As many of my regular viewers to this web blog know, there are many factors contributing to childhood obesity. I post daily here about it, whether news print articles, opinions, feedback, or just personal opinion.

Recently, I wrote an article for Yahoo! (click here) about childhood obesity. I started searching for sources for this article, and received over 100 responses to the question, “What do you think caused the rise in childhood obesity?” Responses came from professional and Olympic athletes, fitness experts, health experts, nutritionist, and parents.

I was unable to use everyone’s feedback, but thought it would be great to post some of their responses on my blog in a new web series, “What Causes Childhood Obesity.” I hope that you enjoy the opinions here from various individuals. Please remember, my including their posts does not necessarily mean I agree or endorse their opinion, rather, a place to share other people’s thoughts.

98% of the time, overweight is a sign that the child (or teen or adult) has some unexpressed sadness, anger, and/or fear. These emotions are pure physical energy in our bodies. when we don’tandle our emotions physically and constructively, we look for ways to distract ourselves from what we are feeling.

If we encourage a child to talk by providing a safe, non-judgmental environment, free of shaming, blaming, or advice-giving, he or she will get around to talking about what is really going on for them. That’s what they do before their family, culture, peers, school put a stop to that with all the messages about why it’s not okay to express emotions.

Allow them to cry (sadness), shiver and shake (fear), pound or stomp (anger) and the energy that drives us to turn to food for comfort and to fill that inner hole will naturally decrease.

Jude Bijou
www.AttitudeReconstruction.com