Learning how to prevent childhood obesity right from the start is vital. Our children are getting fatter, and the more overweight they are in childhood, the greater the danger that they'll develop diabetes, heart disease and cancer in later life.
Why are more children becoming obese? There are many reasons:
Parents don't always recognise that their child is overweight. 'Puppy fat', 'well-built', 'chunky', 'cuddly' - all these euphemisms are used to cloak a weight problem.
So many kids are couch potatoes. The rise of television and computer games, the decline in walking to school and playing sport, all conspire to mean that children lead far less active lives than their parents did - with a direct impact on their size and health.
Parents are very influential when it comes to eating and drinking. Those who insist on children following strict diets at home, or who have an uneasy relationship with food themselves, are telling children that food is dangerous and difficult to handle and setting the stage for a cycle of diet/binge and long-lasting problems with weight and self-image, ending in child obesity.
PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY: Birth to 18 months
Breast-fed babies are not as likely as bottle-fed babes to be overweight in later life. If you are bottle feeding, don't despair, because other factors are much more important - for example, weaning.
Introduce your child to a varied diet right from the start. Fat children are typically fussy, faddy eaters, who will eat only a limited range of foods - most or all of them unhealthy. This problem can start at weaning, when parents offer a healthy food, the child rejects it, and the parents never offer it again. Yet it can take 12 or more opportunities to taste a food, before a baby will accept it, so it's well worth persevering. The earlier in life that your child gets used to enjoying a wide range of foods, the more likely she'll be to eat a varied diet later on.
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Many manufactured foods aimed at this age group are very sugary, making it horribly easy to cultivate a child's sweet tooth. Read labels very carefully.
If your baby rejects a healthy first course, don't offer a dessert instead. A child will never allow itself to starve, so stay calm and simply take the child down from the table and don't give him any more food until the next meal.
Never restrict the amount of healthy food you offer your baby, even if she is very chubby. If you're concerned about her weight, get your doctor to check it. Chubbiness in young children isn't necessarily a problem, but only a professional assessment will reveal whether or not a child is obese.
Make sure your baby has time and space to be physically active. A mat to roll on, and a safe space to crawl in are all you need to encourage exercise.
PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY: 18 months - 5 years
Faddy eaters often refuse fruit and veg, especially if they pick up on their parents' desire for them to eat these healthy foods. Toddlers love to be in control, and food is one area where they'll try their darnedest to get the upper hand. Don't make a big issue of it, stay cool, but continue to offer healthy foods.
Eat together as a family as often as you can, and serve the same foods for everyone. Beware the "kids' meals" of burgers, sausages, nuggets, which are generally less nutritious than fresh, home-prepared foods. Let kids see that you enjoy your food, including the veg. If you don't eat healthily, you can't expect them too, either.
At the same time, don't make a big song and dance about unhealthy foods. Let your children learn that all foods are okay in moderation, by gently rationing items like chocolate, cookies and biscuits and fries, so that kids know that these foods are fine once in a while, and in reasonable portions - but not every day, and not in vast quantities. There's no need to demonize any food, in order to prevent childhood obesity.
If you're worried that your child is overweight, get her checked out by professionals, who can plot weight/height/age and other variables against a growth chart.
Watch out for hidden sugars in processed foods and fruit squashes and juices. Keep foods fresh when you can, and give water to drink.
Encourage exercise by giving your child toys like a tricycle or trampoline, take them to the park or beach, play physical games with him - catch, tag or chase.
Limit the amount of time your child spends watching tv or using computer games to no more than 1 hour per day.
Be a great role model by being physically active yourself, and eating a good diet.
Take care what you say about food and eating. Saying, 'No! Don't eat that candy bar, or you'll get fat and spotty," tells the child that she is naughty for eating the candy, and will be even naughtier if she gets fat. Avoid blaming your child, or trying to make her feel guilty.
PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY: 5 - 12 years
Check out the meals provided by your child's school. If you're not happy with the healthiness of what's provided, send healthy lunch box. Include occasional treats, but don't make send unhealthy items.
Many kids stock up on unhealthy items on the way home from school - and the money comes from their parents. Make rules about pocket money, and how children spend it.
Again, if you suspect your child is overweight, ask your doctor to check his BMI (Body Mass Index).
Don't encourage your child to go on and off an ever-changing regime of diets at home (and don't do this yourself either). Studies have found that the more children and teens go on diets, the more likely they are to become obese adults. Get professional help if your child needs to lose weight.
When children beg for an unhealthy item, offer something healthy. If the child is hungry, she'll eat the healthy food. If not, the craving should pass within around 20 minutes, so try distraction.
Control portion sizes. Two potatoes, one bread roll, a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards - these are healthy quantities. Offer healthy foods - vegetable soup, a banana, veggie sticks - to fill the corners.
Continue to encourage exercise. Watching too much tv and spending too much time on computers reduces the opportunity for exercise. Don't allow more than 2 hours of these pastimes each day.
PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY: Teenagers
Talk to your children about healthy food and why it's important. That doesn't mean lecturing them, getting hysterical if they eat a square of chocolate, or telling them they look disgusting if they're overweight. Aim to educate them gently, and discuss food and weight calmly.
Make sure that teenagers take enough exercise. Girls particularly often see sport as being 'uncool'. If they show interest in anything - contemporary dance, ice skating, aerobics - grab the opportunity and help them to do it.
Carry on presenting a good role model, eat together as a family whenever you can, learn more about healthy eating and put it into practice when planning family meals.
If teens do have a weight problem, show them that you still love them. Talk to them tactfully, and offer whatever support they want.
and computer games, the decline in walking to school and playing sport, all conspire to mean that children lead far less active lives than their parents did - with a direct impact on their size and health.