Weight Control Help for Children

If your child needs you lose weight, you are not alone.  Throughout the United States there is an epidemic of obesity. The greatest victims of this epidemic are our children! Years ago, it was thought that if you were a hefty size that you were healthy. We all laugh at the sight of a big fat baby, marveling how the mother brought forth this ten pound-er.

We all remember going by Nana’s house, and how she wanted to feed us until we popped; especially, if she hadn’t seen us for a long while us. Nanna indulged us with homemade cakes and pies, always with a dollop of ice cream on the side.

The sixties was a time a awareness. Man going to the moon, civil rights and people starving all over the planet. We had to do our part by eating everything on our plates, whether we were full or not.

 I can realistically say, that many of us were taught to over eat, out of guilt that someone had nothing at all. “Eat all your food, don’t you know people in China are starving?” The difference then was, there were no computers, no cable and no X-box, to keep us tethered indoors, to keep us sedentary.

Now in the millennium, children are sitting at computer and in front of TV instead of running and playing, tag, jump rope and hot peas n’ butter. Our children are hooked on bad food and the dealers are McDonald’s, Burger King and Pizza Hut.

We have exchanged our children’s health for convenience; the convenience of not having to stand over a hot stove, but sitting down at a drive thru window and ordering dinner. I am afraid; if things don’t change we will not only leave our children a legacy of debt, but a legacy of obesity.

1. To prevent childhood obesity, parent must understand how to feed children in a way to insure their optimal heath without feeding empty calories. Do you research and get proper nutritional fact to help your family eat healthy.
   

2. Start at infancy establishing healthy eating habits. Taste preferences are established when we are young. If you get your child used to eating fresh fruits and vegetables and little or no candy, they will grown up desiring the healthy alternative.
   

3. To prevent childhood obesity, replace soda, iced teas, and sugar filled fruit juices with healthy drinks. Offer skinned or lower fat milk, and mostly give your child water. Excess sugar and food dyes can produce hyperactivity or make ADD or ADHD symptoms worse.
   

4. Provide slices of fruit or vegetables with a yogurt. dip. Sweet and salty snacks are unhealthy and provide little or no nutritional value and can cause obesity. Remove junk food from your home completely.
   

5. Obesity can be genetic and environmental. Obese parents usually eat and feed their children unhealthy diets. An obese parent will often raise obese children, because of poor eating habits.
   

6. Encourage your child to get out of the house and move. Do not allow you child to sit in front of the TV or computer for house. Children who exercise do better in school and have a greater ability to concentrate. Walk as a family play as a family. Enroll them in an sport, dance group, martial arts course.