Keeping Your Kids in Shape

Twenty years ago children were forced outside. There were no video games or cable television. Wii was something you said when sledding down a hill. Kids could be seen riding their bikes and playing baseball in the park. Many things have changed in the past few decades. Parents are busy and automatic entertainment is almost a must. The problem is that with every new electronic gadget that appears on the stage, we up the stakes of the effects these novelties have on America's growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

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Statistics show that the number of overweight children ages 6-17 has doubled in the past three decades. One in five children in the United States are considered obese. Childhood obesity is firmly related to obesity in adults. The question is what can a parent do to help an overweight child? After all, this is your child; how do you let them know they need to lose weight? The schoolyard is surely not the place for a child to find out they are not the same as the other kids, and what are the best ways to prevent obesity in the first place?

First, it is important to remember that nutrition has to be the number one priority when dealing with a child and weight loss. Always keep in mind that children, preteens, and teenagers are growing significantly during this time in their lives. Emotionally, mentally and physically, children's bodies are changing everyday. Balance is very important. Just as obesity can effect your child, lack of nutrition can be just as damaging. For this reason, traditional packaged programs (Nutrisystem, Slimfast, etc.) and diet pills are not recommended for kids.

In fact, before even trying a "diet plan," there are many common sense ideas for losing weight that might work with just a healthy diet. Activity, any activity, burns calories. The experts say it is not increased energy on the part of children that is causing the obesity, but rather, a systematic slowdown in activity. Here are some creative ideas that can turn everyday activities into important calorie burners.

If you are going grocery shopping, or any shopping for that matter, don't drive around until the front parking space is free. Park at the far end of the parking lot and walk. If you are grocery shopping, allow your child to push the cart and if you are at the mall, make frequent trips back to the car to drop off packages.

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Television is here to stay. We might want to throw it out the window, but let's face it; it sure is handy for a working parent when trying to finish that last minute project. How to combat the couch potato? Make every commercial a dancing moment. If your child is going to sit and watch TV then every commercial must be spent involved in some sort of physical activity. Dancing, jogging in place, or jumping rope, (okay, keep jump roping to a minimum if you value your furniture,) just get up and move.

For your teenager who loves the telephone, there is no more sitting down to talk. If cell phone minutes are going to be used up, so are calories. We walk as we talk. Have your teen go from one end of the house to the other. If they get tired, they should be tired of talking too and it is time to help clean the house.

A healthy diet will be the cornerstone of stopping and preventing childhood obesity. The Internet is chalk full of healthy recipes for children. Some tips worth thinking about are taking the skin off the chicken, use low fat milk and cheese, include lots of fruits and vegetables and stay away from fast food.

You may not be able to change society. Yes, it is cool that Wii has an exercise program, but that is not the solution. Concern for today's children and their weight is a big investment with plenty of simple, everyday fixes.

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