Adaptations for a Healthy Lifestyle

Successful prevention and treatment of obesity in children relies on the family. These are changes that the entire family must make together. In children and adolescents, the emphasis should be on increasing activity and eating healthy foods, NOT weight or thinness. Parents must be careful with their message in order to avoid undermining a child's confidence and self-esteem.

Increase Activity

• Daily exercise for 30 minutes. This does not mean that your child must go running every day. Make exercise fun (i.e. tricycles, bicycles, roller blades, basketball in the driveway, playing catch). Exercise not only burns calories, but it also increases a child's muscle mass and is good for bone development.
• Reduce computer and television time to a maximum of 1-2 hours per day. Sitting in front of the television or computer burns few calories and has minimal educational benefit. In addition, kids see frequent advertisements for high calorie food. Substitute other activities for TV and computer time. If your child dislikes sports, consider scouting or other clubs. Even reading burns many more calories than watching TV.
• Walk or ride bikes instead of driving. When going to the pool or out for ice cream, consider walking instead of driving. Take the stairs instead of elevators. Lifestyle changes like these can make a big difference over the long term.

Reduce Caloric Intake

• Avoid fad diets and severe caloric restriction. Due to the fact that severe diets lead to poor tasting food and hungry kids, it is very difficult for a super strict diet to work over the long term. The goal should not be quick weight loss. Instead, a family should try to develop healthy habits so that over the long term the child's weight will stay in a healthy range. Fad diets do not give children the variety of highly nutritious food that they need to grow and develop well.
• Stop drinking juice, regular soda, fruit punch and Kool-Aid. Cutting out sugary drinks is a quick way to make a big cut in the amount of calories a child takes in each day. Despite what juice companies tell you in their advertisements, kids receive minimal nutritional benefit from juice.
• Switch to skim milk. This can make a huge impact on the amount of calories and saturated fat a person takes in during a day. It also is a great way to reduce cholesterol. True it doesn't taste the same, but most people get used to it.
• Avoid eating with the television on. When in front of the television, people tend to snack even when they aren't hungry.
• Eat healthy snacks. Most kids need 1-2 snacks a day, particularly when dinner is late. Make snacks with good nutritional value; for example, half of a turkey sandwich and a glass of skim milk.
• Make meals a social, family time. This is difficult to manage when everyone is off at a different activity; however, parents who insist on a sacred family dinnertime receive lots of rewards in terms of the time spent with their children. It also helps everyone eat more slowly and allows the parents to keep an eye on portion size.
• Make smart choices when it comes to fast food. Avoid fast food as much as you can. This may take extra effort! Pack healthy lunches, dinners, or snacks when you're not going to be home for a meal. When you do go to the fast food place, choose the healthy alternatives.
• Don't Supersize. In fact, reduce size. When you splurge, moderation is the key. Consider the hamburger over the quarter-pounder with cheese. Instead of the banana split, eat a small sundae.
• Look for foods with lots of nutrients. Not all high-fat foods are created equal! Foods like peanut butter and cheese provide protein, vitamins and minerals along with the fat, which makes them a good food for a growing child. Potato chips provide little nutritional value. So go ahead and give your child a peanut butter sandwich but skip the Doritos.
• Don't reward or comfort with food. Want to reward your child for something? Try alternatives like an extra game of catch with dad or stickers with younger children. For comfort, try some close time with mom or dad like reading a story. Avoid that bowl of ice cream to make them feel better.
• Stop buying high fat foods. Reduce the amount of butter, margarine, hot dogs, chips, salad dressing and mayo you use. Substitute lower fat alternatives, like low fat lunchmeat, turkey sausage, and pretzels.
• Cut back on portion size. Even small cuts in portion size can make a big difference. When eating out, consider sharing portions.
• Learn about healthy food preparation. Healthy food can taste great. There are excellent resources available for people to learn new ways to prepare food with less fat and fewer calories.
• Read food labels. Take the time to look at the nutritional value of what you are eating. Avoid trans-fats. Even in foods labeled "lite" or "low-fat" you may find unwanted surprises.
• Persistence. Preparing healthy meals, reading nutrition labels, and learning how to eat healthier takes time and energy. You don't have to make all the changes at once - every little bit helps!

Helpful internet site: Mypyramid.gov