Reward healthy habits

Childhood obesity continues to be in the news because there are more and more children and teens who are overweight. Since 1980, childhood obesity in America has tripled.

Increases in obesity rates equal increases in health care costs. Obesity increases the risk of chronic disease (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer), which accounts for 75 percent of the

$2 trillion the U.S. spends yearly for health care.

Because children who are obese have a greater risk of remaining obese as adults and developing chronic disease, let’s start at the beginning. There are many factors contributing to the increased childhood obesity rate. One place to make changes is the commonly used reward system for children.

Adults commonly use rewards, often food rewards, to produce a desired behavior in children. A parent promising a child an ice cream cone for good behavior is all too familiar to Americans.

Rewarding children with unhealthy food undermines the goal to keep our kids healthy. The principles taught in school should prepare kids for living a healthy life. Some schools have policies against rewarding students with food, but many schools continue to teach students to reward themselves with junk food.

Schools in eastern North Dakota are participating in a reading program called Hawkeye’s Bookworms. The goal of the program is to get students to read more books by setting reading goals. At first glance, this seems like a positive program that promotes reading, but when you peel away the layers of the program, there are major red flags.

The primary problem with Hawkeye’s Bookworms is the practice of rewarding students who reach reading goals with free pizza and ice cream. In this circumstance, reading is no longer a fun or voluntary experience, but something they have to do to get a goody.

A study conducted in 2008 by Marinak and Grambrell concluded that a child’s motivation to read was damaged when they had previously been given a reward for reading. Rewarding reading with food not only diminishes motivation for future reading, but also promotes unhealthy habits. However, the study also found that rewarding a child with something relating to the activity (i.e., giving a free book for reading a certain amount) does not undermine self-motivation.

In the long run, a food reward only compromises classroom learning, increases preferences for sweets, contributes to poor health, and adds unnecessary health care expenditures.

Childhood obesity will not be resolved if adults do not create a healthy living and learning environment. Let’s all work together – in schools, the community or in our homes! Parents, teachers and organizations can make a difference by changing the reward system.

Buhr is director of Young People’s Healthy Heart Program, Mercy Hospital, Valley City, N.D. Gramlow is a North Dakota State University student dietitian.

Tags: opinion, letters, health