Obesity Among Children

At this age of unhealthy junk food & video games child obesity is a common anxiety throughout the world. Unhealthy children mean unhealthy & unsustainable future for the world. So, keeping love & affection on one side its time parents have to be alert because not only it is unhealthy but may be your child is also going through embarrassment or uncomfortable feelings. Some children to hide that negative feelings start eating even more which with time turns into a lifelong depressed feelings & inactive life style. As parent you must take the responsibility of changing this unhealthy cycle but for children going through puberty or changing age you have to take much care of. When a child is upset try to realize that he might need affection, kind words or attention so just give him an ice-cream or chocolate bar to make him happy. You as parent have to understand the behavior, requirements & psychology of the child. Just don’t blame him it’s not a fault, she needs your support so cooperate in a way which does not hurt the child.

Parents are the role model for any child, therefore “Do as I say, not as I do will certainly not work. You have to maintain healthy eating habits & active lifestyle to set the example for your child to follow.

You should not diagnose that if the child is overweight or set goals for him rather take the opinion of a professional pediatrician. Follow a healthy diet chart for the child keeping both the factors at the focus, overweight & her nutritional needs. As soda or other soft drinks are tremendously filled with sugar replace them with water, soy milk or even normal milk. One very helpful teaching for your children can be the lesson of reading nutrition labels for calories & servings.

While talking you can explain your child the importance of exercises, its advantages, necessities & other factors. Physicians recommend an hour of everyday exercise for overweight children. Try to discover the games he love or motivate to join neighborhood games. Encourage him to walk when going to a place nearby or trickily give him the responsibility to walk the dog. Once or twice a week you can also go for family walking or any sort of activity or game played by the whole family. This will encourage the children to get involved in physical activities with the family.

Teach him the correct portions (amount) about eating food as suggested by doctor. Researchers found children usually ask for foods which are visible to them, so do not buy unhealthy junk food for home. Buy fresh fruits & keep them displayed in a place which will be visible for the child. You can prepare fresh vegetable or fruit salad at home for your child. Since children are children you can nicely decorate & present the food so the child gets interested to eat.

As a parent is extremely important to remain emotionally connected & attached with your child. Try to understand her behavior; this over eating can be sign of certain things, that’s what child psychiatrists’ discovered. Is he over eating because he feels very lonely or sad or bored? What you are blaming actually can it have much deeper emotional issues? If a child has ever gone through depression, sexually, physically or mentally abused, harassment, anxiety, excessive teasing it is matter to be noted about because Psychiatrists say childhood obesity is connected with this type of depression & trauma. Parents are the shelter for the children the place of their deepest dependence so it’s you who have to understand, help & provide her mental support & strength.

Reduce the time your child spends in front of television, computer screen or video games & engage her in other things which would help her lose weight. Do not totally stop her favorite TV show as it might affect the child negatively. For increasing motivation after she completes physical activity you can allow her with some TV or video games.

When your child will be matured he alone will be solely & independently responsible for his life style but now you are his motivating role models. Definitely as parents it’s not easy to remain strict about not giving the food your child is desiring or requesting for or these other factors but please kindly remember that this temporary tears & frustrations will give your child a healthy weight & a happy lifestyle permanently.