Today, approximately 15% of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are either overweight or obese (which is a 10% increase since 1970). In fact, there are now more than 9 million youngsters who are at risk from suffering some impaired life due to high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or Type 2 Diabetes, as well as having a negative self image of themselves, which will continue as they grow into adulthood.
There have been studies carried out that indicate a child who is obese at the age of 6, will have a 50% chance of becoming obese as an adult. Also, if one or both of the child’s parents are overweight, then the chances increase to 80%. These are very sobering and scary statistics for a parent whose child is overweight.
However, there is good news that, with help from the adults in their lives, these children can be helped. They can be taught healthier behaviors, which relate to both their eating habits and improving the physical activity they do, and this will help them to lose the weight.
By helping them become more selective with the types of food that they consume, and increasing the amount of physical activity that they accomplish, it will only produce positive results.
However, it should be stressed that formal dieting, and especially giving your child a severely restricted diet, should only be attempted with medical approval and the appropriate nutritional supervision. Many pediatricians believe the best course is to try and hold an overweight child’s weight at a steady level, and avoid losing large amounts of weight at a time, until such a time as their height is at a healthier proportion to their weight.
The following 4 steps will not only help to facilitate healthier eating habits, but will also increase the amount of physical activity that they do.
1. Assessing the Health of Your Child and whether they are overweight
Before you make any personal or environmental changes in your teen’s life, take a few minutes to survey what your home life is like. Do you allow them to lead a sedentary life, and are they given plenty of chances to over eat at any time? If you do, then it is important that you bring any changes in to these areas of their life gradually.
First, look at just how many hours your teen spends either watching TV, or sitting at their computer. A teen can spend up to 24 hours a week watching TV. Log any time that they spend doing either, watching TV or on the computer, and try to reduce this by half.
When you have meals, does your family gather around a table, or do you eat most of your meals sitting in front of the TV or computer? If you do, then try and make it a family rule that, in the future, all food (including snacks) will be eaten in the kitchen or in the dining room at a table. Such a small change has been shown to significantly reduce the amount of over eating that takes place in the home.
Next, you will need to take a close look at your fridge and food cupboards. Which foods do you have that you are most likely to eat when hunger hits you? If the foods are high in fat, sweetened or low in nutritional value, then why not try to find healthier alternatives instead, such as fresh fruit and vegetables?
2. Do Not Shame your Child into Losing Weight
Neither adults nor children can be shamed into losing weight, and an overweight teen will know that they weigh too much. But what a teen does not know, is how they can achieve a normal weight, as well as increase their self esteem. Teens like to know that their parents love them unconditionally, whether they are fat, thin or normal.
For any parent, mastering the fine art of loving our children just the way they are, while helping them to achieve a healthier body can be difficult. Any parent must learn to “give time” and believe that the lessons we teach them will one day come to fruition.
This means that we can teach our youngsters to visualize that healthy plate (one which is half salad or vegetables, a quarter of starches and the remainder are made up of protein such as fish, meat, poultry or soy). But you also know that at some point, they will sneak either sweets or cookies into the home, and upset the balance that you have achieved.
A parent can persist in teaching their teens to see their plate before any food is put on it. This is helpful, as it creates a sense of portion control that is helpful when the parent is not around to monitor what food they are actually having. This portion control can also be practiced not just at home, but when visiting a restaurant as well.
3. Take up some type of Physical Activity as a Family
The recommended amount of physical activity to be done by an adult is 30 minutes, and 60 minutes for children, which should be done several times a week. However, if you are looking to lose weight, then more physical activity may be necessary.
A great way of breaking the pattern of the lives that many families lead is to arrange activities that involve plenty of movement for the whole family together. Not only do these types of activities burn calories, they can also serve as a setting for parent and child communication. It is especially important in a child’s teen years, when such opportunities for a parent to interact with their teen are at a premium.
Also, there is little or no financial cost involved in going for a walk or having a bike ride, and many communities now have either indoor or outdoor swimming pools which do not cost to much to use. Just taking the family dog for a walk in the evening not only makes the dog happy, but will help to increase the family’s metabolism.
4. How to encourage the right sort of behavior in your teen
The best way to help an overweight or obese teen is through your own behavior. Too often, teens will do as an adult does, rather than what we tell them.
No parent can ask their child to turn off the TV when we are actually watching it in another room, or to stop using the computer when they are spending hours themselves surfing the net. Nor should they restrict the portions of food they eat, when they, themselves, do not watch what they are eating. Why would any child want to drink water or munch on fruit or vegetables, when they see the adults around them drinking sugar laden soda or having a bag of potato chips?
When looking to lead a healthier kind of life style, it should be done one day at a time, and the end result will be well worth the effort.
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