Lifestyler with Josie McKenlay: Child Obesity

Josie McKenlay 11:43 12/02/2015
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  • Make sure that your child maintains healthy diet and lifestyle.

    Tackling Weight Issues

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    – Lifestyler with Josie McKenlay: Childhood obesity

    If a child is already overweight or obese, the sooner the problem is addressed, the better, preferably before the obesity stage.

    Why does it occur?

    Parental awareness of child obesity is low which makes the prevention and treatment of obesity difficult. Parents often fail to recognise overweight/obesity in their children, particularly if they are overweight or obese themselves. 

    Obviously, if more calories are ingested than used, the excess are stored as fat, so it’s getting that balance right.

    There is rarely any medical reason for obesity and genetics can’t really be blamed either.

    The cause is generally poor lifestyle choices in early life, so this is a family affair in order to protect your child’s health in later life.

    Prevention and Management

    Here are some ways to prevent and manage your child’s weight:

    ► Preventing a child from gaining any more weight is the key in the early years, particularly before the teenage years. Introduce more exercise, watch portion size and discourage junk food.

    ► No extreme restrictive diet is necessary as they will grow into their excess weight but a healthier diet is essential as is more activity. Go through the kitchen cupboards and remove anything that serves no useful benefit to your health.

    ► Making small changes gradually is the most successful way to move towards a healthier lifestyle.

    Encourage your child to have more outdoor activities.

    Making a list of all the bad eating habits and a list of good habits you want to introduce, then swapping one for another can work well: instead of a sugary soda have a banana milkshake or smoothie instead; keep deserts for meals out or on a weekend and have fruit after dinner instead; ditch the biscuits and crisps and make (with the help of the children) healthy snacks such as banana, date and walnut bread which doesn’t require any sugar to be added, but stick to a small slice after school.

    ► In the UK, the NHS Eatwell Plate clearly demonstrates the proportion of food types each meal should consist of. Just watch portion size: a portion fits into a childs hand, so a baked potato would be fairly small.

    The smallest proportion is the sweet stuff, but I would recommend having that at weekends or if you go out for a meal. There’s enough temptation already.

    ► Growth charts are used in many countries to ensure the normal growth of children. They will alert you to sudden changes in your child’s weight so that you can address them as soon as possible. 

    Although we are discussing obesity, they can also help alert you to possible illness or eating disorders. Charts are downloadable from the internet.

    ► Becoming more active is essential for health, regardless of whether you need to lose weight or not (a mistake many slim people make).

    Family orientated active days out are the best way: bike rides, water parks, kayaking, swimming, golf and tennis for example. 

    There are plenty of after school clubs too and a mini-trampoline indoors when it gets too hot for outdoor activities is a fun way to keep fit.

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