5 Recommendations For Preventing Children’s Obesity – Part 2

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By Cindy Brown

Continued from part 1 of this article…..

healthychoice2. Eating Behaviours: Unhealthy eating habits and behaviours are the leading cause of obesity among children and adults. Treats are fine in moderation, but high amount of fat, sugar or salty snacks lead your children develop unhealthy eating habits. It is important to adopt healthy eating behaviours to prolong our life and to improve our physical appearance.

3. Encourage Family Interactions: Make mealtimes a family affair with a lot of happy talk and exchange of ideas. This will help your kids to eat more slowly. Gobbling food will not help a child to know the difference between full and overfull stomach. You can encourage your child to develop healthy eating behaviours and be physically active if you:

* Do not set overweight children apart. You should focus on the whole family and work gradually to change the family’s physical activity and eating habits.

* Create daily meal times and eating together more often. Prepare a variety of healthy foods and let your child decides whether and how much to eat.

twokidsun4. Physical activity and sedentary behaviours: Many studies have been conducted by doctors and researches that indicate a variety of negative impacts on person’s life due to sedentary lifestyle. 89% of the children aged between four and five years spend more time watching TV, videos or DVDs every day. They are likely to have an unhealthy diet, less likely to eat fruits and vegetables and less likely to participate in any physical activity. An active participation in physical activity increases life expectancy and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, it provides psychological and social benefits. You should encourage your kids to participate in physical activities like running, cycling or swimming rather than engaging them in entertaining activities that results in overweight condition.

5. Use the Opportunities: Take your children with you when you go shopping or prepare meals as much as possible. Take your time to learn about their preferences and teach them about the nutrition and benefits of healthy eating.

In conclusion, Childhood obesity is a problem that a society cannot afford to ignore. One thing is for sure, if things stay as they are now, the future of our youth’s health looks extremely weak. Parents and schools are the only two most powerful forces that can directly shape their children’s lives and help to combat obesity. They should develop our youth into healthy citizens and ensure that their kids are well prepared for the future.

– Cindy Brown is the owner of Educare, a social voluntary organization, which offers youth development programs, Leaderships workshops and life-skills education. She is also a professional writer with science background and specializes in writing informative articles in various niches.