Further action you can take

Even if you don’t have young children there is further action you can take when it comes to the unnecessary and preventable epidemic of childhood obesity. Support your schools in providing healthy plant based meals as a part of the school lunch program and encourage the children in your life to learn hypnosis. Preschoolers are masters of self hypnosis. Encourage the use of their imagination to help them make healthy eating choices, be physically active and to improve their academic, performing arts and sports performance. Further Action You Can Take is this weeks reading from my book, Becoming Slender For Life.

Further Action You Can Take

Childhood Obesity

“The pain and suffering inflicted on children by the American diet is so brutal that if it were administered with a stick, parents would be put in jail.” ~John McDougall, MD

The cases of child obesity are increasing day by day. According to one survey, the number of obese children has doubled during the period of the last three decades. Being overweight does not only mean to be over a healthy size, but it has certain complications attached to it.

• There is an alarming increase in the number of children and adolescents developing type-2 diabetes (also termed as adult-onset diabetes) due to being overweight. More than 7% of teenagers (2 million) are estimated to be pre-diabetic, with symptoms of high blood pressure and high blood glucose levels.
• The high levels of cholesterol and high blood pressure, that are some of the main risk factors for development of heart diseases, are found in most of the obese children.
• Sleep apnea (interruption of breathing while sleeping) is considered the most severe problem faced by obese children. In rare cases, sleep apnea may lead to other problems like difficulty in learning and memory.
• Obese children are at higher risk of developing liver diseases, orthopedic problems and asthma.
• Children with higher levels of belly fat have higher pulse pressures, which put them at risk for heart-related disorders.
• More than 70% of obese adolescents retain their overweight or obese condition during their adulthood.

Left unchecked, 75% of adults will be
overweight in just 10 years.

Our kids are growing up on processed food, fast food, junk food and sodas. Our school cafeterias are filled with fatty processed foods. 27% of Americans ages 17 to 24 are too fat to fight in the military. And with those already serving, obesity costs the military billions of dollars in job absenteeism and health care spending and has been linked to poor performance. On May 18, 2011, Chief of Staff General Martin Dempse told a Senate panel that U.S. Army recruits have had poorer diets and are less fit than past generations, making them more prone to injury from heavier loads lugged in combat. He singled out poor eating habits plus carbonated drinks as contributing factors to musculoskeletal injuries that have been a leading cause of U.S. medical evacuations from Iraq and Afghanistan. Such injuries typically include fractures, tendonitis and connective tissue disorders but not combat injuries. The problem is that young men and women coming in the army today are not as fit or as skeletally sound as previous generations.

This spring on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Chef Jamie showed that milk is pushed on our kids in schools, and worse yet, 75% to 85% of it is flavored milk. One 8-ounce carton of milk contains 28 grams of sugar—the same as a 2-ounce Snickers bar! We’re having our kids drink a Snickers bar as part of their school lunch. WHAT ARE WE THINKING?!

Childhood obesity is an unnecessary and preventable epidemic. We can change that. It is time for each of us to stand up for our kids and start a Food Revolution in our homes and in our schools.

You may be wondering why I’m supporting Jamie Oliver in having only plain milk served in schools when I truly believe that no milk should be served to our kids. That’s because I just don’t see the removal of all milk as a reality any time soon for our schools. The dairy council is too politically powerful for that to happen. But I do believe we can take the first step and get the sugar out of our schools. And to me, the great news is that for those kids who refuse to drink plain milk rather than strawberry or chocolate milk, that’s even better!

It is inexcusable that for the first time since the Civil War, our children have a shorter life expectancy than older generations—all thanks to childhood obesity. We can change that. Childhood obesity is unnecessary and preventable. As adults, we must take action now and save our kids. As a nation, we simply cannot afford the healthcare costs of obesity, especially since it is totally preventable. Come on folks, let’s take action now.

If you haven’t already signed Jamie Oliver’s petition to improve school lunches, I urge you to do so now at: www.jamieoliver.com/jfr-beta/petition.php.

From Becoming Slender For Life, second edition,
pages 243 – 245

We can take action now and achieve great and successful results in preventing, reversing and ending obesity. If you are like me, you have a genetic predisposition to being overweight. Fat is in my genes. But, thanks to self hypnosis I lost over 110 pounds and I have kept it off for the past 16 years. Learn hypnosis and take further action and help our nation and its children to be strong and healthy.

Check out Slender For Life™ and call (206) 903-1232 or email for your free consultation.

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