How to Help Children to Not Overeat

To be a good role model, don't lie on the couch snacking on chips.

Weight problems affect not only adults, but children as well. Between 1980 and 2008, the prevalence of obesity in children ages 6 to 11 increased from 6.5 percent to 19.6 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a parent, you must help your child maintain a healthy weight. You can start by helping your child to make healthy eating choices and not overeat.

Instructions

1. Model healthy eating habits. You can't expect your child not to overeat if you are constantly eating. You need to set an example for your child from the time he is a toddler. Don't eat junk food and try to have healthy substitutes, such as fruit and vegetables.

2. Serve breakfast to your child. Your child needs to get into the habit of eating breakfast every day. This is an important meal because it provides her the energy she needs to get through the morning, so she is less likely to reach for an unhealthy snack.

3. Never use food as a reward for good behavior. This may cause your child to associate food with comfort. This can lead to emotional eating, in which your child reaches for food whenever he is feeling bad.

4. Encourage your child to be active. Limit TV time every day. It's easy to grab a snack when you're sitting in front of the TV all day long. Encourage your child to join a sports team, club or activity. You should also be active yourself and go on walks. Encourage your child to walk with you. You must make healthy activities a normal part of your life at home.

5. Serve smaller portions at meal times. You need to change the "super-size" mentality that is prevalent in many fast food places and becoming the norm to children. If your child wants more food, he can ask for more. You must get him into the habit of eating regular portion sizes and not eating until he has a stomach ache from stuffing himself.

6. Buy healthy snacks as much as possible. Don't stock your cupboard with cookies and chips. Try to have snacks such as fruits and vegetables. Cut up fruit for younger children and make fruit bowl snacks. Try to have dried fruit available as well. You can also make healthy snacks like peanut butter on apple slices or yogurt with berries. Buy whole grain cereals and low fat milk.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut vegetables or fruits into very small pieces to prevent choking in young children.

References

• University of Michigan Healthy System: Obesity and Overweight
• Blubberbusters.com: Solving the Overweight Puzzle
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Is My Child's Appetite Normal?
• Baylor College of Medicine: Heaping Helpings Encourage Kids to Overeat
• Weight-Control Information Network: Helping Your Overweight Child
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Childhood Obesity