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6 Ways To Prevent Childhood Obesity

Oluwatosin Faith Kolawole — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 02:35:15 +0000

Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat affects a child’s health or well-being, negatively. Studies so far has shown how rampant childhood obesity has gone, and if not taken into consideration soon, might become worse. Most times, the blame is kept on the parents and guardians and the affected children are also likely to be disturbed emotionally, physically, mentally, and socially. Childhood obesity, however, can be prevented.

Below are some ways by which we can reduce the rate of childhood obesity in our world today.

1. Encourage healthy nutrition

Children are, most times, open to junk foods and many of them hardly eat healthy meals. The kind of food these children eat, plays a great role in their health. Healthy nutrition should be encouraged, and foods with high content of fats and calories should be avoided as much as possible. They are required to eat more of fruits and vegetables, food rich in fibers, and some other nutritious meals.

2. Promote health education

Most parents and guidance fail to educate their children about health and its importance. Most times, we feel they should have learnt them in schools but it is not always the case, as they are required to know much more than you think they should. They should know why they shouldn’t take more than a particular amount of ice-cream in a day and why too many doughnuts might be risky.

3. Allow enough rest

A healthy sleep promotes good health. While we rest, the body system tends to work more effectively, and breaks down unwanted substances in the body. That way, the risk of accumulating much fats in the body is reduced.

4. Limit screen time

In this case, discipline is required. Children are always attracted by the screen, and many of them can barely do without it in a day. It is good, especially if what they are watching is educational, but there should always be a limit. Your child shouldn’t sit in front of the television the whole day. Such child would tend to become lazy and the body metabolism might be slowed down. Two hours is enough time for a child to spend with the television in a day.

5. Allow physical activities

We should always understand that the life of a child is totally different from that of an adult. They should be allowed to jump around and play. Allow them to engage in physical activities; let them work themselves out, rather than sitting on a spot all day. This will not only make them active, but also help to burn down calories and fats in the body.

6. Don’t tease your child with his/her weight

This is where some adults go wrong. It seems rather discouraging when a child is mocked with his or her weight and size. You are likely to worsen the problem of such child. Don’t mock your child about being too fat or bigger than you can handle. The child might lose emotional stability and self-esteem. Also, you shouldn’t talk about your personal weight challenges in the presence of your child/children. That won’t be a better way to encourage them, as you could be doing otherwise.

Conclusion

It is always best to treat obesity in childhood, than allowing such child to grow into an adult with it. Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and such child is likely to have a lesser death span. You might be doing the greatest thing ever by protecting that child from obesity.

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5 Ways to Prevent Childhood Obesity

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 02:30:43 +0000

Childhood obesity is related to various factors such as feeding habits, acquired behaviors and mostly genes. Children are said to be obese and morbidly obese when their weight exceeds the weight for their height by 50% and 80% respectively. In children less than two (2) years of age, Body Mass Index (BMI) is not used to describe obesity because of their rapidly changing height and weight. However it is used in older children. Therefore, a child older than 2 years, is said to be obese when their BMI exceeds the 95th percentile on the BMI curve or is greater than 30kg at any age. Childhood obesity is associated with development of many conditions, including but not restricted to, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, liver diseases, sleep disorders and breathing disorders. This is why it is important to prevent it onset, especially in children predisposed to hereditary obesity.

Ways by which you can prevent childhood obesity in your child include;

1. Feed on demand in neonatal life

Neonatal life refers to the first month of the child’s life. Feeding in infancy (especially below 6 months of life) should be as frequent as every 2 hours and should last as long as 40 minutes i.e. 20 minutes on each breast (if you are breastfeeding). This is because the growth and development of your child is very important during this period of their life and is only possible if they receive adequate calories.

2. Offer food only when hungry in first year of Life

It is usual for parents to keep feeding children excessively, especially in the first year of life when their most common mode of communication is crying. Not every cry is a cry of hunger. Each cry is different and primary care-givers of infants should make sure they realize this and take time to know the different important cries of their child.

3. Don’t use food as reward or punishment

You might be saying “I don’t do this,” or even “definitely not me” but do you give your child a cracker or candy when they do something that impresses you? If you do then you are using food as a reward. It is important to refrain from making your child begin to associate food with reward and punishment. This would lead to formation and enforcement of an unhealthy behavior (punishing and rewarding oneself when they feel good or bad about what they have done). This is one of the basis for ‘comfort-eating’

4. Start good eating and exercising habits early

Good eating habits are not just low calorie intakes. In fact low calorie intake is not beneficial in children as it hinders their growth and development. Good eating habits means regular feeding schedule, and eating a balanced diet. Exercising habit should also be encouraged in the child. The aim of whatever exercise regimen they are involved in should not be weight loss but weight maintenance. Therefore be sure to encourage the appropriate kind of exercise.

