There is a lot of talk on social media about kids growing up with a "Gimme Mentality". Often you will hear people (Including this Author) railing against the use of participation awards, In todays day apparently... everyone is a winner... even if you lose. We are OBSESSED as parents with raising our children's self esteem. Despite the fact that as Roy Baumeister, Doctor and Research Psychologist for Princeton University, puts it:
"The Belief that kids have
Bad Self Esteem and Need to Be
Bolstered is just... Empirically Wrong."
He goes on to explain how most kids think they can be president and a cowboy while curing cancer all the while still having time to be a movie star. So we can drop this notion that our children are need of constant apprasail.
Now you may be saying "But Mike, Who cares? How is this KILLING our kids? Well in a landmark study published in Academic Pediatrics found >>HERE<< they weighted data that represents 80% of ALL U.S. 8th graders. What they found was:
"42% of all of the adolescents
DID NOT perceive their
Weight Status Accurately"
This is important! Especially considering that 1 in 3 kids in the US are currently considered Obese! As Doctor Aaron Carroll of "Health Care Triage News" states:
"If we want Kids to Make
Better Decisions about Health,
It Helps for them to understand
Whether they are Unhealthy
to begin With!"
And THIS my friends where it has become our fault! We've been so afraid that we are going to ruin our kids perceived self value... that we let them hurt their own bodies! We know that being over weight or being obese as a child makes them more likely to be so as an adult... which of course, carries its own health risks. The Study goes on to show that:
"Half of the students in this
study who were Overweight or
Obese... Thought they were
a NORMAL weight!"
Now I am NOT saying that Fat Shaming is the answer... But it's YOUR responsibly has a parent to not only support your child's positive out look on life, But make sure that their body is JUST as healthy as their mentality. If you need help with making better food choices www.BuiltMag.com is a website that can provide you with information on meal plans for as little as two bucks a month. And consider involving your kid in some extra curricular activities like Martial Arts. Sports like Wrestling, Dance or Football may seem like harsh realities when dealing with subjects like losing... But that's how life is. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you don't get a second helping of Mashed Potatoes.
Mike O'Laskey is a Welterweight Champion MMA fighter and Owner of O'Laskey Martial Arts in Burbank, CA.
1312 W. Magnolia Blvd Burbank Ca
91506
818-480-7810
olaskeyma@gmail.com
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