Tips for Parents on How to Prevent Child Obesity

Child obesity is a prime reason for significant health issues that can affect the overall well-being of children. If your child munches a lot on extra sugary, salty or fatty snacks and does not engage in physical activities of any sort, then he/she is likely to have obesity health risks. 

What are the main reasons for child obesity?

Child obesity is a concerning issue for parents. There are many factors responsible for child obesity, the main ones include:

• A nutrition-less diet 
• Less fibre intake 
• Lack of physical activities 
• Use of packaged food 
• Not maintaining a proper mealtime 
• Dehydration
• Over-eating
• Inadequate sleep
• Genetics - Children tend to inherit weight issues from their family members, making it complicated, although treatable. 

Risks Involved with Child Obesity

Before jumping into the tips for parents on how to prevent child obesity, it is vital to understand what obesity can do to your child. Childhood is a precious time that creates the foundation of a child’s growth for a healthy life. If this foundation is not set properly, a child may have to face obesity health risks in the future. Obesity opens gates for many other risk factors associated with it.

There are several obesity health risks that need to be addressed. These are:

1. Obesity in children contributes to a higher risk of early cardiovascular diseases.
2. Children with an obesity problem are more susceptible to issues such as asthma and sleep apnea.
3. Obesity also stunts children’s growth and makes them nutrition deficient alongside affecting their bones.
4. Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition, affecting children with obesity.
5. Child obesity also diminishes the self-esteem leading to poor confidence in a kid.

Considering the child obesity health risks, parents resort to various solutions to childhood obesity to eliminate its onset entirely. It is usually seen that the tips for parents on how to prevent child obesity are sometimes forced on children without understanding their state-of-mind. Often the pressure to delve into a healthy lifestyle refrains them from adopting it. 

On the contrary, kids should learn the importance of health playfully with their parent’s engagement. 

While a rigorous weight-reduction diet should not be forced on children, they should be encouraged to understand the cons of an unhealthy lifestyle. There is an array of ways that can be implemented in encouraging children to combat obesity. 

Let’s walk through some tips for parents on how to prevent Child Obesity:

1. Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life:

A healthy lifestyle starts with a healthy diet. The major contributor to obesity in children is not eating the right kind of food. Try to motivate your children to replace packaged food or drinks with home-cooked ones. Start their day with a healthy breakfast rich in fibre and protein.

Include a diet rich in a variety of nutrients required for the overall development of the child. Engage them in the importance of healthy meals with different recipes. For example, you can replace refined-flour with wheat or multigrain ones. Parents can always do a video consult or otherwise with dieticians for a diet plan for their children.

2. Hydrate to Restrict Calorie:

The factors revolving obesity care often skip a vital point of keeping your child hydrated. Water is said to flush out toxins from the body and aids weight-loss. Mainly, when consumed an hour before a meal, water will make your child feel full, therefore reducing the urge to snack frequently or over-eat. 

3. Moderation is the Key:

Anything, when taken overboard, is fatal to health. Make sure your child is taught to consider this facet while eating food. Overeating, especially high fat and sugary food accumulates all the unhealthy toxins in the body leading to weight gain.

The daily calorie intake for a child should be monitored, and unhealthy food must be restricted. If you are still unsure of your child’s diet, then you can always consult a doctor online or offline for better clarity.

4. Fun and Frolic for Obese-free Life:

Physical exercises play a crucial role in keeping kids’ weight in check. It is one of the prominent solutions to childhood obesity. If your child does not get excited for exercises, you can always engage them in sports. They are a very good way to burn calories and boost metabolism, thus managing weight. Exercise and sports also aid in reducing blood pressure and strengthening bones.  

5.Set the Snack Pulse:

Snack temptation is difficult to curb, and so are its harmful effects. Snacks are sugary, fatty and salty food items that are high on calorie and nil on nutritional value. Instead of allowing them to give in to their urge for snacks, parents can create a snack time once a week. If your kids feel hungry, you can offer them fruits or a home-made healthy and tasty veggie rather than a snack-bag. It will ensure they are not munching on unhealthy food all the time.

6. Cut on the Smartphone Time:

Smartphones or video games are your child’s worst friends. Even though kids learn online from many applications on their smartphones and need it for studying, the time they consume on it should be limited. Moreover, playing games on mobile phones is highly addictive for children. This inactive physical state increases child obesity, and parents must watch it.

7. Sound Sleep for Sound Health:

With all the academic pressure, children tend to stay glued to their books which decreases their sleep time and alters their daily schedule. Sleep deficiency makes a child eat more which in turn reduces their physical activities.

Inadequate sleep also leads to growth hormone deficiency in them which is a factor that leads to weight gain in children. Sound sleep is an essential part of a child’s growth and should be, in no case, taken for granted. Parents should make sure their kid takes eight hours of sleep every day.

Child obesity might seem to be unharming in the starting, but its health impact is huge. It can make your child vulnerable to several life-threatening conditions. 

Better late than never is what you must do when it comes to teaching your kids the importance of a healthy life, and how in its absence, obesity strikes with multi-fold issues. While it is difficult to make your child understand the damaging effects of an unhealthy lifestyle, these tips to parents on how to prevent child obesity can give you a great start.