Tips To Prevent Childhood Obesity

The balance between nutrition and physical activity is the key to preventing childhood obesity and keeping children at a healthy weight. It is important to consider the calories that are ingested through food and drink and the amount of calories that are spent on growth and activities, especially if the family has a history of being overweight.

How can we encourage a healthy lifestyle in our children? The solution is at hand. It will only take some time to incorporate some correct habits into the family routine.

The best habits to prevent childhood obesity

Motivate children to eat healthily. Good eating habits make a difference. Here are some of the actions to put into practice:

• Include in your daily menu, and possibly in every meal, a good portion of vegetables, fruit and cereals.

• Replace whole dairy products with low-fat products.
• Have the children eat lean meats like pork, chicken, fish and protein alternatives like lentils and peas.
• Keep tabs on the portion sizes you give to your children.
• Get children used to drinking water several times a day and in sufficient quantities to keep the body hydrated.
• Buy fewer sugary drinks and cut back on foods that are very salty and contain saturated fat.

Other healthy habits against childhood obesity

• Prepare their favorite dishes in a healthy way. Many of the recipes our children are fond of can be prepared using healthy ingredients instead of traditional ones that can damage their body and their ideal weight.

• Give them delicious but low calorie snacks. Even if the little ones want to eat between meals, sugary sodas and treats are not the right choice. Opt for apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes or nuts such as peanuts or almonds.
• Help your children create an exercise routine. Example is very important, so it is essential that you play sports too. Even a simple daily walk will help keep you fit and convey the right message to your children. Explain to them that an hour of daily exercise will help them strengthen their bones, reduce blood pressure, effectively control stress and anxiety, not gain weight, and have greater self-esteem.
• Offer him fun exercises. The best way to attract your children to sport is to show them as a game, as a relaxing activity that they must do not out of obligation but for fun. Offer them games such as jumping rope, playing football, dancing, running or swimming.

• Fight the sedentary life. While doing homework is important and despite having a lot of fun playing video games or watching television, limit those activities to a maximum of two hours a day. This will lead them to socialize more and do more physical activity.

Tips for feeding your children well

• To prevent childhood obesity, parents need to be involved in their children’s diets. If children see that it is normal to have healthy eating habits, it will be easier for them to assimilate them.

• Physical activities are much more fun if done in a group. Timetables need to be matched so that the whole family can go for a run, take a walk or dance.
• We must avoid that there are products in the kitchen that are harmful to the weight and health of the little ones. Surround yourself with healthy foods and especially large amounts of fruit and vegetables.
• Don’t wait for the signs of being overweight to become evident. A healthy and balanced diet must be guaranteed on a daily basis, even if there is no genetic risk of obesity.
• It is necessary to be informed about what the little ones eat at school, avoiding the excesses that could cause illness.