Monday, June 6, 2011

Understanding Childhood Obesity

By Colin Winston Aldridge


Childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic in America. Too often we hear about the greasy, fatty food being offered in school cafeteria. Of course, the food being offered at home is often just as bad or worse.

Bottom line - you'll want to parent your children. If they're picky eaters, assist them discover new foods. Nobody said it could be uncomplicated. But isn't it worth the whining to see your child at a healthy weight with fantastic physical fitness. We can't teach our young children that it's okay to only eat fast food and prepackaged meals with no fruit or vegetables and expect them to turn into healthy adults. Children need to be taught. Parents are meant to be their key teachers.

Understanding that it's challenging to alter children's stubborn eating habts, here are some suggestions to start introducing healthier foods into their diets.

1. Buy fruit instead of cookies and candy. Fruit can be given for dessert instead of cookies. You can even put a small amount of whipped cream on the fruit to top it off. Your kids may complain initially, but most will usually decide that the fruit is delicious after a short while. 2. Serve vegetables with every meal. Try to vary the types of veggies and the way you serve them. You may find that your child likes diced raw carrots, but refuses to eat them cooked. Also - many experts recommend introducing a food several times to a child before deciding that they don't like it. Many will end up requesting that item after your patient introduction period. 3. Do not allow other options. You child is not going to starve if you tell them that the meal you made is all they are going to get. Provide a healthy and tasty meal for them and then stick to it. If they refuse to even try it, let them know that you do not want to see them leave the table hungry, but they need to eat with the family. Again, children need to be parented. They should not run the household, although it is sometimes easy for them to take over. 4. Practice what you preach. This one is so important. Your child will learn from your behavior, so if you tell them to eat healthy while scarfing down an entire bag of Halloween candy, they will not get the message you are trying to send. They will get the message you are showing them instead, which is that the rules are different for them and you are just being mean. This doesn't work and it won't help your child lose weight or reduce their risks of all the health problems associated with being overweight.

Your children's wellness depends largely on what you teach them. It really is about time American parents commence showing their youngsters that respecting their bodies and eating healthy is the only method to ensure that we all stick around to get pleasure from every other.




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