Preventing Childhood Obesity: Tips for Parents

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 20 years, you are most likely aware of the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States.

For most children, being overweight is the result of unhealthy eating patterns, such as too many calories and not enough physical activity. Since these habits are established in early childhood, efforts to prevent obesity should begin early.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' website, “12.5 million children are overweight in the United States—more than 17 percent.”

Overweight children are at greater risk for many serious health and psychological problems such as asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, behavior problems and trouble sleeping.

So what can you do to ensure your child will maintain a healthy weight all the way through adulthood? Read on to find out more.

You may have heard these recommendations before, but let the 10 tips below serve as a reminder of how to keep your child on the right track to an active and healthy lifestyle.

1. Promote a healthy lifestyle at home: Children learn most of their health habits at home. It is crucial to get the whole family in on the idea of eating healthfully at home and away.
2.  Lead by example:  As a family, begin eating right today and remember the importance of role modeling. Always place emphasis on what you do so that your child can follow your behavior. 
3. Remove temptation from the home: Remove unhealthy snacks and foods from the home, such as chips, candy and pre-packaged foods that are loaded with preservatives. Instead, replace with fresh cut-up fruits and veggies. If you feel like something sweet once in a while, take your family out for ice-cream. This way, you won’t be tempted to eat it at home every night! 
4. Get up and move: Get your kids to take part in afterschool sports programs and community activities (like the ones through the ), or go directly to the park after school before coming home. This will ensure that your kids get some sort of exercise. If you work all day and your kids are in afterschool care, walk three times a week after dinner—as a family.
5. Eat breakfast: You’ve heard it before and nothing has changed—breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast fuels your body and reduces the chance of binging later in the day. Provide your child with a complete meal, such as oatmeal with blueberries, a hard-boiled egg or a bowl of healthful cereal with milk and fruit.
6. Eat dinner together: Not only is eating dinner together an excellent way to share about your day, it provides kids structure, routine and an opportunity to eat consciously. Eating should not be a race. Remind your children to chew their food thoroughly and put their fork down after each bite. Eating slowly will give their stomach a chance to register when it’s full. 
7. Cook a meal together: Besides being lots of fun, cooking with your children will give them an opportunity to learn the importance of making healthy meals. Tell them what you are making and why it’s good for their bodies.  
8. Cut back on juice and soda: Soft drinks are loaded with sugar and do nothing (except add on empty calories) for your child’s growing body. Many juices aren’t any better nutritionally. Even 100 percent fruit juice with no sugar added should be limited to one 6-ounce glass per day.
9. Limit media time: Keep screen time down to two hours per day. Your kids will be forced to find something else to do—hopefully something active.
10. Eat the rainbow: Encourage your children to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This should include red (tomatoes, strawberries), orange (carrots, squash, and oranges), yellow (potatoes, bananas, squash), green (spinach, broccoli and kale) and so on—like eating a bright rainbow.

Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to become overweight or obese adults, and this is an extremely difficult cycle to break. Stop the cycle now, before unhealthy habits are established.

Bottom line: Empower your kids to make smart, healthy choices, and they will have a long and healthy life.