In search of a new lifestyle, not a temporary diet
Helping your child lose excess weight is not an easy task, but it's worth every effort. Once you start, as the days go by you will see him or her become a happier, healthier, more self-confident person.
For your child to stay that way, however, a temporary weight loss diet is not the solution. In my experience, what a child needs is a permanent change in lifestyle that will make a healthy diet and an active life the norm.
Diets don't work. Changes in lifestyle do.
New Table of Contents
- When is a child obese?
- Why is obesity a problem?
- The advantages of losing excess weight
- What things are making my child overweight?
- A simple equation: eat less - be more active
- A far more complex issue
- Your child's weight problem is not a taboo
- There's hope. There's a lot of hope.
- Thinking outside the box
- In love with their food? Get your children to learn how to cook
- Help your kids burn more calories
- Links to more information
- Do you really love your armchair so much?
- Childhood obesity opinion poll
- Have your say!
When is a child obese?
A child is obese when he or she weighs 20% or more above his or her ideal weight. If you surf the Internet you'll find a number of formulas for calculating your child's ideal weight. Unfortunately, there are many factors one should take into account that these formulas ignore. The safest way to get an accurate figure is to consult a health worker.
Here are some guides that will help you understand childhood obesity, as well as find some long-lasting solutions:
Here are some guides that will help you understand childhood obesity, as well as find some long-lasting solutions:
Helping Your Overweight Child: A Family Guide
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 11/29/2009) 
How Should I feed My Child? From Pregnancy to Preschool
Amazon Price: (as of 11/29/2009)
25 Ways to Keep Your Child Safe, Healthy and Successful: Lessons from a School Counselor
Amazon Price: $17.50 (as of 11/29/2009)
Feed Your Kids Well: How to Help Your Child Lose Weight and Get Healthy
Amazon Price: $11.66 (as of 11/29/2009)
Success At Home Child & Teen Weight Loss Program (Right Size Kids Success At Home, Complete Program Kit)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/29/2009)
Why is obesity a problem?
Obesity not only shortens life expectancy, but it is also associated with:- Diabetes II
- High cholesterol
- Asthma
- Skin problems
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular disease
- Liver problems
- Joint problems
- Breathing problems
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Anorexia
- Bulimia
- Depression
Obesity also makes children physically unattractive, which in turn lowers their self-confidence and self-esteem. It can also cause discrimination and isolation.
This video talks about the problem of childhood obesity in later life:
The advantages of losing excess weight
When children lose their excess pounds, they benefit on every level:
- The risk of suffering the diseases and problems listed above decreases dramatically
- They become more active
- They're happier children
- They find it easier to make friends
- They enjoy family life better
- They are more decisive
- Their self-esteem rises
- They smile more
To succeed in this venture children need their parents' constant support and encouragement, like the mother in this video. She's a true inspiration:
What things are making my child overweight?
The two main reasons why children put on too much weight are:
- Not doing enough physical activity
- Consuming too many calories
The lack of activity in many children's daily life is a growing problem. Television and computer games stop children from playing with their friends, and with their parents. Even worse, many schools offer a very limited amount of PE time.
The second problem is that many of the foods children consume nowadays on a regular basis have very little nutritional value, and too much sugar, salt and fat. Sodas, cakes, junk food, deep-fried food, chocolate bars, frozen meals, processed meats, pizzas, sausages, burgers, etc., are all deeply unhealthy options. All those foods are providing your child with an amount of calories that is difficult to burn and which slowly turns into fat.
Some cookbook writers have addressed the issue and have come up with ingenious and simple recipes. Here are some of them:
Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
Amazon Price: $18.96 (as of 11/29/2009)
The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 11/29/2009)
The Healthy Lunchbox
Amazon Price: $9.32 (as of 11/29/2009)
Brown Bag Success: Making Healthy Lunches Your Kids Won't Trade
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 11/29/2009)
Kid Favorites Made Healthy (Better Homes and Gardens): 150 Delicious Recipes Kids Can't Resist (Better Homes & Gardens Cooking)
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/29/2009)
A simple equation: eat less - be more active
The solution, at least in theory, is very simple. For your child to lose his or her excess weight all he or she has to do is eat less and be more active.
Unfortunately, like all things related to the human mind, the issue is infinitely more complex than that, and for your child to succeed you need to understand the root problem of his or her relationship with food.
A far more complex issue
To change your child's relationship with food successfully, you first need to understand what is making your child eat in excess on a regular basis.
Each child is different, and the reasons will range from the most obvious to the most obscure, and even painful, ones. Here are but a few:
- bullying
- depression
- apathy
- boredom
- anxiety
- sleeping problems
- fear of change (new school, new home, etc.)
- abuse
- jealousy
- fear of failure
- lack of support at home
- an unhealthy environment
To throw some light on this issue, here are five good publications:
Your Child's Weight: Helping without Harming
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/29/2009)
Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Our Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through-And How We Can Help
Amazon Price: $21.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
We're Killing Our Kids: How to End the Epidemic of Overweight & Sedentary Children
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
Generation Extra Large: Rescuing Our Children from the Epidemic of Obesity
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
Child and Adolescent Obesity: Causes and Consequences, Prevention and Management
Amazon Price: $80.00 (as of 11/29/2009)
Your child's weight problem is not a taboo
Here's the best piece of advice I can give any parent with an overweight child: talk with your child about his or her weight problem. It will be difficult at first, very difficult, and often painful. But it will change for child's life - and yours - forever, and for the better.
