Tips to Help with Childhood Obesity

Obesity is a long-term disease in which having too much body fat increases your risk for developing other health problems. Many health professionals believe that lifelong problems with being obese can be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight during the childhood and teen years. Once a child becomes obese, the risk increases for being obese later in childhood and as an adult.

Preferred Care is committed to helping you and your family lead a healthier life. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Office offers these simple tips to help kids get – and stay – as healthy as possible:

Be Positive

• Overweight children need acceptance and support from their parents. Tell them that they are loved and appreciated, whatever their weight.
• Focus on your child’s health and positive qualities, not weight.
• Try not to make your child feel different because they happen to be overweight. Focus on slowly changing your family's physical activity and eating habits.
• Be a good role model. Eat healthier and be more active, and they will do the same.

Be Active

• Be active every day - at least 30 minutes (adults) or 60 minutes (children).
• Even more activity may be needed for proper weight control.
• Plan family activities that everyone can do.
• Be sure that kids have a safe setting and the right equipment for activities like swimming, biking, skating, and ball sports.
• Try to cut down TV and video game time to less than 2 hours a day.

Eat Healthier

• Encourage your child to eat slowly.
• Eat meals together as a family.
• Reduce the amount of fat and calories in your family's diet.
• Plan for healthy snacks rather than cutting snacks out of your child’s diet.
• Avoid using food as a reward or withholding it as punishment.
• Encourage kids to drink water and limit beverages with added sugars, like soft drinks, fruit juice drinks, and sports drinks.
• Use fat-free or low-fat milk, fresh fruit, and vegetables, instead of drinks or snacks that are high in fat, calories, or added sugars and low in essential nutrients.
• Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Try not to eat meals or snacks while watching TV.
• Eat a healthy breakfast every day.

Online Tools and Information

• Learn more about the causes and effects of Obesity in Children and Teens in Preferred Care’s online Health Encyclopedia.
• Visit the Healthy Eating for Children section of Preferred Care’s online Health Encyclopedia.
• Explore "Aim, Build, Choose" Guidelines for Good Health, an online healthy eating and activity plan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Try using the Children’s Activity Pyramid to help kids choose fun, healthy activities!

Information provided by the Healthwise® Knowledgebase, and the United States Surgeon General.

Posted: January 2005