Should A Kid Start Dieting?

The accepted connotation of the term “diet” today, is a collection of food that is meant to help a person lose weight. This diet is closely linked to the amount of calories that a person deposits in his body. The basic idea is this: if a person eats less calories than his body uses, he will become thinner; and if the body eats more calories than what his body manages to use, he will become fat.

Growing fat is so un-cool that many adults and kids would want to diet. They worry about the measurements of certain body parts but they forget about what genetics have given them. You see, not everyone has a perfect body. In fact, many artists (who study the human figure) tend to believe that the majority of the people in this world have imperfect bodies. Some are born with large frames or big bones and some are born with smaller frames. This is why a friend who is not really fat may look bigger than others simply because of his bone structure.

Adults may go on diet, but kids should avoid weight loss diets. The sole reason is that kids are still growing and developing. Certain stages of your growth will make you grow “fat” and this is normal. What kids need are a variety of foods that will supply all the needed vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates. Skipping meals and eating a lettuce-only meals would mean that you are supplying less nutrients to your body and you may get sick or your growth would be stunted. You may even develop serious conditions such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Anorexic people cannot tolerate any food. Each time they put food in their stomach, the body reacts and vomits the food. Anorexic people are dangerously thin because they are already starving. Bulimic people, on the other hand, deliberately throw up the food they have eaten.

If you’re a kid and think that you are fat, just become more active. Join physical sports. Jog or run, instead of walking towards home or to school. What you are trying to do is to burn more calories. Okay, some kids may appear too fat that it is no longer healthy. But drastic dieting won’t help. What parents need to do is to consult a doctor. The doctor can give the proper advise on how the gain weight at a slower pace, without risking the kid’s health.

Kids should forget about weight loss diets. They should focus on becoming healthier and stronger.

Grace Palce is writing health, diet and exercise articles for the 1200 calories diet site and family oriented articles for the Halds family blog.

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