How to Prevent Obesity in Children

According to the American Pediatric Association, 17% of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are overweight, making obesity seem like an epidemic. The are several key factors that you can implement in order to raise a healthy child and prevent early obesity, which can lead to greater health risks for the rest of their life.

Instructions

1. Develop a plan as a family as to how you can have healthy eating habits. Teach your kids how to eat healthy and let them help plan meals. Let the children help cook. Make it a fun time where everyone pitches in. Watch how proud children are of their accomplishments.

2. Make grocery shopping a fun experience. Children can help make the list and find the items in the grocery store. Put colorful food on the table: green and yellow vegetables plus brown (whole grain) breads. This can be the food that your child helped to pick out.

3. Eat together and make family meals a sharing experience. Talk about your day or plan your next vacation. Great times can be had and shared around a dinner table. Limit eating out; restaurant menus tend to be higher in calories. If you do eat out, make it only for special occasions instead of a weekly event. Talk about what you will eat before you go to the restaurant.

4. Pack your child’s lunch for school. A school lunch of all-beef hot dog on a whole-grain bun, low-fat milk, baked fries and an orange contains 764 calories and 26.9 fat grams, not to mention sodium or sugar intake.

5. Get up and move with your children. Any exercise is a good way to burn calories. Skip, jump rope, play hide and seek. Adding a little exercise into your daily routine and that of your child will always result in a healthier lifestyle.

6. Set an example and make healthy eating a family affair. Children are much more apt to follow your lead. If you are leading a healthy lifestyle then it will be much easier for you to enforce healthy eating habits with your children. By committing to healthy habits as a family, everyone can support and encourage each other. Making small changes now can mean a big difference in everyone’s life and will give your child the best chance of maintaining a healthy weight during their adult years.

Tips & Warnings

• Obesity is not just your child’s problem. It is a problem that the whole family must be involved in solving.

• Set safe, achievable goals that everyone will commit to and be realistic. Work to maintain weight or lose approximately one pound per month.

• Nearly 25% of children’s daily caloric intake comes from snacks. Be careful about what snacks you let your child have and make certain that you always know what your children are having for snacks.

• Never let your children eat in front of the television. Children who eat in front of the television consume 167 more calories for each additional hour of television watched including a larger percentage of sugar-sweetened beverages, fast foods and other products advertised on television.

• Overweight children have greater risk factors including bone and joint problems, sleep apnea and social and psychological problems such as self-esteem. There are not only health consequences but also social consequences for overweight children.