, in my opinion the best evidence we can provide is the results our patients, both young and old, get.

References:

1 – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16904491