Childhood Obesity -eating when they are bored. Teach them not to eat while they are reading, watching tv, or playing video games
-food should not be used as a reward. Use more proactive things such as a new book, shopping time, manicures or pampering,
-risk factors: diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure
-70-80% chance of being overweight as adults
-Involve the whole family in eating and exercise, do not single them out
-Make slow changes so they do not feel attacked and hide food
-no medications are approved for children
-praise frequently for healthy choices and exercise, stay away from all negative comments and connotations
-Set goals as a family, don't make them scale related. Go for days active
-have them pack lunches with you so they will have items they will eat, steer clear of school lunches
-not just a North American problem anymore http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4930264.stm
Calories and Kids
- a child that habitually consumes 500 calories more than is burned each day will gain a pound of excess body fat in just a single week
- counting calories is generally not advised by nutritionists nor is it necessary for healthy children
- an active elementary school child can easily burn 2,000 calories in a day
- a less active child that doesn't or can't get outside to play as much might only burn 1,500
- kids eat differently than adults and are generally better at burning their calories throughout the day
- watch out for empty calories in your childs diet, soda, french fries, supersized fast food, etc...
Average Nutritional Recommendations for Children
- 1000 - 1400 for a 2 to3 year old
- 1400-1600 for a 4 to 8 year old
- 1600-2000 for girls 9 to 13 years old
- 1800-2200 for boys 9 to 13 years old
- 2000 for girls 14 to 18 years old
- 2200- for boys 14 to 18 years old
- the calories number isn't nearly as important as where those calories come from, good calories in fruits and veggies versus bad calories in junk
food and soda
- watch portion sizes and encourage moderation if you are worried about overeating
- if obesity becomes a problem seek a pediatrician or nutritionist's help
Get Kids Involved in Food Preparation
- for younger kids storybooks with cooking involved are a good place to start building an interest in helping
- ask questions and talk about what will happen when you do certain things, like chop something up, or put something in the oven ... this gets their interest even if they aren't doing the action themselves yet
- the simplest tasks can get even a toddle involved in food prep, stirring the macaroni, pouring the milk, etc
- clean up afterwards is a time when everyone can help as well
- gathering of ingredients is an important step and one that most kids can handle, "please bring me 3 carrots, and 2 sticks of celery" and a good beginning to helping out in the kitchen area
- teach them to make something that they can make with little help from you, a scrambled egg, a grilled cheese sandwich, a bowl of soup, a fruit salad, etc
- look for kids sized kitchen gear and alternate tools for little fingers, for example kids could use a rolling pizza cutter to cut up veggies instead of a big sharp knife
- get kids their own cookbook and let them choose a recipe, there are a variety of kids geared cookbooks on the market today to choose from
- let them experiment with different foods, textures, ingredients, combinations, sauces, dips etc.... even if you think something sounds gross and they want to try combining it let them try a small amount, it's the best way to learn about foods
- don't take over, as adults and parents we tend to want to do things for them when we see a little bit of a struggle or when we think they might not succeed, try to take a different approach, stand back and be observant but don't help unless they ask you too or if it's with something sharp or extremely hot
Food Portioning
- remember that an adult portion, a teenager portion, a kids portion and a toddler portion are all very different things, this is often overlooked
- 2 ounces of meat on a child's dinner plate is actually a good portion, it may look small but remember that your child is also small
- meals should be spread out throughout the day, many children are natural "grazers" and eat many small servings over the course of the day.
The reason they are naturally like isn't a cooincidence, it's mostly instinct and that's how we're supposed to eat during the day. Unfortunately as adults we feel the need to "live by the clock"
- a good rule of thumb is that a portion should be no larger than the palm of your hand when placed on your plate, look at the palm of you hand, then look at the palm of your child's hand - it's a good visual reference for a serving size
- just because something says single serving on it doesn't mean that it really is a single serving, it may be too much for some children in our
"super sized" world
- place a few bites of each thing on the plate at dinner time, if they are still hungry they will ask for more
- when it comes to snack time it often helps to put the food into a snack size cup to actually see how much of something you are giving, crackers are a good example, its easy to overeat them out of the box but if you pour them into a bowl or cup it's easier to find a proper portion some portion examples:
meat - 2 or 3 ounces cooked and cut up
chicken nuggets - 3 or 4 pieces
peanut butter - 2 tablespoons
eggs - 1
milk - 8 ounce cup
yogurt - 4 to 8 ounces - a full cup might be too much, look for the smaller kids portions at the store or split in half and store the leftover half in the fridge for the next day or later
fruit - 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of cubed up fruit
baby carrots - 8 baby carrot sticks is a fair sized portion for little fingers at snack time
cheese - 1 or 2 slices of american cheese
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