Tips in Preventing Obesity in Children

Childhood obesity has dramatically increased over the years. This is true not only in the United States but all around the world. The ratio of obese children to children of normal weight between the ages of 2 to 19 years old is 1:3. According to research, obesity is the major cause of increasing number of deaths per year in the United States. The way these children eat and what they eat contribute to their being obese. Because of obesity, these children and their generation will or may have an expected shorter life span. However, childhood obesity can be prevented. Aside from watching what they eat and limiting the amount of carbohydrates and sweets that go in their bodies, the best way to prevent obesity is having an active lifestyle.

Have you noticed how the earlier generation reached an old age? This is because they had a much active lifestyle than what we have now. If you think about it, everything is already laid out for us. Everything is within our reach. Let us start with the food. There are a lot of fast food chains in the whole world. If we are too tired or too lazy, all we have to do is drop by a fast food chain and we have our food in an instant. We do not have to spend time cooking and preparing our food. This fits our hectic lifestyle. But what we are unaware of is that we are teaching our children to be lazy. True, it is not a crime to eat fast food. But if done every day, then that is something you should worry about.

Why not involve your child in preparing your family dinner? This way you get to teach your child the proper foods to eat as well as introduce your child to different kinds of vegetables. Make fun foods or choose child friendly but healthy recipes, because if this is instilled in a child, he will be able to choose the healthier choice.

Allow the child to go out and play with friends. You may argue that the world is not a safe place to live in nowadays but you can always supervise your child. Instead of letting him play the computer or watch television the whole day, let him go out and explore his surroundings. This is also a good way for the child to socialize and gain new friends. It is not only obesity we are battling here when we let our child stay indoors the whole time. We are also teaching our children how to socialize and how to interact with different kinds of people. This will develop their interpersonal skills which will be useful when they grow up.

Obesity will be a problem if not nipped in the bud. When dealing with obesity, one should have patience and perseverance. It is hard to change a person's eating habits as well as lifestyles. Therefore, it is better to start when one is still young and everything can still be molded.

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