It’s no secret that obesity is a huge public health issue through the world. Childhood obesity can not only have a disastrous effect on your child’s overall health, but on their quality of life and self-esteem as well. And too often, children tend to bring that excess weight with them well into their adult life along with their bad eating habits. Here are a few simple tips that can help you combat childhood obesity.
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Make Activity Fun
The first thing you have to do to prevent childhood obesity is to instill a love of activity into your children early on. Make sure that they don’t associate exercise and activity with hard work and suffering and try to get them into fun activities instead.
For instance, you could decide to make your backyard more conducive to activity. You can add a soccer net and play with them from time to time. Installing a small pool or a big inflatable one could be a great idea as well. A trampoline is also a surprising way to burn calories and most children absolutely love them, so that would be a great way to sneak some physical activity into their lifestyle without them seeing it as a chore.
You could also consider enrolling them in some organized sports. Most children will have a sport they will particularly enjoy from a young age. If you notice they have a love for a certain sport, ask them if they would like to play in a team – but don’t force them. If they’re enthusiastic about the idea, look for leagues in your area that you could enroll them in. But always make sure to make it about them and not you, or they might start losing interest.
Reduce Liquid Calories
You won’t believe how many calories juices and soft drinks contain alone. By making smart choices and cutting the amount of liquid calories your children take in, you could make a huge difference on their daily caloric consumption.
Instead of soda, try to go with sparkling water with fruit. You can easily replace soft drinks with a low sugar sparkling water lemonade and your kids will love it. Making your own smoothies is also a great way to cut on calories and provide them with the nutrition they need.
Gradually Reduce Servings
Serving sizes are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to childhood obesity. If your child is already used to huge servings, you’ll have to reduce them gradually so that they don’t notice the difference. One of the ways you could do that is by getting a smaller set of plates. Children will usually associate a full plate with a full serving and won’t see the difference.
It’s also important that you know what the daily caloric needs for your children are and portion their meals accordingly. Small children should never eat more than 1400 calories per day and can get by with much less than that. Adolescents however, will need about 2000 calories per day if they’re active. If you have a teenager who’s struggling with excess weight, you can consider weight loss supplements like Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, or HCG for short. If you want to learn more about HCG and various HCG products on the market, you can visit Hcgdietreview.Com.
If you follow these few simple tips, you should be able to reduce the chances of your child being overweight. Make sure that you apply these tips in your everyday life to improve your child’s quality of life.
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