Off late, childhood obesity is becoming a serious health challenge of modern times. Often parents themselves become the cause of their kids’ obesity, especially mothers as they have a tendency to show their love through food. Most of the time while feeding our child excessive food we just overlook the health issues which are about to rise because of his overweight condition.
Other factor why childhood obesity is become so common is the lack of physical activities. With all the gadgets in market, most of the kids prefer to be at home in front of their play stations rather than playing outside with other children.
When Is Child Obesity A Concern?
If the weight of your child is increasing at a rapid rate then consider it as a warning bell for you. This is a perfect time for you to intervene and make certain changes in his lifestyle, so that in near future he doesn’t have to fight against various disease like asthma, diabetes, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and most importantly with depression and low self-esteem. Here we are suggesting you some tips for the prevention of obesity in kids. Is your child overweight? Find out here
Top 10 Tips To Prevent Obesity In Kids
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- Seek medical advice: Consulting your doctor is the first and foremost important step in preventing your child from obesity. Take your child to a good child specialist and calculate his BMI, height, and weight in order to find out where your child stand in scale of obesity and what are the risks which might be associated right now. The doctor will evaluate your child’s weight in relation to hereditary factors, family history, lifestyle and eating habits. Discuss your fears and concerns so that you can help your child in reducing his excessive weight
- Teach kids to chew properly: Teaching your child to chew his food properly is as important as teaching him other healthy habits. Chewing food will promote smooth and complete digestion in your children, once he’ll learn to eat his food properly he will start taking the small portions without feeling deprived or without you assuming the role of a ‘villian’ who is stopping him to take more food. This habit will help himself in reducing and maintaining a healthy weight
- No TV while eating: Don’t let your child eat his meal while he is watching television as he will never realize that his stomach is full because half of his attention is diverted towards his favorite program on screen. While watching television, most of the times you just eat mechanically, which can cause, in addition to obesity, stomach pains and unhealthy digestion. Be strict and try to develop a healthy habit in your kid and yourself as well
- Make him drink water: Drinking water is one of the easiest efforts you can incorporate into your child’s regime. Drinking water will keep your child hydrated, full of energy, will flush out all the harmful toxins and most importantly it will boost your kid’s metabolism which will aid the process of weight loss. Plus, it can make him feel fuller, so he may eat less snacks before his meal
- Let you child do small chores: Encourage your child to do some small household chores, like folding his own clothes, arranging the wardrobe according to color theme – all blues together or all pinks together. If your child has his own room then make him incharge of his room and ask him to make his own bed or to arrange his books, help him whenever it’s necessary but let him do some physical exercise which involves some movement. If you have dog then ask your child to take dog out for walk. Firstly, it will keep him busy secondly it will reduce his Tv time and will increase his and your bonding time and most importantly your child will have lower rate of weight gain
- Help your child in staying active: Encourage your child toward outdoor activities, ask him to play with his other friends, it’s important for him to get involved in some intense physical activities in order to burn those extra calories which he has accumulated. If possible you can ask him to join some hobby classes in weekends like swimming, dancing and karate classes. Most of the time children imitate adults. So, Start adding physical activity to your own daily routine and encourage your child to join you. It can be a simple brisk walk where he can tell you all his school stories or maybe you can share some of your childhood stories. Apart from the weight loss solution it can help you to know your child better
- Avoid sleeping immediately after having food: While sleeping the digestion, metabolism, and circulation systems of our body slows down so after eating a heavy calorie meal our body has a slower rate of assimilating. Sleeping or lying down immediately after a heavy meal results in poorly digested food, creating toxins, fat, and excess weight
- Plan picnics, ditch movies: At times, being a parent mean sacrificing your own desires. You have to look after your child’s well being first and if you are a parent of an obese child then your first priority should be involving him in outdoor activity. Take your child to picnic where he is free to run and shout. Outdoor play can not only make your kid lose weight but he can also learn some active skills and can get better at throwing, catching, kicking, and jumping
- Plan a balanced diet: Making your children eat a healthy diet can be little tricky as most of the time they have their own preferences and choices but as a parent we have to watch what our child is eating. If possible, include fruits and vegetables which are rich in nutritional value and contain high fiber in their diet. Oranges, for example, as they are rich in vitamin C and is full of fiber as well
- Avoid junk: Eating junk food is a main cause of obesity, so in order to prevent more weight gain it’s important to limit their habit of munching junk and fatty snacks. Try to provide them their favorite fruits whenever they are hungry between the meals or give them peanuts to eat. It’s important to limit their visits to junks food joints, try to make those visits as minimum as possible
