Parents Can Prevent Childhood Obesity — Continued

How to prevent childhood obesity

Family-based obesity programs work well, but your child may not need to attend any sessions.

Some research suggests that parents can put support program insights to work. In that study, 20 group meetings produced results after six months of discussing:

• Nutrition
• Diet
• Exercise
• Parenting skills
• Behavior modification strategies

Although only parents attended, more than 92 percent of them reported that their whole family benefited, with both parents and children losing weight. Even better, they kept the weight off 18 months after completing the program.

“Parents play a critical role in the process of helping their child lose weight by modeling healthy behaviors and reinforcing a balanced diet and exercise,” said Kerri Boutelle, PhD, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Start early with finding daycare that supports healthy nutrition and activity. Ask about policies and practices related to:

• Breastfeeding and feeding of breast milk to infants
• Nutrition standards for food served at the setting
• Access to outdoor physical activity during the day
• How much time the child will spend daily in front of a screen

At home, offer children a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are good choices as well as fresh.

Choose low sodium or no salt added vegetables and fruits packed in 100 percent fruit juice. Children develop habits and tastes from an early age. Good habits will help them continue to eat a healthy diet that follows nutrition guidelines and sets your family up for optimal health, including:

• A variety of vegetables and fruits
• Whole grains
• Lean protein foods
• Low-fat and fat-free dairy products

Monitor what your child drinks. Replace soda, fruit drinks, and flavored milk, with water, 100 percent juice, or plain low-fat milk. Artificially sweetened drinks aren’t the solution.

Encourage physical activity. Children aged 3 to 5 years should be physically active throughout the day. Children aged 6 to 17 years need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Make exercise fun and part of family time. Walk a family pet before and after school, ride bikes, and toss a ball or race in the yard. Washing your car, vacuuming a room, and raking leaves help your child to be active and contribute, building self-esteem.

Regular bedtimes and waketimes and a good night’s sleep help prevent weight gain. It’s possible that a tired child moves less and eats more to keep themselves going. Preschoolers need 11 to 13 hours of sleep per day, including naps. Children 6 to 12-years-old need 9 to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Youths 13 to 18 need 8 to 10 hours.

Limit screen time. Those hours glued to a screen can interfere with sleep and lead to weight gain, lower grades in school, and poor mental health.

 

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