One of the most popular books for soon-to-be parents is the book What to Expect When You Are Expecting. It gives a month to month description of what to expect throughout a woman’s pregnancy. Offering tips, developmental stages of the baby, and answers to common questions and concerns. A mother’s overall health can help the baby thrive through proper nutrition, adequate sleep, exercise, wellness check-ups. A lot of thought and preparation can go into having a baby. The question we need to ask ourselves is why do we stop caring for our body once the baby is born?
Granted this is a general statement, not one that applies to everyone. However, statistics tell us that this is true as a vast majority of adults are overweight or obese. Did the perception change because the baby was born and no longer dependent on the mother? The reality is that the baby is still dependent on it’s mother and those who care for it. However, if a parent or caregiver is not healthy due to excess weight, it does impact the child, whether we admit it or not.
Our children need us and we owe it to them to make that happen. Choosing to not take care of our body with:
- poor nutrition
- a sedentary lifestyle
- not exercising
- excessive drinking
- smoking
- extra weight
- fast food
not only sets a bad example for our children, but also impacts our quality of life with them. We are purposely adding risk factors that could very likely shorten our lives. And what excuse do we really have? Are we too busy? Putting our kid’s needs first? Minimizing our situation? There are countless excuses we could use. Our bodies are not designed to function with extra weight as it impacts every system in our body.
Eventually this weight is likely to cause a major setback in our health, because our body simply can’t withstand the strain the extra weight. Just like a shelf that holds more than it should. Eventually it will collapse, dropping everything it was holding. Was the shelf poorly designed? Was it flawed in some way? No. It was simply not designed to carry more than it should. Are we any different than this shelf?