The Netherlands is increasingly faced with obesity in children. Childhood obesity should be seen as a serious problem. It is a micro problem that has spread to a macro problem, because it affects public health. It is therefore the task of the government to take measures regarding the movement deficit in children.
Not enough exercise
Obesity is mainly caused by insufficient exercise and the consumption of unhealthy food. Talent can also play a role, in this case extra supervision must be given to young children, so that they will have fewer problems with the problem of obesity later on.
Primary and secondary schools pay attention to physical activity. Children in primary school receive an average of two hours a week physical education and children in secondary education are devoted an average of two hours a week to this. This is not enough to give children enough exercise. Of course it is true that many children can still be found at a sports club in addition to this physical education. These children are therefore virtually excluded from this problem. The advantage is that the children who also play sports in addition to school, generally do not have any problem with the fact that, should the decision be made that the schools will devote more lessons to sports. They can be a tool to stimulate overweight children to exercise more. Since children spend most of their time in school, it is the best option to tackle the problem of obesity here. When schools dedicate more hours to sports, it does not mean that it will alleviate the problem. The problem of insufficient exercise and obesity has several factors.
Bad Incentive
Overweight children may be dealing with poor home stimulation. Parents do not consider sports important, so that the child does not appreciate good exercise. Because of this incentive, a child can more often be absent from sports lessons. Parents can also hinder their children from attending classes. This negative stimulus plays a major role in many children. An improved school policy should enable better control of these scenes, so that less absenteeism will occur during sports lessons.
Cooperation
The government wants to tackle obesity in collaboration with primary schools and secondary education. Here the children can be stimulated to exercise more and to learn how important sufficient exercise is for them. Education is an important part of the education of children. Children learn here together with others and can support and encourage each other. Here children can stimulate each other to exercise enough and learn together why exercise is so important. It is important for the government to address the problem. Children who are overweight can run into various problems. Children can suffer from chronic health problems at a later age or, in the worst case, at a young age. The health complaints that should be considered include back complaints, diabetes, fatigue and asthma. These are problems that should not be ignored. Children in particular are not aware of the risks of obesity, so that they attach little or no value to it at a young age, with major consequences for later. The government must protect these young citizens, in collaboration with schools. Otherwise, it could become a major public health problem. This should be kept to a minimum, by giving the children a healthy basis at a young age. This can be done through sufficient exercise and a healthy diet.