Is Your Child Overweight? Do SOmething NOW! His/Her life depends on it!

Health and Fitness tips from Pittsburgh personal trainer and lifestyle coach, Jackie Omotalade, "The First Lady of Fitness, Fashion, and Fun.

REMEMBER THE DAYS WHEN THAT FAT KID STOOD OUT? And we would all say, isn't he cute! Well, now it seems like that "fat kid" is every kid and that is a MAJOR problem. Accordingly to the Center for Disease Control, the prevalence of obesity has increased: for children aged 2-5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 12.4%; for those aged 6-11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17.0%; and for those aged 12-19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.6%.1.




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Fat kids are not cute, because obesity is life-threatening. According to the Mayo Clinic, childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start kids on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults.FitKid7- 7 Simple Steps for a Fit & Healthy Child! provides excellent tips of getting your child fit and maintaining your child's fitness.


One of the best strategies to combat excess weight in your child is to improve the diet and exercise levels of your entire family. One of my fav books on preparing healthier meals for the whole family is The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids: Simple Strategies for Lasting Health and Fitness. Please consult with a physician before beginning any weight-loss program with your child. Children are not mini-adults and programs developed for them should reflect their areas of growth and maturity.

Exercising is a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle, and without it your children definitely will not be able to lose weight. There are certain tips, however, for teaching your children to learn to love exercising, even if you feel as though they HATE it.

First, try finding some exercises that your child likes to do.

Find the exercise your child likes to do and thier workout will seem more enjoyable right away. You can also find other activities your child like to do and make him/her work his/her body. For example, if you like working on your garden, try doing some exercising surrounding raking or mow your yard by hand. If you enjoy the winter weather, you can try ice skating or sledding with friends. No matter what your child likes to do, you can find ways to get him/her to do some exercise. Thanks to the introduction of the Nintendo Wii Console with Wii Fit Bundle and games like PS2 USB iON Metal Arcade 3 in 1 Dance Pad with handle bars, you can even combine video games and exercise.

Another great tip to getting your child to like exercise is to find a training partner fro your child and who better person than YOU. When you work out together, you can help one another stay motivated, even if you don't absolutely love exercising. With a partner, you can have fun as well, trying things like tennis or challenging one another to meet certain goals.

Lastly, try haveing your child takie some classes or try workout videos. Exercising/dance/drama classes are a great way to for children to socialize, learn new exercises, stay motivated, and above all, have fun. Most gyms offer low-cost or free exercise classes with membership or you can check out options at your local community center.

Try ordering a Beachbody workout video! Sitting on your behind, does not get you fit and fabulous - WORKING OUT AND EATING RIGHT DOES! And no workout DVD series does children's fitness better than Beachbody! Try Shaun T. 's Fit Kids Club ! Whatever you do. . .make sure your children at least TRY! Keep them motiviated if they hate exercising can be hard, but set goals and don't let them quit. They need to exercise as well as a healthy diet if you really want to them to lose weight. Make exercise fun and it won't seem like such a chore.