The number of overweight and obese children in the United States continues to rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of particular concern is the percent of obese kids under the age of 18, which has more than tripled since 1980 for both children and adolescents. If you have an overweight child, you likely have a host of concerns about his self-image and overall health. Working together, you and your child can adopt strategies to reach a healthy weight.
Diet
Never put your child on a strict diet, advises MyOverweightChild.com, an educational website sponsored by the CRC Health Group. Children who are encouraged to diet often remain overweight for a longer period of time than their non-dieting peers of the same original weight, according to findings from the University of Minnesota. Dieting may actually disrupt future eating patterns, leading to possible starvation diets, laxative abuse and purging, particularly in teens.
Eating Habits
Instead of counting your child's calories, encourage healthy eating habits. One of the goals for parents of overweight children should be to help them make better diet choices that stop the weight gain.
To help your child make better food choices, carefully review her eating habits for a week. Look at what she drinks. Soda has empty calories and no nutritional value. Fruit juice, while providing some nutrients, can be high in calories, particularly if your child drinks a large quantity. Investigate what kinds of snacks she has. Do they provide a range of vitamins, minerals and offer fiber and whole grains? Finally, take a look at the portion sizes your child eats. If she is eating adult-sized meals, encourage her to eat smaller servings.
Exercise
Encourage your child to become more active. Kids need about 60 minutes of exercise each day, according to the Weight-Control Information Network, a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Activities such as soccer, dance, basketball or gymnastics offer almost constant activity and may be fun for your child. If he is embarrassed or uncomfortable participating in public or team sports, suggest playing tag with a sibling in the back yard, jumping rope or dancing vigorously to upbeat music. Become active as a family. Ride bikes together, go for walks or visit a museum.
Because of the stress on the body, don't encourage your child to jog for long distances or walk for miles on a treadmill. It is also likely that she will find these activities boring and be less likely to do them regularly.
Model Good Behavior
Be a good role model for your child. Make sure that you and other family members also practice healthy eating habits. It is much easier for your child to make good diet choices if that's what others around him are doing.
Show your child that exercise can be a fun daily activity, not a chore. Make sure that you also are physically active each day.
Complications
Overweight kids are at higher risk for health problems. These include high blood pressure and high cholesterol --- conditions that can lead to a heart attack as they get older. Overweight kids are also more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and experience liver or gallbladder disease. Their bones or joints can also become stressed from supporting additional weight.
Overweight children may not sleep as well because of obstructive sleep apnea. Finally, many kids who weigh more than their peers suffer from depression and low self-esteem because of their body image. Helping your child lose weight can eliminate these potentially serious health complications.
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