Talk calmly, positively and constructively.
Listen to what your child has to say. Be prepared to be blamed, and consider in advance whether there isn't some truth in it. Whatever is said, don't fight.
Perhaps the conversation will have to be stopped and resumed another day. Don't give up.
If, after all, communication doesn't work, perhaps these books, audiobooks and cds can help you break the barriers. They're aimed at boosting your child's self-esteem, and reduce anxiety and anger:
Helping Children to Build Self-esteem: A Photocopiable Acitivities Book
Amazon Price: $26.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
The Goodnight Caterpillar: A Children's Relaxation Story to Improve Sleep, Manage Stress, Anxiety, Anger (Indigo Dreams)(Hardcover)
Amazon Price: $9.32 (as of 11/29/2009)
Indigo Dreams (3 CD Set): Children's Bedtime Stories Designed to Decrease Stress, Anger and Anxiety while Increasing Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness
Amazon Price: $25.74 (as of 11/29/2009)
The Handbook for Building Healthy Self-Esteem in Children
Amazon Price: $10.16 (as of 11/29/2009)
Self-Esteem Games: 300 Fun Activities That Make Children Feel Good about Themselves
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/29/2009)
There's hope. There's a lot of hope.
There are a number of non-profit organizations that are tackling the issue of childhood obesity. KaBOOM! is one of them. The work they do is truly praiseworthy:
Thinking outside the box
Breaking out of the "unhealthy food + lack of activity" habit takes imagination. You need to think beyond established habits and come up with new ways. Here are some ideas:
- Don't use unhealthy food as a reward. Instead, take your children to their favorite park, play basketball with them, take them to a dance class.
- Eat with your child.
- Eat the same food as your child, so he or she doesn't feel punished.
- Reward your child with a basket of exotic fruit.
- Never allow your child to skip breakfast. Rather than being a way of losing weight, it's a way of guaranteeing that he or she will be lethargic and hungry for the rest of the day.
- Give your kids a very wide variety of produce. The more varied a diet is, the more likely it is to be a balanced and healthy diet.
- Encourage your child to drink water, especially between meals, as a way to avoid snacking and sodas.
- Experiment with different cooking methods: steaming, roasting, baking, boiling, stir-frying, grilling. Anything but deep-frying.
- Get a slow cooker.
- Always have plenty of different natural fruit juices in the fridge.
- Buy semi-skimmed milk instead of full fat.
- If possible, walk with your child to school.
- Avoid lifts. Use the stairs instead.
- Play with your child as much as you can.
- Don't ban any foods, just limit them. Banning foods only glamorizes them.
- Encourage your child to do some house chores, or water the plants.
- Learn to make attractive and tasty salads.
- Healthy snacks are cool, or at least they can be if you present them that way.
- Healthy meals don't have to be less tasty than unhealthy ones. Try using herbs, spices, tomato sauces, mustard, ginger, etc.
Here are more books that can help you and your child:
I Want Your Moo!: A Story for Children About Self-Esteem
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
Don't Feed the Monster on Tuesdays!: The Children's Self-Esteem Book
Amazon Price: (as of 11/29/2009)
How to Take the Grrrr Out of Anger (Laugh And Learn)
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
Don't Pop Your Cork on Mondays!: The Children's Anti-Stress Book
Amazon Price: $14.36 (as of 11/29/2009)
104 Activities That Build: Self-Esteem, Teamwork, Communication, Anger Management, Self-Discovery, Coping Skills
Amazon Price: $16.32 (as of 11/29/2009)
In love with their food? Get your children to learn how to cook
One of the best ways to learn about healthy food is by learning to cook. Cooking gives children an insight into how much salt, fat and sugar their meals have. It also introduces them to a wide variety of vegetables, fish, fruits, herbs and meats.
Here are some cookery books that teach children how to cook healthy meals:
Here are some cookery books that teach children how to cook healthy meals:
The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Children's Cookbook (Good Housekeeping Cookbooks)
Amazon Price: $9.32 (as of 11/29/2009)
Salad People and More Real Recipes: A New Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 11/29/2009)
The Usborne First Cookbook (Children's Cooking)
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 11/29/2009)
Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for Children, Age 7 and Up, Who Really Want to Learn to Cook
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/29/2009)
Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love! Revised Edition
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/29/2009)
Help your kids burn more calories
Perhaps the easiest way to encourage your children to become more active is with toys they can use in the house and in the garden. Here are some great ones:
Little Tikes TotSports Easy Hit Golf
Amazon Price: $53.49 (as of 11/29/2009)
Bounce House Trampoline
Amazon Price: $135.00 (as of 11/29/2009)
Hasbro Nerf N-Strike Disk Shot
Amazon Price: $37.45 (as of 11/29/2009)
Little Tikes EasyScore Basketball Set
Amazon Price: $57.73 (as of 11/29/2009)
Banzai Cannonball Splash Water Slide
Amazon Price: $105.99 (as of 11/29/2009)
Links to more information
Do you really love your armchair so much?
I love to laugh, especially when things get tough. Fortunately, I'm not alone:
Childhood obesity opinion poll
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by mariafernandez
I love living a healthy life, and I love beauty in all its forms.
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With my lenses I hope to help you and your loved ones lose weight, stay young, feel... (more)
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