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How to Achieve Healthy Weight Loss in Children

Obesity and overweight in children is making headlines and many stories make frightening reading. Definitely, weight loss for children is a very sensitive subject, but one that is very  important, as many of overweight kids will grow up into obese and overweight adults, with higher risk to life threatening and limiting diseases leading to reduction in their life expectancy.      

Today kids live a sedentary lifestyle. Aside from sensible food choices, another step that can help them with weight loss is to get them away from TV, computers and video games. So, what can be done to encourage our kids to be active in life so that they can achieve weight loss?

First, it is necessary for the parents to handle the subject of weight loss in their kids with all care. After all, kids are still growing and need a nutritious diet with fine balance of nutrients to ensure that they grow as healthy kids. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss any weight loss diet with dietician or physician. There is no use of avoiding one set of illnesses, if we follow conditions that encourage another set of illnesses, in this case, the ones based on the nutritional deficiency.

While it is not possible for parents to control everything that their child eats, but they can at least help them in developing healthy eating habits, by telling them the significance of nutrition, and providing them nutritious and tasty food at home. These may include treats, so the kids don’t feel that they are not getting the foods that are being enjoyed by their parents.  

Your dietician or doctor can inform you of the calories required by a growing child and would also recommend the exercises that are appropriate for your kids to lose weight. Parents should opt for exercises that the entire family can do together, making it a sort of fun activity for the sake of weight loss for children. Exercises should become a part of daily routine in a house. They should be done in such a way that child enjoys it and does not see it as a task. You can make your kids move, by going for a daily family walk, perhaps with your family dog.  
 
You can help your kids in achieving weight loss in less painful way by helping them in making sensible food choices. Today many kids love eating fast food at least few times a week as they feel it is a part of their lifestyle. Unfortunately, these foods are loaded with calories and fat. In addition, when kids get addicted to eating these highly salty and flavored foods, they are most likely to reject bland vegetables or grilled chicken.Weight loss for children is possible if you can taper their fast food one a week and then gradually work towards limiting such treats to one a month.    

You should avoid being over-strict with either exercise or diet routines as this can have detrimental effect on your kids. So, be careful and introduce new ideas in a gradual way and involve your kids in planning and decision making to get the desired results in a much easier and faster way.  

It can seem very difficult to find a diet that your children enjoy eating, that is also very healthy for them. When there is so much pressure to encourage your children to eat healthily, how do you get a reasonable balance between making sure they have a good diet and not getting them so obsessed with food that they will be worried about their weight? 

Here are some hints and tips that will hopefully help you with working out a healthy diet for kids.

1) Don’t use food as a treat.  If children consider food to be a reward for good behavior, this can turn out to be a habit for their lifetime.  You need to make sure that they see food as fuel and not a treat.  Try not to let them feel that they only get pudding as a reward for eating their dinner or other similar things, as this can turn out against you when they only want to eat sweet treats, or binge on food as rewards for doing good things.

2) Try to keep sugar in the diet at a minimum. Sugar not only rots teeth but can also cause children to put on weight if they have too much. It can be difficult, but it is often better to give children more of their main course than to give them cakes or dessert after their food. If they are still hungry then let them have a piece of fruit as this will give them a sweet treat without the fat that usually accompanies desserts.

3) Keep snacks at a minimum. Some children need snacks between meals to give them a burst of energy but you should really only give these if they are needed and not as a habit.  Good snacks include nuts, seeds and unsweetened yoghurt.  If you are out and about they could snack on fruit bars or fresh fruit.

4) Don’t give in to advertising.  A lot of children will want to eat foods that they see on TV or that their friends have.  It can be very difficult to not give in to their demands for the latest items.  However, try to think of their long term health and how it can affect their behavior if you give in to what they want all the time.  Just occasionally buy them the things they want, but make sure that they aren’t eating unhealthy foods all the time.

5) Show a good example. If you are expecting your children to eat all their vegetables you will need to make sure that you eat them too. Children copy the behavior of the people around them and so they will need to see you eating well too.

6) Eat a good variety of foods. Unhealthy food is fine every once in a while as long as there are good healthy foods eaten in between. So make sure that the diet has plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and salads mixed with proteins such as beans and lentils and complex carbohydrates like wholemeal pasta and wholegrain bread.