Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

With childhood obesity reaching epidemic status, many parents worry about how best to teach their kids healthy eating habits. Nutritionist and counselor Elly Stattler thinks that parents who are providing healthy options for their children don't need to worry quite so much:

"She encourages parents to trust their children. Stattler suggests parents decide when the child eats and provide healthy choices. The child decides if he/she wants to eat and how much to eat."

Letting the child make decisions early helps them develop good habits as they grow older. Parents still provide the overall guidance, but the children learn how to choose wisely. Source: Grosse Pointe (MI) News

Labels: healthy_eating, eating-habits, role_models

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Still another study, this time from Greece, finds that overweight parents have overweight children.

Researchers from Harokopio University in Athens collected weight and height statistics on over 2,300 preschoolers and their parents. If a child had one obese parent, that doubled his risk of being overweight compared to children of normal-weight parents. Children with two obese parents had a more than doubled risk.

This study, published in the journal BioMedicine Central Public Health, also found that 32% of Greek children were overweight. Researchers expected that percentage to be about 20%.

Labels: genetics, parents, role_models

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The Scots, Irish, Welsh, and Brits are turning to a team of superheroes to fight childhood obesity.

The four "Food Dudes," celebrated in DVDs and school materials, gain their super powers by eating fruits and vegetables. These nutritious foods enable them to save the Life Force and fight the evil Junk Punks. The Punks want to deprive the world of energy by stealing all its fruits and vegetables.

"Something serious had to be done," said Professor Fergus Lowe, one of the creators of Food Dudes. "Diets in Great Britain are terrible, and childhood obesity is absolutely skyrocketing."

Dr. Lowe said his research indicates that children need to taste a new food 10 to 15 times before they learn to like it. The Food Dude program rewards children who eat fruits and vegetables with stickers and other prizes. Parents receive a home-pack with logs to monitor their child's eating as well as informational materials.

Dr. Lowe said the Food Dude program is a way to counteract all the junk food advertising aimed at children. Over 3,300 Irish schools are using Food Dudes, and it is being introduced in Wales and Scotland.

Labels: healthy_eating, role_models, influences

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What do you do when your child seems to be hooked on unhealthy foods and is at risk of becoming obese? Adjusting a child's eating habits is far easier when he is young.

"Make sure you have a bowl of bananas, apples, plums and whatever other fruits you can find sitting on the table or counter in your kitchen. Do the same with vegetables. Cut them in sticks and make a great low-fat dip for them to dunk their vegetables into."

Cut back on things like soda and high-fat/high-calorie snacks such as potato chips and pizza. Remember that you're helping your child set eating habits that will last a lifetime. Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Labels: parents, role_models, habits

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Michael Phelps has done it; he's won more gold medals in swimming than any other Olympic athlete in history. Beginning mid-September, his face will appear on cereal boxes of ... Frosted Flakes. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from health experts.

"The announcement yesterday that Phelps... would grace Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes boxes instead of the traditional athlete's choice of Wheaties left many perplexed. Frosted Flakes has three times the amount of sugar as Wheaties and 1/3 the fiber."

Those things don't matter much to someone like Phelps who consumes 12,000 calories a day, but to parents and pediatricians concerned about childhood obesity, it sends the wrong message. Source: New York Daily News

Labels: role_models, influences, breakfast

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The best role models kids can have for physical activity and healthy eating are their parents. Studies have shown that overweight parents are far more likely to have overweight children. With spring right around corner, there are lots of things the family can do to increase physical activity.

"Limit the amount of time you watch television. By doing this, you will find it easier to limit the amount of time your child watches TV and movies, or plays video and computer games. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a maximum of two hours of viewing time for children each day."

Pick some favorite family outdoor activities like playing Frisbee, hiking, or gardening. Modeling a healthy lifestyle while kids are young will go a long way toward ensuring they become healthy adults. Read more at SeattlePI.com.

Wellspring offers a family camp geared to getting families on the road to a healthy lifestyle. Learn more at WellspringFamilyCamp.com.

Labels: fitness, families, role_models

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Debra Zarella isn't a certified physical trainer, but she has plenty of clients. When they're not working out, they're probably watching cartoons, playing video games, or practicing their spelling. Zarella designed her Healthy Kidz fitness club for just that - kids.

"Every piece of equipment in the gym is pint-sized to meet the needs of its pint-sized clients. Gym owner Debra Zarella got the idea after her own gym fell short for her seven-year-old daughter."

A typical workout consists of a warm-up on the treadmill and three rounds of strength-building on hydraulic resistance machines. A dietitian and nutritionist are onsite as well, and each training session costs just $15. Read more at ABC-7.com.

Labels: exercise, parents, role_models

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Barbara Jones Slater became, at 15 years old, the youngest woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal. It's a record she still holds. Now, at 71, she's encouraging young people to be active. She recently spoke at a conference aimed at fighting childhood obesity.

"The conference - 'Healthy Cultures, Healthy Kansas: Moving Forward' - was sponsored by the Center for Health Disparities at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. It kicked off April as National Minority Health Month, said Sharon Goolsby, program director for the Center..."

About 150 people attended this third annual conference, which included breakout sessions and a wellness center that offered health screenings and chair massages. Read more at CJOnline.com.

Labels: exercise, activity, role_models

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Despite all the advice out there about getting kids healthy using "interactive" video games, or "tricks" to get them to eat healthy foods, one of the best things parents can do is simply model an active lifestyle and healthy eating.

"At home, parents are a child's best role models. If you stay active and eat a balanced diet, your children are more likely to follow your lead. Here are some tips on how to influence your child's lifestyle: Keep healthier foods in the house, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy foods, so they begin to consider it 'the norm'."

Also, encourage moderation, and limit television and computer time. Read more at WisInfo.com.

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Labels: parents, role_models, influences

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Today, "kid cuisine" consists mostly of fried chicken, French fries, and sweet drinks like soda. One result of this unbalanced diet is that we now find ourselves in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic. Another result is that kids no longer have an appetite for food that's actually good.

"Once they get used to these flavors, the taste threshold is set so high that fresh fruits aren't sweet enough and vegetables taste too bitter... "

Instead, parents should be helping kids discover and appreciate the taste of healthy foods that have been properly prepared. Parents need to worry less about buying foods their kids like and more about teaching kids to like the foods they buy.

Looking for more free parenting tips? Visit ByParents-forParents for free advice and tips for parents.

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