Helping Children Get Thin

Is your child overweight? About 25% of American kids are. But setting a diet plan and following these guidelines can put them on the path to a healthy weight.

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http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1671.53190

Thanks for the article John. You know it is near and dear to me and I am passionate on the subject. I really believe in exercise and activity as one of the major components. You don't want to stress your kid out about constant talk of weight,but should always encourage healthy choices. And it is easy to encourage activity in their daily lives. :x

Very good article john.. But I've always done that for my children and somewhere between puberty and college changes took place...The convenience of cafeteria food over healthy foods took over...My daughter has somewhat of a weight problem (she's 19) but I never push the weight issue on her even if I'm losing myself..She eats what we eat at home at suppertime but I can't control what she eats during lunch time.. She never brings a lunch so cafeteria food is a convenience for her.. But I know deep down in my heart she will do it on her own time...I think school is stressful enough without bugging her about her weight.

Hi John, I'll tell you what when my son was born he weighed 10lbs. 10ozs. and was 22 inches long. And it has been a battle ever since that day with his weight. My mom started giving him baby cereal at 2 weeks in a bottle she said he was not getting enough to eat. I was staying with her because I got really sick before and after he was born and she just took over. She has done the same thing to my sister's little girl she is going to have a weight problem. My son's doctor said he should end up being about 6:3 so he needs to lose about 15 pounds now and he hates exercise and loves to eat. And it is hard to tell your children they need to watch there weight because they get their feelings hurt. But maybe like Joanne said in his own time he will do it.
Ruthieb

I know what you mean about getting your feelings hurt. While I was a skinny kid, I hit puberty and became a smidge overweight. My parents would argue who's fault it was. Being shy, I didn't like sports either as I was never that good. Plus, being bombarded with all the images in the media. I really wanted to gorw up to be blonde, blue-eyed and thin.

I suppose you could help by making the kid's lunch, but yeah, really when they're old enough to make decisions for themselves, healthy eating has to be one of them. I wonder if it can be taught at an earlier age though. I know that when I was a kid there were things I pretty much had to be coerced into eating but now I crave them!

It would have also been good for me to have fresh fruit cut up for me when I got home. When I got home from school was afternoon craving time and I would eat like 5 bowls of cereal, 'finishing off the milk' without really thinking about it. We didn't even have the luxury of sugar cereal either!

sugarfiend

Sedentary children who do nothing but sit in front of the computer or video games and eat nothing but fast food and junk food while guzzling down super sized soft drinks every day will either have weight or eventual health problems and parents that allow this behavior in their homes I beleive should be berated if nothing else!

However, I have a sibling that was in sports and more athletic than me and I was the thin one growing up, and I ate junk food just not a lot of it, and my portion control was at it's best back then as it is becoming now.

If most overweight children and adults for that matter just stuck to their natural foods or as someone else put it, God's food; you know fruits, vegetables, bread water, etc. I would guess there would be less problems for everyone concerned. But while we complain about the cost of living since 911 we are still going out to buy those yummie calorie laden goodies that our grandparents only ate at holiday time if they would eat them at all! At least that is how it is in my family. Such abundance! I laugh at how we sit at our table eating our meal and groan about the cost of everything.

But back to the topic, it is hard for a child to be fat and harder for the parent to help them. But the up side is that children are growing and if they stick to a diet they lose real fast.