As kids we were taken out to a restaurant for our birthday or a special occasion, and every month we would have a treat, something from the local chip shop or if we were really lucky a Chinese, it gave us as family something to look forward to. Now that was going back a few years ago I have to admit.

Like I said you cannot go down the local shopping centre without passing at least five restaurants all selling burgers, pizzas, kebabs and noodles, most filled with families all enjoying their lunch/dinner. As we pass the shops we can see families munching into large portions of fish and chips, burgers and some enjoying foods from other exotic countries.

Everyone loves going out for their dinner but as parents we have a legal responsibility to look after our children’s health. In a recent survey it was estimated that one in six children under the age of 18, eat a ready meal or a take away every day. This could lead to serious health problems for our children in later life, problems such as:

• High salt levels and lack of exercise this will increase their risk of stroke.
• Obesity will affect many of our children causing them to suffer from heart problems, diabetes and joint problems.
• Suffer from many different types of cancer, including liver, kidney and stomach.

Think about what you are doing to your kid’s health the next time you decide to take them out for a three course meal, look for the healthier options on the menu and your kids will thank you for it in years to come.

What else can be done to protect our waistline?

As we all know, as long as there are sweets in your house you will be tempted to sneak just the 1 which will lead to 2 and so on, do you really want to have all those calories sitting in your cupboards? Try to think of the consequences of eating too much chocolate, the headaches, feeling sick and the expanding waistline. One of the hardest things to do is to try and give the sweets away, take them to work give them to friends, try and get them out of your house. At the end of the day we are only human and we will be tempted to eat our way through bags and bags of sweets.

If we continue to eat we will become obese, obesity is measured by your Body Mass Index (BMI) which
measures the amount of excess fat that is stored in your body. People become obese with lack of exercise and when the amount of calories taken in is far more than your body requires. Being obese and overweight, in the most extreme cases can cause death, below are the most common health problems brought about by being overweight and obese.

1. Heart Disease: as you put on weight the arteries and veins get clogged with fat, as your heart is basically a pump, it finds it harder and harder to pump the blood through your body putting strain and pressure on your heart to continue working properly. Another problem is that the heart wall becomes thickened which again can cause stroke or even death.

2. Liver Disease: as we eat too much cholesterol this can cause the bile in the liver to harden and produce gallstones. But more worrying is the excess fat in the liver will cause inflammation which could lead to liver cancer or scarring which is untreatable.

3. Muscleskelital Disease: as we put on weight and become obese our joints and muscles suffer, as we walk the cartilage between our bones wears away and the bones start to rub together causing osteoarthritis. Another problem in obesity is gout this is due to the high levels of uric acid in your body.

4. Respiratoary Disease: one of the most affected areas in obesity, sleep apnoea is very common and this will happen every night. Another complaint is asthma. Both these complaints are caused by restriction of the airways.

5. Skin Diseases: stretch marks and cellulite aside, when people get obese they find it harder to clean themselves as thorough as they would like which can lead to unsightly skin infections.

These are just a few complaints that co-exist alongside people who become obese or overweight. Think about your health, try and be positive and if you are concerned about being overweight and what it does to your body then visit your local GP for proper medical advice on how best to cope with obesity.