How to Make Your Child Aware About Obesity
You have probably read about obesity problems in newspaper and also seen on news channels that how the obese rate has increased over past two decades. Most of the children from United States are seen in most obese group and the least are from France. You may be wondering why suddenly I am raising this topic. And as a parent or guardian you may also ask this to yourself, “Are we going in right direction”? “What step can we take to help prevent obesity in our children”?
By reading this article ahead you will get the answers.
Question #1: How do I know that my child is overweight? – Well the simple answer to this question is look at the growth chart, which your pediatrician should be doing regularly. You can compare the BMI (Body Mass Index) of your child whether it matches with his age and height. You will get to know the things easily.
Question #2: What are the health effects of being overweight? – Research shows that those children who are overweight, their risk of developing following problems increases –
- Sleeping and breathing problem
- Asthma
- Heart Disease
- Liver problem
- High Blood pressure
- Type 2 diabetes
Question #3: How can I encourage my child to exercise daily? – It is a little difficult for you to tell your child to spend 20-25 minutes daily on a treadmill because this way he/she will not love doing it. For younger children you need to plan a different activity, let’s say take them regularly to a park with their bicycle. Design some interesting fun activity for them so that they can use stairs 2-3 times in one go without a pause, i.e. ask them to go and switch on the bulb on the ground floor (be sure that the switch is easily accessible), ask them to bring bread from kitchen so they will be able to burn some calories by walking as much as possible.
Question #4: How can I encourage my child to stop eating junk food? – You need to change some of your own eating routines also. As a mother, only you have control over what foods are in kitchen. Bring vegetables/fruits which are good for health. Serve them food in different colours and shapes to make the food look interesting to them. After having meal let them know which vegetable/fruit you have served them and also ask them whether they liked it or not.
Question #5: Does childhood obesity always lead to Type II Diabetes? – No, but being overweight develops the risk of Diabetes.
Question #6: Will my child grow out being overweight? – It is again not mandatory because calories control and physical activity rarely make a child grow out of being overweight. But calories control is must for a child to achieve a healthy weight.
Although there may be several questions in your mind, but the simple answer to these questions is, look after what your child eat at what time. Write to us if you have any queries regarding obesity.
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