Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!
The My Overweight Child blog will help you keep informed about the latest research, findings, and resources available to parents of overweight or obese kids. There are many knowledgeable people working on the increasingly dire problem of childhood obesity - and we want to give parents a place where they can check in regularly to see the latest studies and tips available to help you help your child lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
We invite you to add your comments - if you have feedback for the blog, would like some specific topics covered, or you just want to share your experience as a parent dealing with childhood obesity.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
In an April 15 article by Jennifer Forker of the Associated Press, the clinical director of the
Wellspring weight loss program advised parents about simple yet effective ways to help their children get (and stay) active:
If you want your teens to exercise, you need to get out there with them and show how it's done.
"Parents have an incredible, powerful ability to model behavior," says Daniel Kirschenbaum, a professor at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago and clinical director of Wellspring, which provides treatment services for overweight youths and adults at several U.S. locations. ...
Kirschenbaum suggests buying an inexpensive pedometer for each member of the family.
Get one for everybody and have steps become a part of the language of the family, he says. He recommends that families work toward 10,000 steps a day, about 5 miles, which he says is double what most adults walk in a day.
"You start to look forward to ways to get steps. You park farther away" when shopping, for instance, says Kirschenbaum. "Studies show just getting a pedometer and wearing it regularly increases activity."
Labels: parenting, advice
Posted By: Aspen/CRC
