Childhood Obesity: Turn it Around With These Easy, Effective Tips!
Gail Davis
October 20, 2008
Childhood obesity has doubled over the past two to three decades! Some experts even say that as many as 1 out of 3 American children are overweight. This problem affects not only children but also adolescents, and crosses lines of gender, sex, and ethnicity.
Overweight children have to deal with serious self-esteem issues that come as a result of peer rejection, bullying, and teasing. In addition, diseases and conditions previously reserved for adults are becoming common in children. These include type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
The causes of this childhood obesity epidemic vary from genetics to poor role models at home, fast foods and convenience foods, sedentary lives, and too much time in front of a screen, either watching television, playing video games, or working on the computer.
There are dozens of easy tips that parents can utilize to help their children lead healthier lifestyles. To effectively combat childhood obesity, you must deal with this issue as a family problem. Putting a child on a diet is not the solution. That will do nothing but encourage the constant gaining and losing of weight.
Educate your family about the food pyramid, the major food groups, recommended portions, and nutrition fact labels. All of this information can be easily found online. Center family discussions on this information and encourage new information to be shared.
Learn to recognize proper portion sizes. Teach your children to compare portions with a common item. For instance, a single-portion pancake or waffle should be the approximate size of a DVD.
Utilize products that make it easier for your children to make wise choices. For example, a company called Easy Diet Labels provides labels that can be affixed to food items in the refrigerator and cupboards that say things like, "great snack", "high-cholesterol", "low-cal", or "high-fiber." What better way to train your children to reach for the right snack?
Save money and calories by having your family sit down once a week with the grocery sale ads and plan healthy meals. Try to eat foods as close as possible to their "natural" state to avoid excessive calories, sodium, and preservatives.
Have everyone in the family keep a weight loss journal. Compare them weekly and present a reward to the person who made the healthiest choices. Discuss why some choices are better than others.
Take a family walk after dinner. Not only will this be a good bonding time but also it will aid in the digestive process. Encourage activity by making "exercise" and "play" synonymous. Go biking, swimming, skating, or hiking as a family.
Finally, be a good role model for your family. Your children will learn much more from watching you than from what you say to them. Following these simple steps will help put an end to the growing rise in childhood obesity and encourage your child to lead a life of wellness!
Overweight children have to deal with serious self-esteem issues that come as a result of peer rejection, bullying, and teasing. In addition, diseases and conditions previously reserved for adults are becoming common in children. These include type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
The causes of this childhood obesity epidemic vary from genetics to poor role models at home, fast foods and convenience foods, sedentary lives, and too much time in front of a screen, either watching television, playing video games, or working on the computer.
There are dozens of easy tips that parents can utilize to help their children lead healthier lifestyles. To effectively combat childhood obesity, you must deal with this issue as a family problem. Putting a child on a diet is not the solution. That will do nothing but encourage the constant gaining and losing of weight.
Educate your family about the food pyramid, the major food groups, recommended portions, and nutrition fact labels. All of this information can be easily found online. Center family discussions on this information and encourage new information to be shared.
Learn to recognize proper portion sizes. Teach your children to compare portions with a common item. For instance, a single-portion pancake or waffle should be the approximate size of a DVD.
Utilize products that make it easier for your children to make wise choices. For example, a company called Easy Diet Labels provides labels that can be affixed to food items in the refrigerator and cupboards that say things like, "great snack", "high-cholesterol", "low-cal", or "high-fiber." What better way to train your children to reach for the right snack?
Save money and calories by having your family sit down once a week with the grocery sale ads and plan healthy meals. Try to eat foods as close as possible to their "natural" state to avoid excessive calories, sodium, and preservatives.
Have everyone in the family keep a weight loss journal. Compare them weekly and present a reward to the person who made the healthiest choices. Discuss why some choices are better than others.
Take a family walk after dinner. Not only will this be a good bonding time but also it will aid in the digestive process. Encourage activity by making "exercise" and "play" synonymous. Go biking, swimming, skating, or hiking as a family.
Finally, be a good role model for your family. Your children will learn much more from watching you than from what you say to them. Following these simple steps will help put an end to the growing rise in childhood obesity and encourage your child to lead a life of wellness!