It is well known today that the obesity epidemic is claiming more and more victims every day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention writes that “nearly one in five school-age children and youth (ages 6 to 19) in the United States have obesity.” Although many factors leading to obesity have been studied, including increased consumption of unhealthy foods, the relationship between parental and child obesity has not been analyzed as often. This essay will therefore attempt to answer the question: to what extent do parents play an important role in modeling and encouraging healthy eating habits in order to control children's weight and end childhood obesity? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayParents are a role model for children in the early years of their lives, especially because children spend a lot of time at home with them. “Parents play a critical role because they can exert external control, including social support and dietary management, over children.” Parents can teach positive behaviors so that children know how to make healthy decisions in order to be healthy throughout their lives. “The percentage of adolescents who report eating dinner with family at least five times a week increased from 47% in 1998 to 61% in 2002.” In other words, more and more families are eating meals together. My feelings on this statement are mixed. I support the idea that eating together as a family is a good way to spend time, but parents generally use that time to catch up on what's going on in their children's lives, not use that time for their own purposes. advantage to necessarily exhibit positive eating habits. What about the other 39% who don't eat together? You could say that families don't have time with busy work/school schedules. While I admit that parents have long work hours, kids have extracurricular activities, and it's more convenient to make dinner than to make it, I still think it's the parents' responsibility to take the time to provide a healthy meal for their children. Stricter rules are needed to show children strong eating habits that they can use for life. Exhibiting an authoritative parenting style allows parents to be firm but flexible when it comes to letting their child choose their own foods. “Authoritative parents do not give free rein to their children and do not hold them too tightly.” This child-centered technique demonstrates self-control to children because it allows them to make their own decisions about the healthy foods parents are responsible for procuring. “Parents are responsible for providing a variety of healthy foods, while children themselves are responsible for deciding what and how much they want to eat.” When you see junk food everywhere, you have to know how to control yourself to be able to make positive choices. But like any other parenting style, this one has flaws. On the other hand, this parenting style requires a lot of effort from parents, especially if you are dealing with a stubborn and angry child. To be authoritative, parents must discipline their children, which often leads to rebellion. “We cannot force them onto a treadmill and give them a carefully controlled diet, because that would cause them to rebel against such harsh measures.” This styleParenting works because it requires common respect between parents and child. Because it is primarily focused on child development, parents show their child how to be independent. Children are given the freedom to make crucial decisions during their early years, which allows them to make the same decisions as adults and grow as independent individuals. But nutritional intervention is not effective alone; parents must add behavioral techniques. to the program so that their child will be more successful in the long term, meaning weight loss/management is not limited to their younger years. The goal is to promote healthy habits that will carry over into their future, so that they are not overweight/obese as adults. There are many different techniques parents can use, including monitoring children's food intake and restricting the food supply altogether. Studies show that monitoring children's calorie intake influences their decision. In a study analyzing the influence of parents' eating behaviors on the child's weight, Clark et. al found that “parental monitoring of fat intake at age 5 predicted lower BMI at age 7, when BMI at age 3 was taken into account.” In other words, parental monitoring regulates children's fat consumption. Some argue that surveillance is not effective, but rather harmful, because it triggers binge eating when the child is unsupervised. They will return to their own habits and gain back the weight they lost. I believe there are always risks that are included in any weight loss program. But therapy and behavior modification are well-studied topics that show children lose more weight using these techniques. One study showed that monitoring significantly reduced "children's choices for total calories, saturated fat, and salt," when studying a group of children with parental supervision versus no supervision. In other words, constantly monitoring a child's food choices will allow them to identify healthy food options and then choose those foods, even when junk food is available. Over-monitoring a child's calorie intake could lead parents to restrict food, especially if the child is still not making positive decisions for themselves. “Parents who limit their young children’s diet believe they are doing what is best for their child.” If you exclude junk food from a child's life, he will not be able to eat it. But what parents don't know is that restricting junk food only increases their desire. According to Clark et. al, “Children may be more likely to seek out and consume restricted foods and may become overexcited when restricted foods are available.” That is, children will lose self-control in the presence of junk food. I believe children need to have a well-stocked refrigerator filled with choices, including both healthy and unhealthy foods. In a world filled with junk food, there will never be a way to completely restrict sweet, salty, and fatty foods from a child's life. But whose responsibility is it to take the first step and make these changes in life and eating habits? In discussions of childhood obesity, a controversial issue has been whether or not children or parents are responsible for changing their diet and lifestyle. On the one hand, some argue that the child is responsible for his obesity and.