If your child is overweight, you might be concerned for his health and worried about his future. Before you put your child on a diet, consider his nutritional and developmental needs. Growing children require more calories and nutrients than adults. Teen boys might need up to 3,000 calories a day for normal growth. Instead of restricting calories, it might be more important to examine the quality of the calories your child is eating. Educating your child about making healthy food choices might be the only change in diet required for weight loss.
Step 1
Determine how many calories your child needs for healthy growth. Children ages 4 to 7 need an average of 1,800 calories daily, and children from 7 to 10 years old need up to 2,000 calories. During puberty and the teen years, caloric needs for boys and girls are different -- in general, boys need more calories. From ages 11 to 14, boys may need 2,500 calories, while girls need about 300 calories less per day. Girls' nutritional needs don't change from ages 15 to 18 -- they still need about 2,200 calories. But boys ages 15 to 18 might need up to 3,000 calories a day.
If your child is very active, he might need even more calories.
Step 2
Help your child make better nutritional choices. Dietary changes should be simple. Don't keep any junk food or soda in the house and instead keep whole grain, high fiber snacks. Encourage your child to eat fresh, unprocessed foods such as fruits and vegetables and to drink water instead of sugary drinks or juice.
Limit fast food -- even the so-called "healthy" options are often high in sugar, fat and sodium.
Step 3
Turn off the TV and the computer. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation published a study in 2004 examining the role of the media in childhood obesity and discovered that not only did kids spend time in front of the TV instead of being involved in sports, but that children also are influenced by commercials for unhealthy foods, that cross-promotions between unhealthy foods and popular TV or movie characters cause kids to make poor nutritional choices, that children snack excessively in front of the TV and that watching TV lowers your child's metabolism below the level it would be if your child were sleeping -- it actually takes more energy to sleep than to watch TV.
Tips and Warnings
- You have more influence on your child's eating patterns than anyone else -- lead by example. If you eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay active, most likely, your child will too. If you don't know how to make healthy choices, have your entire family meet with a dietitian or nutritionist for help.
- Medical interventions, such as weight loss drugs or surgery, should only be considered in the most extreme cases, when your child's weight puts him at serious risk of health complications.
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