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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Mind Body Medicine Combats Childhood Obesity
Like mentioned earlier childhood obesity is a very serious issue. There are many things being done to help decrease childhood obesity. One important technique I came across was mind body medicine. During the past semester I learned that mind body medicine helps with many health risks and its amazing to see that it helps with childhood obesity as well. According to online source, mind body medicine has a lot to do with imagining and being aware of things. It is said that "what you are imagining right now will be what your life gives in the future." Therefore that message is put out there so that individuals can start thinking in a positive manner. This message is important for those that are at a risk for obesity because sometimes their self esteem is lowered. One needs to mentally prepare yourself so that they can lose weight and the only way to do this is by thinking what you want your future to be like. Mind-body techniques such as imagery and visualization help with losing weight by the food you chose to eat. Being mindful while eating also helps because you are being aware of what you are eating and this helps with not eating so much. Mind body medicine directly effects the hypothalamus which regulates the autonomic nervous system. Autonomic nervous system relates to how our body responds to feelings and our thinking. If we are relaxed then our body responds to our thinking and feelings in a positive manner therefore we can also be calm while we are eating and be aware of what we eat. Many times people eat due to stress and they do not realize how much they are gaining out of that. This is one of the main reasons as to why mind body medicine techniques are helpful when it comes to decreasing childhood obesity.
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Love this post for this week! Completely agree, mind-body medicine techniques really focus in on being aware and being "mindful" of the things you eat, the things you think, and especially the things you feel. Being mindful is an easy concept to understand, but it is hard to put into practice. I took mind-body medicine with Professor Dacey and I still remember the day she brought in cookies and told us to "mindfully" eat. This seems pretty easy; all you have to do is think about what you're eating and know what you're eating -- except it turned out to be a lot more difficult than that. We sat there and nibbled at our food - we took one little bite and then sat there feeling the piece of cookie in our mouth until it turned into liquid. This was so hard because you see the cookie in your hand and all you want to do is put the whole thing in your mouth. And that's where the problem is. So many children and adults are not aware of what they are eating and they mindlessly eat. This then causes many future health risks - obesity being one of them.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting that mind body medicine can help promote healthy eating. When I was taking Mind Body Medicine with Professor Dasey, we did a mindful eating exercise. She gave us different types of foods, both healthy and unhealthy. When we ate a potato chip and a cookie mindfully, they did not taste as well as people would expect it to. She had us smell, taste, and feel the texture of the food. When we ate a grape mindfully, it tasted much better then the cookies and the chips. From that exercise, I learned that eating mindfully can make a huge difference. Mindless eating in front of the TV or while studying can be very unhealthy. I believe that if children start eating mindfully then obesity rate amongst children and adolescents can be lowered.
ReplyDeleteEating mindfully plays a big role in lowering childhood obesity. Not eating while watching television and eating slowly allows an individual to understand what he/she is consuming. The brain doesn't immediately recognize when you are full so children should eat slow. Mind body techniques allows children to realize when to push the plate away and not eat without thinking.
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