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Many countries and cultures around the world are experiencing higher rate of childhood obesity. In your opinion, what can be done to help children maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle?

Many countries and cultures around the world are experiencing higher rate of childhood obesity. In your opinion, what can be done to help children maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle?

It is true that in many countries, the number of obese and overweight children has reached alarming levels. However, there are many measures could be taken to help children control weight and develop healthy habits, and these will be discussed in this essay.

In my view, in order to fight or prevent childhood obesity epidemic and weight problems, we certainly need the intervention of families. Firstly, parents should control over what their children eat and ensure that they adopt healthy habits. For example, high-fiber foods, such as vegetable and fruits, must be introduced in daily meals, instead of fatty products and sugar-sweetened drinks that have proven to be the main culprit for obesity. Secondly, it is advisable for families to encourage children to do physical activities and reduce sedentary time. For instance, they should devote less time to play computer games or watch television and spend more time on playing sports or working out at the gym, which could help them control their weight effectively.

On the other hand, the government also plays an indispensable part in reducing childhood obesity rates. A simple solution would be to introduce educational programs or extracurricular activities aimed to raise children’s awareness of serious dangers of obesity. If children were well aware that being obese could lead to potentially fatal diseases such as diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and disability in later life, they would care more about their health status and try to be physically active. In addition, it is necessary for the government to put restrictions on junk food advertisements targeted at children. As youngsters do not have sufficient intellectual capacity to distinguish between healthy food and unhealthy ones, constant exposure to these ads would trigger the desire for such non-nutritious foods.

In conclusion, I would contend that both families and the government could take proactive actions to help children prevent weight gain and create a healthy living routine.