Meal Plans For Children To Help With Weight Loss

Watching a child struggle to lose weight is agonizing for most parents. However, you have a powerful role to play in helping your child along his journey toward optimum health, and the changes you'll make together will sustain your child for a lifetime. The process doesn't have to be complicated. Make simple substitutions when preparing meals and your child will be on the right track to weight loss before you know it.

Better Beverages

The drinks your kids sip on throughout the day can have a major impact on their weight. Highly sweetened beverages, like soda and juice, contain a whopping 120 to 250 calories per serving and most kids don't stop at one. According to a medical study published in "The Lancet" in 2001, drinking multiple sweetened beverages each day increases a child's risk for obesity.

Cutting the calories doesn't mean a life of drinking nothing but water. There are lots of healthy ways to make beverages that taste great. Add frozen fruits, like lemons and limes, to sparkling water for a taste similar to lemon-lime soda.

Milk can also be an ally in helping your child lose weight. Switch from whole milk to 2 percent for a while, then move from 2 percent to 1 percent and eventually to skim. Using a gradual step-down process will help prevent your child from feeling deprived, while also decreasing calories.

Conscious Carbs

All carbohydrates are not created equal. When you're working with your child to develop a weight-loss plan, it's important to make sure her diet is filled with healthy, unrefined carbohydrates in the form of whole grains.

Whole grains haven't had their bran or germ removed by milling, so they're still packed full of their fiber and even some protein. When grains are refined (to make traditional white flour, which is used in most processed crackers, cookies and treats), they lose all of the ingredients that made them healthy.

Each of your child's meals, during weight loss, should consist of one form of whole grain, such as brown rice or quinoa, both of which are full of fiber and will help your child stay full. You can also find pastas made from quinoa or brown rice.

Powerful Protein

Making the right protein choices during weight loss is critical to success. Ground beef and certain cuts of meats (dark chicken, for example) are high in fat and cholesterol, which sabotage weight loss. Eggs, white chicken, ground turkey and fish are powerful protein sources that will help accelerate weight loss.

If your child insists on hamburger meat, find a store that offers organic, grass-fed beef or ground buffalo, both of which are lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than traditional ground beef.

Fruits and Veggies

Fruits and vegetables are powerful allies in your battle against your child's bulge. When choosing fruits and vegetables, have your child help make selections that appeal to him. Be adventurous and encourage new choices.

Berries and melons can substitute for sweet snacks or desserts, and you can swap baked greens for chips. Kale, baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, will crisp up and taste like a potato chip.

Planning the Plate

To maximize weight loss, use as many whole foods as possible, cut out processed fats and sugars, and balance your child's plate with foods that will help her body fight fat.

For breakfast, combine a whole grain (steel cut oatmeal), a protein (low-fat milk) and a fruit (diced apples).

For lunch, try roasted turkey on multigrain bread, with baby carrots and an apple.

A fat-fighting dinner might consist of grilled chicken, brown rice and steamed mixed vegetables with berries for dessert.