Tried and Tested Tips to Help Your Kids Eat Healthy
Getting our children to eat healthy can certainly be a challenge. But, with childhood obesity at an all-time high, it's worth doing whatever we can now, before it's too late.
At the launch of a new campaign to reduce childhood obesity in America, Michelle Obama explained her own girls had been a little overweight before some healthy dietary changes.
In fact, it was the family pediatrician who noted concerns "something was getting off balance". This was news which came as a shock:
In my eyes I thought my children were perfect. I didn't see the changes.
I'm sure many mothers and fathers could echo similar sentiments. It can be difficult for a parent to recognize their a child has put on extra weight.
Mrs. Obama explained how she made small changes to the girls' eating:
- Switched to low-fat milk
- Cut back on burgers
- Smaller portions
- Sugary drinks in lunchboxes swapped for water
- Extra fruit - grapes at breakfast, apple slices for school
- Colourful veggies with dinner
The girls were also banned from watching television on weeknights.
These simple changes could definitely be adopted into any family, and for the Obama girls, were enough to produce impressive results:
It was very minor stuff but these small changes resulted in some really significant improvements, and I didn't know it would. It was so significant that the next time we visited our paediatrician he was amazed. He looked over the girls' charts and he said: 'What on earth are you doing'?
Children's weight is a sensitive issue, with around 15% of children aged 6-11 and 18% of adolescents aged 12-19 overweight. However, adolescents in particular are at risk of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, which can be triggered by excessive anxiety about weight and size. It can be very tricky for parents to get the balance right between urging healthy eating and encouraging a good body image.
If you're worried about your child's weight, consult your family doctor. Children grow at different rates, and "puppy fat" may drop off without any intervention. Getting the whole family into an active, healthy lifestyle can help your kids without putting them under any pressure.
Sources:
Obesity and Overweight - from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Reform begins at home: Michelle Obama puts daughters on a diet as she launches anti-obesity campaign
Michelle Obama unveils campaign against childhood obesity with help of daughters
4 Comments
Add Your Comment
Created / Updated: February 8, 2010
Do an image search in Google, the Obama children have never had an issue with weight. Sounds like an attempt to connect with the population, except it doesn't ring true when the photographs of their children are available to look at and show normal weight children over the last ten years of photo taking of the family.
ReplyGood tips, but I'm thinking that a lot of the obese children out there won't benefit much from swapping low fat milk for whole milk. The Obama girls were never obese; just merely a bit chubby. It's different when your kid is obese...you have to be a lot more hardcore. Like cutting out fast food entirely; not just "cutting back on burgers".
ReplyI disagree. In the case of an obese child, it's important to a) lose the weight slowly but steadily and b) make sure that the changes are for life, not just for the next few months, otherwise it will all come back eventually. Making small changes one at a time, like switching to low-fat milk first then cutting fast food down to an occasional treat, are the way to see those life-long results.
ReplyI dont agree, overweight,chubby,obese it does not matter. Cutting out some foods and use low fat milk & cheese,drinking water and no sugery drinks plus smaller portions it all helps and weight will drop off slowly but surely.
Reply