An Apple A Day Keeps Childhood Obesity At Bay
The numbers themselves are alarming. A full 10 percent of four to five year old children are overweight and the problem of obese kids has doubled in the last twenty years. When they reach the six to 11 age bracket, one in five children carries unhealthy extra weight. The issue is more prevalent with girls than boys and usually starts in older preschoolers.
What’s worse is there are a few issues clouding any attempts at childhood obesity prevention. Cutting down on the cookies and cakes is only a partial solution since weight loss isn’t a good tool to use on young bodies that need nourishment to grow and develop. The idea is to feed them good food that supplies the energy and nutrients they need and reject the kind of restrictive weight loss diets favored by adults who cut their calorie intake too severely.
Current Weight
The best plan to attack obesity in the 8.4% of 2- to 5-year-olds that suffer from this malady is to try and maintain their current weight while letting the child grow normally. Daily physical activity, healthy snacks and nutritional information need to be the cornerstones parents learn 
and use. If you need some motivation to stick with the a solution, remember that obese kids that don’t correct their behaviors often grow into adolescents and even adults with a variety of serious health problems including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and even type 2 diabetes.
Childhood obesity prevention isn’t difficult and balancing healthy eating and a routine of physical activity only requires a little research and determination. Here’s a few good tips to get your children started on a lifetime of positive health practices.
• Limit the fat and sugar they eat. Sugary drinks are one of the biggest culprits. You can start by adding lots of water to their new healthy diet as you phase out those waist expanding sodas; even some dairy products carry unnecessary carbs and fat. Opting for non-fat or low-fat products is a great step in the right direction.
• Phase in calorie wise foods. Low sugar treats with less than 100 calories should replace ice cream cones, packaged candy and other salty, high fat snacks. In this case, an apple a day really will keep the doctor away and don’t forget a medium sized banana or 1 cup of Blueberries.
Of course you need to encourage your children to burn those calories off, even when they’re eating right. Staying active does a lot more than wonders for the waistline. Jumping rope, playing tag, swimming or a host of other activities has many health benefits over and above weight management including strengthening bones, decreasing blood pressure and even increasing self-esteem.
Finally, remember that while quiet time for reading and homework is good, parents need to be sure their children aren’t getting too much backside time in front of the television or their wireless devices. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has some excellent guidelines including a total ban on any screen time for children 2 or younger and a limit of two hours a day surfing the web, playing video games or watching television for all other children.
Read more info like this at All My Children.
Author: Rob Starr