How to Deal with Child Obesity

One in every 3 kids growing up today will become an overweight adult. That's why it's so important for parents to deal with childhood obesity to prevent a generation of young people being the first to live shorter lives than their parents.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find out all you can about obesity. Find out about the risks of childhood obesity and unhealthy lifestyles, and how they can lead to a range of problems like heart disease and diabetes. When dealing with obesity, knowledge and information is king.

2. Tackle the problem quickly. Early and suitable intervention in childhood obesity is important. Most research suggests that childhood eating and exercise habits are more easily modified than those of adults.

3. Measuring childhood obesity can be difficult because kids grow in unpredictable spurts. The best person to determine whether your child is obese is your family doctor.

4. If your child is overweight, the most important thing you can do is to let him or her know that you will be supportive. If a child knows a parent's love is not conditional, he or she is more likely not to feel anxious.

5. Do not focus on your obese child's weight issues. Focus instead on gradually changing the whole family's physical eating and activity habits.Do not focus on your obese child's weight issues. Focus instead on gradually changing the whole family's physical eating and activity habits.Do not focus on your obese child's weight issues. Focus instead on gradually changing the whole family's physical eating and activity habits.

6. Once you set your initial goal of improving your family's general health, your next goal should be maintaining and achieving them. Begin with simple goals like increasing physical activity and limiting calories and work from there.

7. Be patient. Treatment for obesity will only be successful if you create a long-term plan with your doctor.

8. Focus on a few areas for improvement and you'll run into less resistance from your child-and your family.

9. It's hard for children to resist unhealthy snacks, sodas and fast food if they're surrounded by them. The one place parents do control is the home environment, so make it an unhealthy food free zone.

10. Control where your kids eat. Don't let fast food become a regular meal for them. If you do eat at a fast food restaurant, watch portion sizes, which continue to increase all the time.

11. Don't let our kids turn into couch potatoes. Get them away from the television and computer screens. Encourage them to take up sports and outdoor activities.

12. Successful obesity treatments for children and adolescents rarely have weight loss as the only goal. Instead, the aim is to slow or stop weight gain so the child, over a period of months or years, grows into an appropriate body weight. Researchers estimate that for every 20 percent a child exceeds ideal body weight, her or she will need about 18 months weight maintenance to set the problem right.

13. Research suggests that the best way to make your children healthier is to help them take charge of their own health. Encourage them to learn about the importance of good eating habits and exercise and to set positive lifestyle goals for themselves.

14. Set a good example yourself. One half of parents of elementary school children in the U.S. never exercise regularly and research shows that a child's risk of becoming obese is greatest among those who have obese parents. Do the math.

15. Be sensitive to your child's self-esteem and psychological issues. Overweight children may feel uncomfortable about exercising. Since physical activity is so important in an obesity treatment regime, help children find activities that won't embarrass them, aren't too difficult and that they will enjoy.

Tips & Warnings

• Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat--more than 25 percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat in girls.

• Not all obese infants become obese children, and not all obese children become obese adults. There is a greater likelihood, however, that obesity beginning in early childhood will persist through the life span.

• Childhood obesity most likely results from an interaction of nutritional, psychological, familial and physiological factors. Talk to your family doctor for help in dealing with all the issues.

• The prevalence of obesity in the young varies by ethnic group. It is estimated that 5 to 7 percent of White and Black children are obese, while 12 percent of Hispanic boys and 19 percent of Hispanic girls are obese.

• High blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and depression are now a part of more and more children's lives.