Over the last two decades, the United States has witnessed a steady increase in the number of children dealing with obesity. To combat this concerning trend, parents, guardians, and teachers can play a pivotal role in helping children develop healthy eating habits.
Below are a few tips on how you can best help your child maintain a healthy weight.
- Be a good role model
Kids look up to their parents, so make sure that you’re setting a good example of healthy eating and exercise by maintaining a healthy weight yourself. Children learn by example and will pick up on your own beliefs and behaviors around food. Try to be present and eat at the same time as your children, and eat similar healthy meals. Also try to show enjoyment and enthusiasm for healthy foods and snacks. - Encourage healthy sleep and less screen time
Children who get enough sleep and limit how much time they spend on screens tend to have lower BMIs than those who don’t—even when they eat similar amounts of food! Make sure your child gets enough sleep every night and limits their screen time during the day (especially during meals). - Stay active and play with your kids
Make sure that both parents and children get some physical activity each day! Encourage them to play outside as much as possible. It’s recommended that children from 3 -5 years should be physically active throughout the day. Children at 6 – 17 years need at least an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Whilst, adults need 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week. This activity doesn’t need to be all at once, it can be broken up into short periods of 15 to 20 minutes. Walking the family pet, riding bikes, and having races in the backyard all count toward physical activity. As do active chores, such as washing the car, vacuuming, or gardening. You can also encourage local or school team sports, which can make physical activity even more fun while building friendships. - Reward healthier choices but don’t use food as a reward
When children reach their goals or generally do well, it’s a good idea to celebrate with age-appropriate non-food related rewards. The best reward is often as simple as time with the parent. An example could be taking your child to the park or watching a new movie together. For teenagers, you could agree to have their friends over, arrange a board game/gaming night in, or go to a sports game, cinema or a salon together. Alongside rewards it’s also important to include plenty of praise. - Consider your child’s portion size
It can be tricky knowing how much food to plate up for our kids but as a rule, try to start meals with smaller servings and allow your child to ask for more if they’re still hungry. Refrain from making your child finish everything on the plate or eat more than they want to. Try to use child size plates for younger children as adult sized dishes encourage them to eat adult sized portions.