TIPS TO AVOID CHILDHOOD OBESITY.

Childhood obesity has been on the rise over the past years. Have you ever worried the trend may affect your kids? Here are some useful tips to prevent your kids from becoming obese.

Provide Healthy and Nutritious Meals.

Make sure you provide your kids with healthy, balanced, low fat meals. Teach them about the importance of eating balanced meals. Including legumes, whole grains, dairy, lean meats, fruits and vegetables are the essential diets you kids need.

Get Them Moving

Let your kids engage in at least an hour of physical activity everyday. Activities such as running, dancing and regular kids play time is very important. Not only does these activities protect them from getting obese but helps to strengthen their muscles and bones.

Remove Temptation

If you happen to stock your kitchen with junk food, your kids will be more likely to eat them. Kids look up to parents in everything thing they do. Be a healthy role model to your children. Remove all unhealthy foods such as foods rich in calories, sugary and salty snacks from the house. Try to cut the amount of Soda drinks you buy for them. Calories in sugary drinks increases the risk of obesity in children . Replace all unhealthy drinks with juices with less calories.

Watch Food Portions.

Overeating causes obesity. Know the quantity of food you give your children. Make sure they eat to satisfaction but not over.

Avoid Using Food to Console them.

Most parents usually console their kids by giving them snacks and sometimes food. This is a very bad practice. By doing this, you are teaching your child to use food as a means of console themselves when they are emotional. Majority of people get obese because they use food as a means of consoling themselves.

Creativity

Most kids get bored easily and won’t be intrigued to engage in exercise. Try to use different approaches to keep them active. Activities such as dancing, jumping rope , playing soccer or playing ampe are creative ways of keeping them active.

Turn off Tv while eating

Children may overeat if they watch television while snacking. The more television children watch while eating, the more weight they are likely to gain.

Teach Healthy Habits

Children won’t understand that eating too many calories from candy, other sweats and fatty foods can lead to obesity unless you explain to them. Teach them to know what not to eat so that when you’re not with them they can make the right choices. It is not a bad thing to let them have occasional goodies, but do not make it a habit.

My next post will be about healthy foods that will prevent your child from gaining weight. Stay tuned!