5. Give child-sized portions

Regardless of how much the child likes that meal or wants more, endeavor to give your child food portions which are appropriate for their age group. It is also advisable to serve their meals on child-sized plates as this will decrease the risk of putting too much on their plates. Giving your child portions adequate for their age group will help prevent over feeding. If your child is already obese, these above listed actions might be able to help control their weight especially when they are still young. Note that surgical and pharmacological methods of weight loss are not advisable in children as this can have a negative effect on their growth and development.

Conclusion

These are 5 proven ways made available at your disposal. Remember, consistence is key. Never let your guard down in any circumstance.

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3 Practical Steps For Treating Childhood Obesity

Valentine Oliver — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 06:00:30 +0000

Dealing with obesity is probably much easier for adults than it is for kids, mainly because it’s easier for adults to understand the dangers that obesity might lead them into. Kids on the other hand, will find it a bit hard to understand when you’re trying to explain to them how being overweight could lead to cancer or type 2 diabetes.

The second reason why it might be easier to deal with obesity in adults than it is with kids, simply boils down to one word: “willpower”. Adults usually have greater willpower than kids.

To overcome these hurdles, and successfully deal with obesity in your child, here are some tips we think you should try:

#1 Teach them why they need to treat obesity

You probably won’t be able to get through to kids about weight loss, by getting all technical, and instead you might just end up causing them to get scared.

Instead, think of a fun way to pass across the message. Instead of reading out, to them, the long list of dangers that come with being obese, simply help them see what they could accomplish if they lost just a little bit more weight.

#2 Monitor what they watch on television and how much time they spend in front of a television

Kids learn and imbibe habits, quite a bit from what they see on TV, and you should be careful what you let them watch. Food advertisements, in particular, could be a problem as they tend to leave kids craving for the foods they saw on TV.

#3 Create a fun workout session for them

There are so many ways you could get your kids to work out without them knowing that that’s what they’re doing. You don’t need to make it obvious that they need to work out. Just think of an innovative way to keep them physically active during the day.

It could be a game that you play with them outside. It could be a video game–the type where you control what happens in the game by moving your body parts.

#4 Clear your fridge

You can’t expect your kids to eat healthy when you aren’t eating healthy yourself. So to make sure your kids maintain healthy eating habits, clear out your fridge of all unhealthy foods, replacing them instead, with more weight-loss friendly foods and healthy snacks.

Conclusion

You don’t necessarily need to wait until your kid becomes overweight before trying to do something about it. The time to start is now. Teach your kids how to eat healthy and make sure they’re physically active through the day.

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4 Bad Habits That Lead To Childhood Obesity

Valentine Oliver — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 08:00:43 +0000

Childhood obesity year after year has come to be one of the complex conditions the world faces today. And though evidence has shown us that some genes have greater probability of being obese, environmental conditions still have the greater part of the blame.
Medical research has shown that when children eat more food than is required by their bodies, their bodies store the extra calories in fat cells to be used for energy later. However, if this continues over time, their bodies have no need for this stored energy, and more fat cells are developed, which in turn can lead to obesity.

In our generation today, we have so many unhealthy foods that contain less nutrients and a lot of calories but tastes so good; these foods tend to be readily available which makes it even harder for kids to able to resist or control their portion size.
Certain habits that kids have developed over the years due to their environment can be a major factor as to why they keep gaining more and more weight. Here are 4 bad habits to look out for in your children:

1. Little or no regular exercise

Most kids tend to simple get up in the morning, eating breakfast, get driven to school and get driven back home as well, do their homework, watch TV, play video games, eat dinner and then go to bed. Typically, you might not notice anything wrong with that everyday schedule. But if your kids continue like that, the tendency of their developing obesity and other health problems will be much increased.
Exercise is important not only the physical health of children, but also their emotional and psychological health. Try to create time for your kids to engage in some physical activities, every day if possible.

2. Overeating

Parents sometimes contribute to this when they always ask their kids to eat more and keep adding more food on their plates. If the child grows up with this habit, it ultimately increases his or risk of getting obese.
One other major factor that leads to overeating is skipping breakfast.

Never allow your child to skip breakfast, because they’ll end up eating more than necessary during lunch. You can also help by stocking your fridge with healthy snack choices like nuts, fruits and vegetables.

3. Too much Television time

If your kid has the habit of sitting in front of a television the whole day instead of going outside to play, then you might have a problem.
Research has shown that most obese children spend half of their day in front of the television. Most of the food advertisements that kids see on the television can also influence their food choices.

4. Going to bed late at night

Children have to wake up early in the morning for school, so it’s very important that they go to bed early enough so that they can get adequate sleep. Inadequate sleeping time affects the secretion of the hormone ghrelin, which is in charge of keeping our appetite in check.

Conclusion

It’s very important that you become very observant of how your kids spend their day. And if you notice any of these habits, it’s easier to tackle the, when they’re still young than when they grow up with it.

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