The Children’s Global Foundation

ONLINE FUNDRAISER FOR THE KIDS – OVER $60,000 OF RETAIL PRODUCT AVAILABLE!!

Great Cause – Help us Raise $10,000 for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity!!

Fantastic items up for auction in support of The Children’s Global Foundation. All proceeds go to phase 1 of the foundation!
Go and check it out for yourself but most importantly share the auction site with all of your friends.

95% of the items are shipped worldwide so everyone is invited.

Auction is listed at http://www.gobid.ca

Our goal with this auction to raise $10,000 over the next two weeks.

This is an online auction so everyone can check it out.

We appreciate your support to help us help children around the globe.

Contact Kristy

The Children’s Global Foundation

Little Known Facts About Changes In Our Diets

To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an understatement! Pick up any magazine, tune-in or turn-on any source of advertising and you’re bombarded with the latest diet schemes and food fads. More often than not, they are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or promoted using some other cleaver technique.

It’s no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a thriving empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35 billion dollars every year on an assortment of weight loss products and plans. In addition, we spend another 79 billion dollars for medication, hospitalization, and doctors to treat obesity-related problems. Even with this, the obesity epidemic continues to spread. Sadly, we have become the heaviest generation in our Nation’s history.

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have some very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain. Americans, for example are packing-on the pounds faster than ever before and weight-related medical problems are taking center stage. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes and yes…even certain forms of cancer have all been linked to obesity.

Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our weight:

- A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. That’s up approximately 8 percent from overweight estimates obtained in a 1988 report.

- The percent of children who are overweight is also continuing to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or almost 9 million are overweight. That’s triple what the rate was in 1980!

- Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese. At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or nearly 59 million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994.

(The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 – 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI of 25.0 – 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is considered obese.)

Modern life both at home and at work has come to revolve around moving from one “seated” position to another: whether it’s television, computers, remote controls, or automobiles, we seem to be broadening the scope of our inactive endeavors.

At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite TV program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted entertainment…

And all of those simple calorie burning activities that were once a normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone! You know the ones I’m talking about…activities like climbing stairs instead of using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a lawn mower instead of riding around on a garden tractor. And what about that daily walk to school? Now, our kids complain when the school bus happens to be a few minutes late getting to the bus stop!

Along with the convenience of our affluent lifestyle and reduction in energy expenditure, have come changes in our diet. We are now consuming more calorie rich and nutrient deficient foods than ever before.

Here are a few examples of what we were eating in the 1970’s compared to our diet today (information is taken from a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey):

- We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has jumped 45 percent since the 1970s, from 138 pounds of grains per person per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed as whole wheat.

- Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased, but only because the U.S.D.A. includes French fries and potato chips as a vegetable. Potato products account for almost a third of our “produce” choices.

- We’re drinking less milk, but we’ve more than doubled our cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of saturated fat in our diets.

- We’ve cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so that overall, we’re eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did back in the 1970s.

- We’re drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than milk, compared to the 1970’s, when milk consumption was twice that of pop.

- We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has increased 32 percent.

- Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding waistlines. Sugar intake is simply off the charts. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people are consuming roughly twice the amount of sugar they need each day, about 20 teaspoons on a 2000 calorie/day diet. The added sugar is found mostly in junk foods, such as pop, cake, and cookies.

- In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only 11 percent of the average person’s calories. Now, this number has ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as 20 percent for American teenagers.

The days of the wholesome family dinners so near and dear to our hearts, where we all sat around the kitchen table to discuss events of the day, are now a part of our sentimental past. They have been replaced by our cravings for take-out and fast-food. We have gradually come to accept that it’s “OK” to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake of convenience and that larger serving portions mean better value.

And, since I have been throwing-out statistics, here’s one more: Americans are consuming about 300 more calories each day than we did twenty years ago. We should actually be eating less because of our decreased activity level, but instead are doing the opposite!

Decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits will become a permanent part of your life!

Begin to explore your values and thoughts and other areas of your life where change may be required, and then take action. Begin slowly, but deliberately to make improvements in the areas you identify. And remember, it has taken a very long time to develop your habits, and it will take some time to undo them…so be patient!

Want to know more? Contact me

Total Lifetime Fitness Interview

In our Total Lifetime Fitness Radio Network Interview, Kristy Lee talks about how people can stay motivated to follow-through on lifetime training programs and how people can realistically fit exercise into their day. She discusses the childhood obesity epidemic and the long-lasting benefits of sports participation for children. Importantly, Kristy Lee discusses how parents can help their children to become healthier and more active.

Listen to Kristy Lee’s interview here

Childhood Obesity and Heart Disease

The number of overweight children and adolescents has significantly increased during the past decade. There are times during childhood and adolescence where one is more susceptible to weight gain, but these times also offer prevention opportunities for obesity.

Obesity is defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) according to body mass index (BMI). Several health risks arise from a child being overweight, such as type-2 diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, and heart disease. Fortunately approaches to counter childhood obesity have been clinically recognized, including behavioral, pharmacological, and surgical.

The prospect of morbid short- and long-term outcomes make childhood obesity a major public concern. The increase of adult obesity has been correlated to the increase of childhood obesity. Other countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and France have reported increases of childhood obesity as well. Parents who are suspect a problem can check by having a doctor or pediatrician measure the child’s height and weight to see if they are in a healthy range.

As instances of childhood obesity increase, there is alarming evidence that these children will be predisposed to heart disease later in life. The American heart Association (AHA) has issued statements on the importance of preventing obesity for this reason. The AHA has also urged physicians to be proactive in identifying the development of obesity and health conditions such as type-2 diabetes and glucose intolerance.

Today’s fast-paced, sedentary, fast food lifestyles entice children to build their lives around a steady diet of fatty and fried meals, much of which can be blamed for obesity. The onslaught of obesity places children at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, resistance to insulin, and a heightened risk for heart disease. Research has also proven obesity in adults leads to hardening of the arteries, heart disease, strokes, angina, and heart attacks.

Despite this, relatively little is truly known about the importance of these adult issues in childhood. Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) begins in childhood and progresses throughout one’s life. But there has been very little research or interest in childhood heart disease, so unfortunately there is correspondingly little information available for parents.

Research for the treatment of obesity has been relatively limited, especially when compared to the epidemic rise in weight gain. So the most important prevention that a parent can make is to introduce healthy eating habits to their children and avoid overfeeding infants. Children should not be given food as a reward or incentive because they learn to use it as a stress reliever. On the other hand, children ought not be deprived of food they need since they could wind up adopting negative feelings about the experience and later develop an eating disorder.

Training on the basic food groups and proper servings will benefit children as well. For instance, snacks that include healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and grains should be high priorities. And proper diet ought to be paired with exercise that gets the entire body involved. Good options would be biking, swimming, and walking.

Obesity treatment programs that prove to be successful include:

* Treatment before adolescence

* Willingness on the part of both the children and the rest of the family to participate

* Education of families about the complications of obesity

Involving the entire family in healthy eating habits is a great way to help one’s child not feel awkward. For example, healthy eating can be encouraged by providing more vegetables and fruits, and conversely reducing the number of sodas and high fat, high calorie junk foods.

www.kristy-leewilson.com