Childhood Obesity Prevention - How to Prevent Obesity in Your Child

With the ever growing obesity rate, parents are getting more and more worried about their children & preventing their child or children from becoming obese. In this article, I would like to share 3 ways that you can prevent childhood obesity in your kids.

Some people would like to blame the obesity rate on fast food restaurants or the processed foods in the grocery stores, or the video game companies for making children overweight. They think it's their fault because they put temptation in front of kids and put all those ads making kids want to do things that make them overweight. But these companies are not to blame. Sure, they contribute to the problem, but they are not the main issue. The real reason children become obese is because of their parents. Their parents let them play video games or watch TV all day. Their parents buy all the processed, unhealthy food that the children eat. Their parents take them to fast food restaurants to eat. Worst of all, often the parents set a bad example for their children.

There are 3 things that you, as a parent, need to do in order to prevent your children from becoming overweight or obese.

1. Limit their time on the TV or video games. This plays a big role in obesity rate. Children sit around on their butt all day, not using up the energy that they get from the food they eat and packing on pounds of fat & their parents let them. As a parent you need to limit the amount of time you let them spend doing these activities that keep them from burning off the calories they get from the food they eat. For most people cutting the time they spend in half is a good start.

2. Keep them away from unhealthy food choices. This one is a bit trickier, and it's more difficult for the parents to control. Schools have vending machines, the school lunch room provides them with cookies or other unhealthy food & of course, there's fast food. On top of that, there is often poor food choices in the house that they can get a hold of when they want to snack. If the school lunch room is giving unhealthy choices, then you should send a lunch to school with your child. It's also cheaper that way, so it's a win-win situation. Then there's the fast food. Keep your children away from fast food. There are a lot of meals you can make in a short period of time, you just need to plan ahead. Isn't your child worth it?

Lastly, there's the food that's available in the house. Many people have cupboards with potato chips, cookies & other food that just make it easier for them to gain weight. Get rid of the poor choices and provide your children with better alternatives (like fresh fruit).

3. You need to create a supportive environment. If your child sees you making poor choices, they are going to make poor choices as well. Even if you tell them not to, they will rebel and try to make poor choices as well because their parents are doing it. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality does not help.

Get rid of all the garbage food in your household. Eat good food yourself, and exercise daily. You can do fun activities with your kids that will get everyone exercise and create an environment that supports healthy choices.