Can Personal Trainers Help End Childhood Obesity?

As a personal trainer, you can work with a variety of demographics. While many trainers tend to gravitate toward adults or even seniors, others find that their passion is working with kids. 

If this sounds like you, becoming a youth fitness trainer can help you achieve this goal. It may even put you in the right position to help end the obesity epidemic that children of today are facing.

Obesity Prevalence in Children

In the United States, almost one in five children and teens are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this case, obesity is defined as being at or above the 95th percentile according to body mass index (BMI).

To make matters worse, the prevalence of child obesity increases with age. While 13.4% of two to five-year-olds are obese, the CDC shares that 21.2% of 12 to 19-year-olds fall into this category. So, the older a child gets, the greater their risk of obesity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) adds that obesity rates have almost tripled in the past 40 years. For children specifically, these rates have increased from 4% in 1975 to more than 18% as of 2016. This has caused some to suggest that we are in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic.

Contributors to the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

WHO indicates that there are two main causes behind this increase in obesity. The first is eating more foods that are high in fat and sugar. Not only do these foods tend to also be higher in calories, but they are also usually void of any real nutrition. This means that, although kids are eating more, they’re likely consuming fewer nutrients. And these are nutrients they need for optimal growth and development.

The second major contributor to obesity today, according to WHO, is a decrease in daily physical activity. In the past, it was common for kids to spend all day playing outside, riding their bikes, and building tree forts. Now, it’s more common to find children sitting in front of the television or engaged in online gaming. This decrease in regular physical activity has helped lead to an increase in weight.

Others suggest that more issues may make it harder for children today to achieve a healthier weight. Families are spending less time on healthy food prep. Some have a lack of access to nutritious food options. There are also fewer after-school programs that involve some type of physical activity. This all makes it easier for children to develop a weight problem.

How Being Overweight or Obese Impacts Children

Just as carrying too much weight can increase an adult’s disease risk, it can do the same for a child. Major health conditions associated with a high BMI are heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Some research also suggests that obese children are at greater risk of chronic kidney disease.

There are mental health implications as well. A journal article published in 2018 connects childhood obesity with many psychological factors. Among them are depression, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, and eating disorders.

A 2020 review adds that children who are overweight or obese are also engaged in bullying more often—both as a victim and as an aggressor. This further increases their risk of health issues. It also often leads to even more weight gain.

Can Personal Trainers Help End Childhood Obesity?

The answer to this question is a resounding yes! Certainly, the reasons behind childhood obesity are complex and involve many factors. That said, personal training professionals have the ability to start turning these trends around.

Think of a personal trainer as a physical education teacher outside of the school. Your goal is to help kids better understand the importance of regular activity. You can also teach them that fitness can be fun. Just as they enjoy certain activities in PE class at school, they can find the same level of enjoyment outside, at home, or in the gym.

A personal trainer also helps provide healthy eating guidance. Recommending fruits and vegetables as snacks, for instance, can reduce the child’s total fat and sugar intake. 

Perhaps most of all, teaching a child how to live a healthy lifestyle provides them with skills they can use for years to come. Plus, the sooner they develop healthy habits, the better. It can be more difficult to correct a long-term habit than to change one the child has had shorter-term.

Personal Training Strategies for Childhood Obesity Prevention

The best way to resolve any issue is to stop it before it starts. This same approach can be used with regard to childhood obesity. If we can teach children how to stay at a healthy weight, they can avoid all the potential consequences of being overweight or obese.

In the personal training world, obesity prevention involves getting children involved in sports. Sports are a good way for them to exercise while having fun. Sports also teach kids the importance of teamwork. They form friendships with their teammates that can sometimes last a lifetime.

Preventing childhood obesity might also involve exposing the child to different types of fitness. Let them see that there are several ways to increase their physical activity. This allows them to choose a type of exercise that motivates them to come back for more. 

If they’re old enough, you might have them try weight training. This helps them boost muscle strength while keeping their metabolism stoked. Stronger muscles can also help them perform better in sports.

Also find ways for them to reduce their participation in sedentary activity. Increased physical activity makes it easier to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. Limiting their time in front of the computer, TV, or game box are some good first steps. 

How Trainers Can Help Overweight and Obese Children Achieve a Healthy Weight

If you’re interested in working with obese children or children who are overweight, finding ways to ease them into a youth fitness program can help turn things around. Start with just a few minutes of physical activity per day. Then, increase the amount slowly over time. This allows them to have little fitness wins, making it easier to stick to their exercise program.

Trainers can also help children experience the joy that exercise has to offer. You can do this by exploring a number of physical activity options. While one child might like a dance class, for example, another may enjoy bicycling. If they haven’t found something they like, encourage them to keep looking. There’s bound to be some type of physical activity they enjoy. Make it your personal mission to help them find it.

It can also be helpful to keep the focus off lowering their body fat. As adults, if we are overweight, we often benefit from setting body fat reduction goals. It gives us something to work toward. Yet, kids might not get the same motivation from this approach. 

Instead of concentrating on their body fat levels, talk with the overweight child about how they may feel better or find it easier to move it around if they reduce their weight. Put weight loss in terms that they understand. Discuss how it makes their life better versus making it about their weight on the scale.

Also talk about other things they can do to feel better. Let them know that the foods they eat don’t just affect their weight, but also how they feel about themselves and the world. Educate them about the importance of good sleep. 

Tackling obesity isn’t just about weight loss. It’s also about helping kids see the value of looking after their bodies. This is a skill that will continue to serve them as they leave childhood and begin to enter adulthood.

Want to learn more ways to help tackle childhood obesity? ISSA offers a Lifespan Coach certification. This course teaches you how to create a safe, effective physical fitness program for children and youth, as well as older adults.

Resources

Childhood Obesity Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Retrieved 19 May 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html.

Obesity and overweight. Who.int. (2021). Retrieved 19 May 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.

Correia-Costa, L., Azevedo, A., & Caldas Afonso, A. (2018). Childhood Obesity and Impact on the Kidney. Nephron, 143(1), 8-11. https://doi.org/10.1159/000492826

Sagar, R., & Gupta, T. (2017). Psychological Aspects of Obesity in Children and Adolescents. The Indian Journal Of Pediatrics, 85(7), 554-559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-017-2539-2

Thompson, I., Hong, J., Lee, J., Prys, N., Morgan, J., & Udo-Inyang, I. (2018). A review of the empirical research on weight-based bullying and peer victimisation published between 2006 and 2016. Educational Review, 72(1), 88-110. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1483894