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How To Help Your Overweight Child
By Kim Beardsmore, Fri Dec 9th
With the rise of obesity and the increasing incidence of type 2diabetes occurring in children, many parents are now faced withhelping an overweight child. This may not be a daunting as firstseems and here are some simple, but effective steps to take tohelp your child develop eating habits and active lifestyle thatwill assist improve their health. Be supportive · Tell your child that he or she is loved, is special, and isimportant. Children's feelings about themselves often are basedon their parents' feelings about them.
· Accept your child at any weight. Children will be more likelyto accept and feel good about themselves when their parentsaccept them. · Listen to your child's concerns about his or her weight.Overweight children probably know better than anyone else thatthey have a weight problem. They need support, understanding,and encouragement from parents. Encourage healthy eating habits · Buy and serve more fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, orcanned). Let your child choose them at the store. · Buy fewer soft drinks and high fat/high calorie snack foodslike chips, cookies, and candy. These snacks are OK once in awhile, but keep healthy snack foods on hand too and offer themto your child more often. · Eat breakfast every day. Skipping breakfast can leave yourchild hungry, tired, and looking for less healthy foods later inthe day. · Plan healthy meals and eat together as a family. Eatingtogether at meal times helps children learn to enjoy a varietyof foods. · Eat fast food less often. When you visit a fast foodrestaurant, try the healthful options offered. · Offer your child water or low-fat milk more often than fruitjuice. Fruit juice is a healthy choice but is high in calories. · Do not get discouraged if your child will not eat a new foodthe first time
it is served. Some kids will need to have a newfood served to them 10 times or more before they will eat it. · Try not to use food as a reward when encouraging kids to eat.Promising dessert to a child for eating vegetables, for example,sends the message that vegetables are less valuable thandessert. Kids learn to dislike foods they think are lessvaluable. · Start with small servings and let your child ask for more ifhe or she is still hungry. It is up to you to provide your childwith healthy meals and snacks, but your child should be allowedto choose how much food he or she will eat. Healthy snack foods for your child to try: o Fresh fruit o Fruit canned in juice or light syrup o Small amounts of dried fruits such as raisins, apple rings, orapricots o Fresh vegetables such as baby carrots, cucumber, zucchini, ortomatoes o Reduced fat cheese or a small amount of peanut butter onwhole-wheat crackers o Low-fat yogurt with fruit Foods that are small, round, sticky, or hard to chew, such asraisins, whole grapes, hard vegetables, hard chunks of cheese,nuts, seeds, and popcorn can cause choking in children under age4. You can still prepare some of these foods for young children,for example, by cutting grapes into small pieces and cooking andcutting up vegetables. Always watch your toddler during mealsand snacks. Encourage daily physical activity Like adults, kids need daily physical activity. Here are someways to help your child move every day: · Set a good example. If your children see that you arephysically active and have fun, they are more likely to beactive and stay active throughout their lives. · Encourage your child to join a sports team or class, such assoccer, dance, basketball, or gymnastics at school or at yourlocal community or recreation center. · Be sensitive to your child's needs. If your child feelsuncomfortable participating in activities like sports, help himor her find physical activities that are fun and notembarrassing. · Be active together as a family. Assign active chores such asmaking the beds, washing the car, or vacuuming. Plan activeoutings such as a trip to the zoo or a walk through a local park. · Because his or her body is not ready yet, do not encourageyour pre-adolescent child to participate in adult-style physicalactivity such as long jogs, using an exercise bike or treadmill,or lifting heavy weights. FUN physical activities are best forkids. · Kids need a total of about 60 minutes of physical activity aday, but this does not have to be all at one time. Short 10- oreven 5-minute bouts of activity throughout the day are just asgood. If your children are not used to being active, encouragethem to start with what they can do and build up to 60 minutes aday.
About the author:Kim Beardsmore is a weight loss consultant. Tons of recipes,articles, free ezine, meal plans and resources to help you loseweight through excellence in nutrition. Estimate your healthyweight, free newsletter and more athttp://www.weight-loss-health.com.au
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