Childhood Obesity
Risks of Being Obese, Tips for Parents to Encourage Healthy Habits
More and more children spend sedentary hours in front of video games, the computer, or the television – and hardly any time doing physical activities. Only one third of children nationwide have physical education in school, and less than half have parents that regularly exercise. Parents are often too busy or lack the money to let their child participate in sports programs.
Children are also culling poor eating habits at home and at school. According to Vincent Ianelli, M.D., while new beverage guidelines promise to stop selling sodas in school, cafeterias still need to come a long way in promising healthy choices. And parents often bring just as much junk food into the home.
Risks Associated With Childhood Obesity
Children who grow up obese often struggle with obesity into adulthood. This puts them at an even higher risk for type two diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, heart disease, orthopedic problems, liver problems, asthma, gallstones, infertility, skin disorders, and psychiatric problems including depression, withdrawal, and poor self-esteem. Basically, obesity can impact a child’s entire quality of life and cause them an early death.
Tips for Parents To Prevent Obesity and Help Their Child Lose Weight
- Parents should keep a food and drink diary of what their child eats every day, to pay better attention to how many calories, and how much sugar and fat the child is taking in.
- Parents must choose against bringing junk food into the house, and make better purchases at the store so that their child will have better choices in front of him. Children should shop with their parents, and parents should purchase whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and limit sodas.
- Parents can figure out how many calories their child needs individually by taking him to his personal physician.
- Parents should monitor portion control. According to Dr. Ianelli, portion control should go as follows: a toddler-portion size should equal a quarter of an adult portion; preschooler or younger school-age children (kids ages 4-8) should have portions that are a third of an adult portion size; portion sizes for older children and teens begin to approach that for adults.
- Parents should decrease their child’s total amount of screen time to under two hours a day, including television, movies, computer, and video games.
- Parents should encourage at least half an hour of physical activity every day. Parents should allow their child to find physical activities he personally enjoys, and do them with him.
- Parents should not let their child eat snacks straight out of the box, or too close to mealtimes.
- After two years of age, children should be switched to low-fat milk and their milk intake should be monitored so that they do not drink too much. Juice intake should also be monitored.
- Parents should allow their child occasional treats, teaching him that everything is okay in moderation.
- Overall, parents should encourage family involvement and support in making healthy choices for the whole family. Parents should positively reinforce their child’s eating habits and never berate their child for being overweight. Parents can encourage their child sensitively without over-criticizing.
- Lastly, if necessary, parents should seek help from a counselor or other outside help so that their child has an outlet for emotional stress.
Obesity in children is caused by many factors, including inactivity, heredity, and poor eating habits. There are a lot of things that parents can do to encourage their child to begin making proper choices about nutrition and exercise at a young age. These can be reinforced into becoming lifelong habits and can save a child from potential disease and death caused by obesity.
References:
American Association of Family Physicians, <http://www.aafp.org/afp/990215ap/861.html>
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