How to prevent childhood obesity.

There’s so much talk about the childhood obesity epidemic in the media, I felt it was a good time to write about it. Just yesterday, I was watching what I’m guessing was a re-run of Dr Phil discussing this issue. It was all about how to….how do I put this? ‘Fix’ kids who were already obese.

But today, I’m going to talk about prevention. Or, to put it more positively, how to foster healthy habits and raise healthy children. I’m not talking about fat-phobic, paranoid children who subsist on a stick of celery and a protein shake! That, in my opinion, is just as dangerous as obesity. I admit, it’s my fear that we are raising a generation of children who are hearing, ‘your generation is fat and lazy!’ That can’t be good… So here’s my take on a healthy, obsession-free childhood.

1) Offer healthy snacks.
There is no need for any family to have a steady supply of potato chips, lollies, and biscuits in the house. So many kids are eating these sorts of food everyday. If you ask your parents, I’m sure they will agree that thirty years ago, these foods were only eaten every now and then, such as at birthday parties, or other special occassions.

Photo courtesy of GettyImages

My daughter comes home from school in the afternoons, absolutely starving! I can certainly understand how this could be a danger zone for some families if too much junk food was available in the house. But honestly, kids absolutely love being served an assortment of fresh fruits and veges. I like to plonk them on the dining table, and let my three little ones sit together and socialise, as they mindlessly pick at mandarin segments, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and so on. (My baby daughter is too little for the raw veges due to the choking risk, so I put her vegetables into a fresh food feeder so that she can still enjoy them safely) Other things that can be served are rice crackers or cakes, cheese wedges, and healthy dips. (I don’t tend to bother with dips for my kids, as they hate them, but I know other kids love them, so it’s just a matter of experimentation)

2) Give them the opportunity to exercise.
If your child is getting two hours a day of vigorous active play outdoors, and/or playing sport, and/or walking to school, then chances are you won’t have much to worry about. Two hours might sound a lot, but it doesn’t have to be all in one session. It could be a game of tip (or tag if you’re American) or jumping around on the trampoline, as long as they are able to choose and it’s something they enjoy, it will be fun. A real childhood. Before we had a car, my daughter was doing a total of one hour of walking to and from school, she’d play very actively with her peers at lunchtime, and if she got her homework done quickly, would then go to the park to play with her little brother for an hour before dinner. It does wonders for their sleep, as well! I notice when she isn’t as active, that it can take her forever to fall asleep at night.

3) Set healthy (not obsessive) limits on ‘sedentary play’
When I use the term ‘sedentary play’, I’m referring to activities such as computer/console games,  television time, reading and so on. Am I suggesting these things are bad? Hell, no! They all have wonderful things going for them, and are great for a rainy day, a sick or tired child, or just because they’re fun.

Again, my only suggestion is moderation. We have a two hour limit in this family for computer/console games, per day. If they’ve had plenty of exercise, I feel that’s pretty generous, really. I also find they get a lot less than two hours on the days they’re outside playing a lot. Don’t forget to give the kids access to the more active console games if they are mad about gaming too! I’m referring to games such as ‘Guitar Hero’, ‘Rock Band’, and any of the Wii games. Let’s stop telling our kids that these games will make them fat, and show them how to incorporate them into a fun, healthy, well-rounded life.

4) ‘Brainwash’ their tastebuds from an early age.
What does this mean? It means, get your children used to wholemeal bread from the minute they’re old enough to eat bread. Always offer water as a drink, over fruit juice or soft drinks. Better still, don’t bother keeping fruit juices, cordials and softdrinks in the house at all. They are ‘sometimes’ drinks (if I had my way, they’d be ‘never’ drinks!).

Not only are these drinks overloaded with calories, the sugar (even natural fruit sugar) is not great for growing childrens’ teeth. If you or your kids really miss it, why not buy a juicer, and make a treat out of giving them freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juice now and then? My little ones love watching the juice come out of the ‘tap’ and into the jug. It really gives them and their tastebuds a true appreciation of fresh food.

If your child is more accustomed to healthier options earlier on in life, it really does help them to gravitate towards healthier foods when the time comes for them to make good choices. My kids love lollies and chocolate, but because we’ve trained their tastebuds from an early age, they just can’t stomach very much of it, and often end up putting it down after a while and asking for an apple. Isn’t it better that they learn how to balance their eating habits themselves, rather than having it enforced upon them?

5) Role model, role model, role model.
No matter how much you think you’re being careful to hide undesirable habits from your kids, trust me, they are watching. If they see you always choosing to drive because you ‘can’t be bothered’ to walk five minutes to the general store, you can bet your bottom dollar, they will put those can’t be bothereds into practise very early on! Let them see you living an active lifestyle.

Likewise, if you are begging your children to eat their vegetables, but you or their dad are not even touching yours, well why on earth will they bother? Sometimes trying to be a better role model equals better health for ourselves, too.

6) Occasionally discuss what’s in their food
I don’t mean in an obsessive, read the label thoroughly before it passes your lips kind of a way. But if your kids are helping you to cook or serve dinner, you can talk about how the meat has protein in it, and we need protein for growth, etc… Talk about the essential vitamins and minerals in your fruits and vegetables.

Obviously, we wouldn’t want to lecture them all the time, or it’d be a total drag. But before you know it, they’ll be asking you now and then, ‘what’s in this, Mum?’ Sometimes my eldest daughter has asked me why a certain food is only a ‘sometimes’ food. I will explain that particular food is high in sugar and fat, for example. That if you have it just now and then, it’s not going to do any damage. But if you eat that sort of food all the time, it isn’t healthy.

In short, make healthy living an easy and enjoyable experience for your kids. Always be positive about it, don’t let them feel as though they are adhering to a strict regime. This can only lead to rebellion, and have the opposite impact.