Fast Way For Kids To Lose Weight

Kids become overweight or obese when they take in more calories than they burn from day to day, according to the Mayo Clinic. Encouraging your child to stick to fast weight-loss methods such as fad diets and weight-loss pills may impede his growth, but making healthy lifestyle choices for your whole family will help him lose weight naturally as he grows.

Ditching Calories

Your pediatrician may recommend weight modification strategies if your child's body mass index, or BMI, is at or above the 85th percentile for children of the same gender and age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your pediatrician may recommend that you help your child maintain her current weight as she grows so that it will balance out, or she may suggest that you help your child lose weight. Generally, 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss in a week--or 500 to 1,000 fewer calories each day--is a healthy amount to lose, says the Mayo Clinic.

Healthy Diet Basics

The general rule for achieving or maintaining a healthy weight is to eat a diet that is rich in whole grains, vegetables and fruits, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. While you should also allow your child to eat healthy fats, low-fat dairy and lean sources of protein, providing your child with his five-a-day servings of fruits and vegetables and replacing white bread and white rice with whole-grain versions will help your child feel satiated without packing on calories, according to Kids Health.

Snacking

If your child eats nothing between meals, she may be so ravenous that she overeats three times a day. Bypass the junk food aisle and keep on hand ready-to-eat healthy snacks such as whole-grain pretzels and peanut butter, fresh fruit and low-fat yogurt cups, recommends Kids Health. Your child should have the opportunity to eat a rice cake or a few carrot sticks between breakfast and lunch. If she eats healthy snacks, she will have the energy she needs, she won't feel deprived and she will be less likely to overeat in one sitting, says Kids Health.

Meal Time

Display your support for your child's healthy eating habits by planning, shopping and eating healthy foods as a family unit, recommends the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, or NIDDK. Place small portions on your child's plate to begin with and wait for him to ask for more. If he does, let him have seconds of fruits and vegetables, recommends the Mayo Clinic. Small and gradual changes such as cutting portion sizes, replacing soda with water at dinner and turning off the television at mealtimes will help your child lose weight and keep it off, says Kids Health.

Family Activities

Your child needs about 60 minutes of exercise every day, but it doesn't have to be as strict as going to the gym for an hour; short 5- to 10-minute spurts of activity will also help, says the NIDDK. Reducing your child's time in front of the television and other electronics is an important way to encourage more physical activity, says the American Academy of Family Physicians. Also, support a more active lifestyle by going on active family outings such as trips to the ice skating rink, allowing her to sign up for a dance class and getting her a bike that she can ride to school.