Great Parenting Tips
Great Parenting Tips
Eating too much and exercising too little can lead to overweight issues as well as other health problems that can follow children into their adult years. You can assume an major role in helping your child and your whole family adopt healthy eating and physical activity habits that can last for a lifetime.
Is my child overweight? Because children grow at different rates at different times, it is not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. If you think that your child is overweight, talk to your health care provider. He or she can measure your child's height and weight, and examine other factors to help determine if your child’s weight is within a healthy range.
How can I help my overweight child?
Involve the whole family in building healthy eating and physical activity habits. It benefits everyone and does not single out the child who is overweight. Whatever you do, do not put your child on a diet to lose weight unless your health care provider tells you to. If children do not eat enough, they may not grow and learn as well as they should. Also, be supportive and loving during this process. Tell your child that he or she is loved, is special, and is important. Children depend on their parent’s opinions to establish their own feelings of self worth.
Accept your child at any weight. Children will be more likely to accept and feel good about themselves when they are assured that their parents accept them. Talk to your child, and be sure to listen to them as they open up and share their concerns with you regarding their weight. Without a doubt, overweight children probably know better than anyone else that they have a weight problem. They need support, understanding, and encouragement from parents.
Encourage healthy eating habits
Buy and serve more fruits and vegetables at home. In fact, your child should help choose them at the store. Buy fewer soft drinks and high fat/high calorie snack foods like chips, cookies, and candy. These are ok as a treat, but keep healthy snack foods on hand too and offer them to your child most often. Try to encourage your child to eat breakfast every day. Skipping breakfast can leave your child hungry, tired, and looking for less healthy foods later in the day.
Plan healthy meals and eat together as a family
Eating together at meal times helps children learn to enjoy a variety of foods. Try to limit visits to fast food restaurants, and if you go try to stick to the more healthful options offered. Offer your child water or low-fat milk more often than fruit juice. Fruit juice is a healthy choice but is high in calories and sugar. Do not get discouraged if your child will not eat a new food the first time it is served. Some kids will need to have a new food served to them 10 times or more before they will eat it.
Try not to use food as a reward when encouraging kids to eat. For example, promising dessert to a child for eating vegetables sends the message that vegetables are less valuable than dessert. Kids learn to dislike foods they think are less valuable. Start with small servings and let your child ask for more if he or she is still hungry. It is up to you to provide your child with healthy meals and snacks, but your child should be allowed to choose how much food he or she will eat.
Healthy snack foods for your child to try:
• Fresh fruit • Fruit canned in juice or light syrup • Small amounts of dried fruits such as raisins, apple rings, or apricots • Fresh vegetables such as baby carrots, cucumber, zucchini, or tomatoes • Reduced fat cheese or a small amount of peanut butter on whole-wheat crackers • Low-fat yogurt with fruit Graham crackers, animal crackers, or low-fat vanilla wafers
Foods that are small, round, sticky, or hard to chew, such as raisins, whole grapes, hard vegetables, hard chunks of cheese, nuts, seeds, and popcorn can cause choking in children under age 4. You can still prepare some of these foods for young children, for example, by cutting grapes into small pieces and cooking and cutting up vegetables.