3 Tips to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Over 9 million children over the age of 6 in the United States are overweight or obese. As children, this makes them more susceptible to serious diseases like diabetes, but as adults they are even more likely to develop heart disease, osteoarthritis and even cancer. The psychological problems start early with teasing from other children because of their weight and exclusion from social and sports activities and continue with fat jokes and job discrimination when they become adults.

There are a number of ways you can help your child to avoid these serious health issues. This article contains three tips that can prevent your boy or girl from becoming part of the nationwide epidemic. First of all, you need to teach good eating habits at home. Next, you need to start a family exercise program. And thirdly, you need to find out what kind of nutrition your child gets at school and start a campaign to change it if it is part of the problem.

You can’t be at your child’s side every minute watching what he or she eats, but you can control the type of food served at home. What you buy at the grocery store can make a big difference. Don’t keep high fat and sugar snacks around the house and don’t set a bad example by eating them yourself. Encourage your child to eat snacks like fruit and whole grain snack bars. Supermarkets have ever-expanding sections of health foods with so many choices that healthy snacks don’t have to be boring.

Find physical activities that the whole family can enjoy. A walk in the local park is cost free and everyone can participate. Include your kids in your favorite activities like tennis, basket ball, or jogging. Encourage them to participate in school or intramural sport teams and support them by being at the game. Limit the number of hours they are allowed to do sedentary activities like video games and TV and organize other types of activities when their friends come over.

The Alliance for Healthy Children is an non-profit group that can give you fresh ideas on how to change your kid’s lifestyles. They have a web site with information, phone conferences on health topics, newsletters at no charge. Their Healthy Schools Program helps you to get personally involved in improving your child’s schools. You have a voice in creating safe walking and biking trails and removing school vending machines that dispense soda, candy, and other harmful snacks to your kids. You can band together with other parents and not only improve the school, but help the entire community.

You, the parent, can take an active role in preventing your child from becoming overweight or obese. Change the foods you bring into your home from fat and sugar to fruit and vegetables. Make it a priority to exercise everyday as a family and get involved in making your neighborhood schools a healthier place for your children to spend their days. These are all easy steps every parent can take to prevent childhood obesity.

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