Set the Pace, Help Your Child Beat the Obesity Epidemic

It is not hard these days to open the newspaper and find out about the growing number of children with obesity. Here are some of the latest statistics:

• 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
• Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight
• 78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations
• 25% completely Sedentary
• 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

All of these problems can be tied to how we start out feeding children. Let’s help wipe out this epidemic with good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

Parents eating habits and activities are the key to child’s future health. They are the teachers of nutrition and lifestyle, so if you want your child to develop a preference for nutritious foods and healthy activity, you may consider the following:

• Develop good eating habits yourself. Learn about nutrition, for more info, go to website, www.mypyramid.gov.
• Be open to try new recipes and new foods.
• Avoid talks about foods you do not like. Talk instead about nutritious foods you enjoy.
• Do not make an issue of refusal to eat. Some children choose this behavior because they get lots of attention.
• Never assume that a child will not like a particular food.
• If a child does not eat at mealtime, remain calm. When the next meal is served, give the child food as you usually would. Any snacks between meals should be nutritious.
• Encourage a child to help in planning and preparing meals and snacks.
• Follow a good meal plan.
• Bake, broil/grill, steam, stew (crock pot), poach without adding excessive amounts of fat and salt.
• Use nonfat dry milk, skim milk, yogurt fortified with vitamin D. Milk/ powder can be added to mash potatoes, hot cereal, meat loaf, etc.
• Discourage children from taking large amounts of high calorie, low nutrient foods like: candy, pop, potato chips, pop tarts, cup cakes, cookies, etc. The time for those foods is after eating a balanced diet if your youngster is still hungry.
• Do not force children to eat all the food on their plates (clean plate syndrome).
• Encourage your child to be active—walk, run, and play. Internet and video games tend to dominate children these days. But parents need to limit these activities once the child has been active for the day.

By Jerry Sabo