overweight children

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You Can Teach Your Children How to Eat Healthier

September 27, 2021 John Uncategorized No comments

Children tend to have eating habits that are all over the place. They eat what delights the eyes, but their stomachs often pay the price.

Take a look at these GenuLines tips designed to get the kids on board with healthy eating.

You Can Teach Your Children How to Eat Healthier

One of the leading causes of childhood obesity is poor food choices. Offer kids either vegetables or a cookie and most will choose the cookie.

Admit it, sometimes even adults do the same thing! But, with a few strategic lessons good role modeling, you can teach your children to put health first.

Here are some ideas:

* Help them learn to like healthy foods

Forcing kids to eat vegetables and whole grains gets met with resistance. Instead of preparing a plate of lima beans and telling your children to eat it all, give them a choice.

Prepare a variety of vegetables, side dishes, and whole-grain options. Encourage your children to try new things.

Children generally have to try something several times before they begin to like it. You will have to be patient. Reward them with verbal praise when they try new healthy foods.

If they say they don’t like it, nod your head and praise them for trying it. Let them know that taste buds change and they might like it better next time or as they get a bit older.

* Make sugar a treat

Many children have become so accustomed to sweet foods. A lot of them feel that anything that doesn’t have sugar just tastes bad.

If your kids eat a lot of sweets, scale back on the amount they have available to them. Start with one treat a day and at some point consider reducing it to one treat a week.

Yet, make sure that food doesn’t become a reward for behavior. And don’t forget to check things like cereal which can be high in sugar.

Your children’s desire for sweets will decrease. And they’ll begin enjoying a variety of other healthy foods.

* Involve them in meal planning and preparation

Children who help you prepare a meal, are going to be much more excited about eating it. Invite yours to help you choose meals, help with the grocery shopping, and then prepare the foods.

While in the produce area, ask them to find and pick out the various vegetables and fruits you need for the meal. They’ll learn about their veggies, and they’ll be more excited to try them.

Consider putting them in charge of the meal choices for one evening each week. You can provide them with a list of choices. You can also browse cookbooks together.

* Be a good role model

You can’t expect your children to make healthy choices if you don’t. Take good care of your health.

Exercise and eat well. Show the kids that taking care of themselves and making good food choices is important.

* Embrace other cultures

A great way to help your children appreciate food is to help them learn about what other cultures eat. You can embrace one country each month and make a meal.

You can call it “cultural night.” Combine it with family game night, and make trying new foods something to which you can look forwards.

* Teach your children the “why” behind food choices

If your children don’t know why they should make healthy choices, they won’t care. Talk to them about how some foods work.

Some provide lasting energy, while others burn out quickly and make us feel tired and cranky.

Adjust the conversation depending on your children’s ages.

Finally, just enjoy food, because it’s so easy to get caught in the trap of being too rigid about food. This can cause a backlash.

It can motivate children to hide food and to feel ashamed. Make sure children know that it’s about moderation, not restriction and deprivation.

This will lead to a happy relationship with food that they can take into their adult years.

JohnK 9-27-2021

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Overheard: “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”

~Hippocrates

Childhood Obesity: Its Causes And What We Can Do

September 5, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in our culture. Many children are so overweight that they almost stop being children.

They can’t play and enjoy their lives the way children usually do.

Of course, childhood obesity causes health issues too. Overweight kids tend to be sick more often.

And they’re at risk of developing long-term health problems. Understanding childhood obesity helps parents make decisions and prevent obesity in their children.

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What Is Childhood Obesity?

Childhood obesity is a health condition. The diagnosis is generally based on a child’s BMI or Body Mass Index.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has obesity guidelines for kids. The CDC defines it as a BMI greater than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and gender.

Your pediatrician records your child’s height and weight. Then the numbers are compared to the average child across the country.

What causes Childhood Obesity?

There are actually many causes of childhood obesity:

Hereditary factors

In some cases, genetics plays a role. A child may inherit a thyroid problem or another hormonal problem.

If parents and other family members are obese, then their children are more likely to be obese as well.

But, other environmental factors that may have a bigger impact on a child’s health. Things like diet and lack of activity.

Poor eating habits and lack of activity

The biggest causes of childhood obesity are poor eating habits and inactivity. Many obese children live on a regular diet of starchy carbohydrates and high-fat foods.

A fast-food diet is a major contributor

Let’s look at the common diet that’s high in sugar, white flour, and fat. These foods cause children to have blood sugar imbalances.

The highs and lows lead to cravings. Cravings then lead to more poor food choices and the cycle can quickly get out of hand.

The problem worsens when parents don’t or are unable to provide healthy options.

Cupboards stocked with junk food are tempting. Kids almost always choose the junk over a healthy snack.

Add inactivity to poor food choices and you have the makings of childhood obesity.

More and more children are left home to fend for themselves after school. When they’re home, they sit on the couch and watch television.

They play video or computer games instead of being active and playing outside. Obesity results when children are consuming way more calories than they burn.

Also, the calories they do consume are empty, not providing them with the nutrients they need.

What are some problems associated with obesity?

Overweight and obese children often face a life of ridicule from their peers. They suffer health challenges most adults cannot imagine.

The result can be a shorter lifespan.

The good news is that childhood obesity can be reversed. Children are incredibly adaptable.

They can learn new habits. But they can’t do it alone. They need support. They need adults who can help them make responsible and healthy decisions.

That’s where their parents or guardians are so important in helping them.

JohnK 9-5-2018

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