Obesity has become a health epidemic in this country. Children are the fastest growing section of the population suffering from this condition. Follow a few tips to help your child if he or she is becoming obese due to overeating. We can help kids eat healthier.
There are fast food restaurants on every corner. Schools offer several meal choices-some loaded with fat and calories. The chance to overeat is all around your child on a daily basis.
Before you know it, your child will have put on extra weight. Once on, the challenge begins. What can you do to help?
A contributor to obesity is lack of exercise. The television and the video game console keep children occupied but provide no cardiovascular benefit. Sitting on a couch encourages unconscious eating. When your mind is engaged in other activities you don’t keep count on the number of chips you are eating out of that bag.
Some children overeat because of school and social pressures. The pressure to perform at a high academic level leaves children feeling like failures when they miss the mark. In order to cope, they turn to activities that give them the satisfaction that they could not achieve academically. The more they eat, the better they feel.
Pressures to fit in can lead to depression and overeating. Children who are shy and have trouble making friends look to incorporate things into their lives that will not reject them. Food is one of those things. A donut or a hamburger won’t tell you that they hate your clothes or your hair. Food becomes a hiding place that is safe from the outside world.
Parents can head off overeating by discovering the source of the problem. Talking with your child on a regular basis can clue you in on what is happening in his or her life. Don’t press your child, but let him or her come to you.
Exercising can be a family affair. After dinner during the week and anytime on the weekends, exercising with your child gives both of you a cardiovascular workout. Walking and bicycling are two activities that kids like doing.
Stocking your pantry with good low calorie foods encourages healthy choices instead of bad ones. Avoid closet eating by eliminating all fatty and high calorie snacks from the house. When stress gets high, children will go looking for these “bad” snacks and hide the evidence that they are eating them. This will undermine all of your other efforts.
Obesity is a condition that requires treatment not condemnation. Your child may already have to deal with teasing from classmates about his or her weight. If you have negative comments also, he or she will pull deeper into a shell and continue to overeat.
To learn more, check out the Mom’s Talk Guide to Raising Happy & Healthy Kids – Tips and resources address nutrition, exercise, sleep, routines, and much more.
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