| Latest Weapon in Battle Against Childhood Obesity |
| Friday, 05 August 2011 18:09 | |||
 Columbia, Missouri, August 2011— A new University of Missouri study reports that one of the best ways to combat childhood obesity is to design courses that educate children about consumerism and the origins of their food. Courses focused on sustainable local food production and media literacy can help children make informed decisions about their food choices while teaching environmental science, natural resource management, food production, nutrition and advertising. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it “It seems counter-intuitive, but the obesity epidemic is really about children being malnourished due to the overabundance of low-quality, mass-marketed foods,” said Crystal Kroner, who recently completed the research in preparation for completing her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University’s College of Education. “As schools look for intervention strategies, it’s important that children are taught the context of food so they can form different perspectives on accountability and consumption. Children are never too young to become knowledgeable about proper food choices.” As she examined numerous studies related to childhood obesity, Kroner said that poverty has been linked with low educational levels and obesity for many years. She found children are often only viewed as consumers of a product, and people with limited financial resources are driven to unhealthy alternatives. “Today’s educational interventions must do more than teach about the food pyramid. Educators must show children how to navigate through mixed messages from advertisers so they can begin making informed and healthful choices,” she added. “It’s not that people are walking into the grocery store and saying ‘give me the low-quality food’ – they are looking for the best bang for the buck,” Kroner said. “Healthy, fresh food is much more expensive than several boxes of low-quality, high-caloric products that will feed your family for much longer. We need to start showing children much, much earlier that the cartoon character on the box is only trying to sell them food, and that the food might not be good for them.” Young children learn best from the examples they are given. Kroner recommends that schools look at initiatives that offer children locally grown food, or food they can even pick themselves, so they can have a much healthier experience. She cites examples of New York public schools growing food in greenhouses and elementary school lesson plans that highlight how advertisers may entice people to make unhealthy choices when buying food. “Today’s educational policies, from the federal government down to the child’s plate, need to be tailored to provide children with critical skills and insights into the political contexts of their choices,” Kroner said. “I believe there is a policy chain that can be very specific so that the choices become healthier.” Kroner’s study, “The Body Politic: childhood obesity as a symbol of an unbalanced economy,” is featured in the journal Policy Futures in Education. For more information, contact Steven Adams at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . SOURCE: Crystal Kroner (Visual courtesy weightlosssurgerychannel.com)
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