A new study is showing that empowerment, and not shame, is what actually helps to control childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a problem not only in the US but across the world. Researchers and medical experts have been looking into what contributes to this issue, to hopefully find strategies to help combat it. While there can be many factors that go into childhood obesity, there are also a lot of factors that go into play when it comes to handling it. Without an effective strategy to reduce the number of children who are an unhealthy weight, it is unlikely to see the rates drop.
According to Medical Xpress, a new study is the first of its kind to explore the use of empowerment to reduce the rates of childhood obesity. This was done by the University of Queensland and can be read in full here.
This study was completed in Australia, and it is the first time that the country has explored empowerment, instead of shaming, as a way to help families combat this problem. They looked at empowering families with skills, resources and knowledge on how to improve their lifestyles as a whole.
The inspiration for this type of intervention was that similar tactics have worked when it came to sexual and mental health issues as well as getting adults to quit smoking. The general idea is to help individuals set and work towards a goal. It is getting people to take accountability for their actions and their lives, but they will have the support of professionals along the way. With childhood obesity, this may look like working with a family on their diet, lifestyle and physical activity levels, helping them come up with goals and guiding them on how to achieve them.
What is interesting is that there are 20 empowerment studies across the world that are focused on childhood obesity. This is not enough to tackle a problem that has been labeled as “huge,” and it is a nod that there needs to be more implemented. Shaming an individual for their weight, like a child, or shaming a parent for making poor choices for their child has not been proven to work as it works off guilting. The opposite seems to be a lot more effective, and that includes working with people and helping them achieve their own goals and this is something that can be done with children.
Sources: Medical Xpress, LiebertPub