Your child's doctor weighs and measures your child at each well visit. The pediatrician enters these measurements onto a graph to determine what percentile of height and weight your child is in. According to FamilyDoctor.org, children whose weights are in the 95th and higher percentiles for their age and height are considered overweight. It is important for children to strive for a healthy weight to avoid serious diseases later in life.
Make It a Family Affair
Involve the entire family in healthy eating. Instead of serving your overweight child something separate for meals, prepare the same nutritious and tasty foods for everyone. Avoid buying high-fat and high-salt treats for some in the family to enjoy while leaving one child to eat "diet" foods. Healthful eating is good for the whole family, not only the child with the weight problem.
Make Exercise Fun
Round up the family for a rousing game of soccer, or encourage everyone to participate in an after-dinner walk several nights per week. This can help everyone to bond, and to make the child feel as though the whole family is on her side. Find something that your child likes to do, whether that means signing her up for a team sport, taking her to the local recreation center to swim or simply turning on the radio and dancing with her on a regular basis. Draw a hopscotch grid on the driveway, or start an impromptu game of tag. The goal is to get her moving, and making it fun will be beneficial to everyone.
Discourage Weight Gain
In many cases, according to the Keep Kids Healthy website, children may not need to lose weight so much as they need to stop gaining weight. As kids grow taller, they will grow into their weight, especially if they are only mildly overweight. Look at your child's diet and see where you can encourage him to cut out some calories each day. By eliminating calorie-laden soft drinks and switching to skim milk, for example, you may cut 100 to 200 calories out of his diet, which can help him to not gain 10-20 additional pounds over the course of a year. For some children, this may be enough to allow his height to catch up with his weight.
Avoid Empty Calories and Sedentary Habits
Be aware of what your child is eating with each meal. By focusing on healthier alternatives to snacks and side dishes, you can help her avoid empty calories and eat foods that are more filling and less likely to cause weight gain. If your child normally eats potato chips with her lunch, for instance, switch to air-popped popcorn with no added butter or salt. Offer your child naturally sweet foods, such as cherries, grapes and tangerines, instead of cookies and candy.
Also be aware of how your child is spending her time. Too many hours spent in front of the television or computer screen means that the child is not spending those hours in activities that encourage movement. Institute "no TV" time on sunny days, and send the children out to play. If your child likes video games, introduce her to game systems that require movement.
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