A Slimming Plan For Overweight Kids

By Andy Gibson

Childhood obesity has approached epidemic proportions in United States. And for a growing number of youngsters, it is a serious problem.
And one that involves more than just simple schoolyard vanity. Excess weight in childhood is likely to be carried over into adulthood, studies show, and it will predispose children to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and other obesity-related chronic illness. That's why it's important to act early, to ensure a lifetime of optimum health.
But take note: Kids are not just small adults, and slimming them down takes a special approach that's safe for their growing bodies. The first step is recognizing what's causing the problem.
Some people think it starts with heredity. It's a controversial question as to how much heredity actually contributes to the problem. But here's the important point:
Even if a child carries genes that create a tendency toward obesity, major environment factors, such as a sedentary lifestyle and a high-fat diet, must be in effect for obesity to take hold. There are plenty of fat-prone kids out there who never get fat because they practise good health habits.
For most overweight children (on the order of 70 per cent), the problem can be attributed directly to these environmental causes. For the 30 per cent, heredity is the problem. That's good news, parents, because it means there's a lot you and your child can do to get that excess weight off.

TAKING ACTION
Before you do anything, though, it's critical to get your pediatrician advice. While you may think your child is overweight compared to her friends or siblings, children vary. A doctor can provide an objective assessment and determine how serious the problem is - or if there really is a problem at all.

If the child is overweight, restricting calories until the child loses weight is, at best impractical, and at worst, potentially dangerous. What overweight children need is flexible, low-fat eating plan to follow, in which portion size and between-meal snacking are kept to moderate levels.
It's not a diet that they go on or off. It's way of eating that can last a lifetime. (Calories and fat should never be restricted in a child less than age two, most doctors agree.)
In fact, losing weight shouldn't be a goal at all for most plump children. The goal should simply be to get the child to stop gaining weight. If a child's weight stabilizes while he's still growing, and his problem isn't too severe, he'll simply grow out of his obesity. (Most girls grow until they're about 16, boys until they're 19).
But an eating plan isn't the only answer or even the most important, necessarily. The number-one cause of childhood obesity may well be a sedentary lifestyle.
Children - especially children of affluent or even middle-class parents - have, like many adults, become couch potatoes. Getting your kids moving again should be your top priority.

IMPLEMENTING YOUR PLAN
By now it should be obvious that, in most cases, when a child is overweight, the whole family is going to have to make changes. The greatest influence on a child's health is his parents. Children learn what they see. If the parents' eating and exercise habits are poor, the child's will probably be lacking, too. Start by assessing your family's activity level. Do you regularly "sweat" together? Whether it's a community-sponsored "fun run" or a walk in a zoo, make a resolution to do family fitness activities together every week.

IN WITH THE NEW
On the food front, the first thing you need to do is look inward. In your refrigerator. In your kitchen cabinets. In your oven. Are you really buying and preparing low-fat, high-fibre foods? Are the cabinets clear of fatty chips, sweets and has your freezer been declared an ice-cream-free zone?
At home, move the focus away from food. When the family gathers to play games or talk, do it away from the dining room and the kitchen. Make a new rule no eating anywhere in the house except at the dining table. Everyone has to abide by this rule, including the grown-ups.
Speak up at PTA meetings for a school programme on good nutrition, campaign for PTA action against hawkers selling trashy foods in the school's immediate vicinity.
But a word of caution: Too much focus on a child's weight might lead to eating disorders. Over half of the people who develop eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, can trace it to an episode of dieting.
That's why it's very important that you never use food as reward or punishment. That's a dangerous strategy that can lead youngsters to seek comfort in food.

HELP FOR TOUGH CASES
If a child's weight problem continues, both the parents and child may need counselling - separately. Separately, because you need to learn different things. Parents must learn how to encourage good habits without nagging or unwittingly encouraging eating disorders. If both parents are working, they may need to learn how to fit healthy meal preparation into a bust schedule.
The children need to learn new eating habits and to enjoy physical activity. But remember: Any formal programme for overweight children and their families should focus on appropriate behaviour and healthy foods, not ton dieting and calorie counting.
Only if a child's obesity is severe should weight loss be on the agenda. And that should be initiated only after weight gain has stopped, and after the entire family is eating healthy foods.

Then you can explore with a physician a safe way for a child to lose 5 to 10 per cent maximum of weight at the rate of half to one kg a week, over five or six weeks.
Weight loss should then stop, and children should stay at that level for several months before losing any more, if needed they still need to lose. Weight-loss diets for children must be constructed carefully by pediatricians and should always include a 10 per cent increase in physical activity.

The new discoveries and inventions have made our lifestyle full of convenience. But our bodies require work. Just like the sedentary water starts smelling, the sedentary lifestyle has given rise to many chronic diseases like the heart problems, diabetes and hypertension.
Today, the health researchers are suggesting that most of the chronic diseases that have appeared in man's life are due to STRESS. From where it has come. It is the bi-product of our so-called modern lifestyle.
We are standing at the edge of cliff. Immediate actions are required to bring back the healthy days. We must incorporate exercise, balanced diet, sound sleep, and the most importantly happy and positive thoughts to our lifestyle to get rid of all health problems.
Life is a balance between what we can and what we cannot. Learn to live between effort and surrender.

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