How to prevent our child from becoming obese

Balance is the key to keeping your child at a healthy weight. The balance of calories that a child takes in with food and drink and regular physical activity are the keys to normal growth.

Overweight and obesity in children and teenagers is a worldwide problem. The main measure is to reduce the rate of weight gain to allow, at the same time, normal growth and development. However, don’t put your child on a diet to lose weight without consulting your doctor.

Here are some tips for parents who want their children to grow up healthy without extra pounds.

1. Balancing Calories

Help your kids develop healthy eating habits. Offer them nutritious food and snacks with the right number of calories.

You can help them develop healthy eating habits by preparing their favorite meals in a healthier way and by reducing the calories in which culinary delights are rich.

Encourage healthy eating habits. Small changes can lead to huge success!
Get enough vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Include low-fat or skim milk or milk products.

Choose lean meats, poultry, fish, lentils and beans that are high in protein. Serve small portions and encourage your family members to drink plenty of water.

Limit sweetened beverages, sugar, salt and saturated fat.

Make your favorite meals healthy. Some of the favorite recipes can be more useful with just a few changes. You can try cooking some new healthy dishes that will also become your kids’ favourites.

2. Serve treats in limited quantities

Remove the calorie-dense temptations from children’s menus. You can offer them treats, but in moderation, with limited fat and sugar content.

Avoiding salty snacks can also help your children develop healthy eating habits. These are examples of easy-to-prepare tasty and healthy things, low in fat and low in sugar, that contain a maximum of 100 calories:

1 medium apple
1 medium banana
1 cup blueberries
1 cup grapes
1 cup carrots, broccoli, or bell peppers with 2 tablespoons hummus

3. Teach your children to exercise

Help your children understand the benefits of exercise. Teach them that physical activity has many health benefits, such as:

Strengthens bones
Lowers blood pressure
Reduces stress and anxiety
Increases self-esteem
Supports weight regulation

Help your kids stay active. Children and teens should participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week, and even every day if possible.

You can set a great example for them! Start adding physical activity into your own daily routine and encourage your child to join you. Some examples of moderate-intensity physical activity include:

Brisk Walking
Playing Chase
Jumping Rope
Playing Soccer
Swimming
Dancing

Reduce time spent in a sedentary lifestyle. It’s okay to set aside “quiet time” for kids to spend reading and writing homework, but limit the amount of time they watch TV, play video games, or surf the Internet to two hours a day.

The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend television for children between the ages of 2 and 12. Encourage children to find interesting activities and games that family members can join in on.

Achieving and maintaining an appropriate body weight is important. Therefore, recommendations that focus on small but permanent dietary changes may work better than a series of short-term changes that cannot be sustained.

In the treatment of overweight children, the primary emphasis should be on preventing weight gain beyond what is appropriate for their height.

The factors that guarantee success are:

Get parents involved in the healthy eating and physical activity program too
Strong social support
Regular physical activity

Even if you don’t see the desired results right away, don’t give up. Follow all the recommendations and they will come sooner or later. Don’t forget that the weight comes back to normal gradually.