Healthy Weight Loss For Kids

With so many people concerned about the rising obesity rate in children these days, parents are trying to find ways on how to make their kids slim down using natural means. Ideas like diet supplements and surgical procedures have all been advanced, of course - but kids below 18 years of age may not be ready to cope with these. In fact, even adults are finding these "solutions" a bit on the extreme side. Fortunately enough, there are natural, safe and effective measures on how to encourage your kids to shed off those unwanted poundage. What you should know is that healthy weight loss for kids does not have to be a difficult process. You can make this as enjoyable to you as much as your kids. Here are some tips how.

A change of lifestyle would do everyone some good. Try to write down exactly what you and your kids do during the day. What do you serve for breakfast? What do your kids eat for lunch or dinner? How many hours do you park yourselves in front of the TV or computer? Incredibly, more and more families are falling into a sedentary lifestyle - one where convenient but extremely fattening foods are served (sugar coated breakfast cereals, microwavable snacks, and ready-to-eat prepackaged meals) and that the only form of exercise is fighting over the remote control of the TV or walking to the ref for more food. Seeing in print your family's bad habits will help you see what needs to be done.

Instead of nagging your kids into eating healthier food choices or getting them out of the house for more exercise, you might want to start by cleaning up the bad habits at home. Try to skip that part about serving prepackaged meals and breakfast items. Switch to freshly cooked low fat, sugar free meals instead. Admittedly, this might be a bit more time-consuming especially during the first few days; but once you get the hang of things, this simple tip can eliminate about 90% of the fatty foods from your home. Stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks and keep out all things fattening from your cupboard and ref.

Set an example for your kids too. If your kids very often find you cheating on your healthy diet by storing candies in the cupboard, then you are giving them the impression that it would be quite all right to go off their diets too. And no amount of preaching can make them change their minds afterwards. Stick to your diet, and then create a diet plan that your kids can enjoy as well. Think in terms of what they like, and not what is "healthy." After all, if a kid refuses to eat the healthy stuff, they are bound to turn to extremely fattening foods for nutrition. And to help keep temptation at bay, you may want to quit buying candies and other cheat foods when you do your groceries.

Take your kids out for a romp in the beach or the park about once a week. Walk them to school or buy them a bicycle. You might also want to give in to their request of having a dog. This way, they can walk the dog without knowing that they are actually exercising.

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