Obese Children - Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits
Good healthy eating and physical activity habits are key to your child's well-being.
Eating too much and exercising too little may lead to overweight and related health problems that may follow children into their adult years.
Now you can prevent obesity by simply changing your habits.
Start today and help your child -and your whole family-by encouraging Healthy Eating Habits: •Buy and serve more fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned, or dried).
Get your child involved and let it choose them at the store.
•Avoid buying soft drinks and high-fat or high-calorie snack foods like chips, cookies, and candy.
These snacks may be OK once in a while, but always make sure to have healthy snack foods on hand and introduce the healthy snacks more often at snack times.
•Breakfast is important.
Insist your child eats breakfast every day.
Breakfast provides your child with the energy he or she needs to listen and learn in school.
Skipping breakfast can leave your child hungry, tired, and looking for less healthy foods later in the day.
•Eat fast food less often.
When you do visit a fast food restaurant, encourage your family to choose the healthier options, such as salads with low-fat dressing or small sandwiches without cheese or mayonnaise.
•Serve your your child water or low-fat milk more often than fruit juice.
Low-fat milk and milk products are important for your child's development.
One hundred percent fruit juice is a healthy choice but is not a wise choice calorie wise.
•Limit the amount of saturated and trans fats in your family's diet.
Instead, obtain most of your fats from sources such as fish, vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.
•Plan healthy meals and eat together as a family.
Eating together at meal times helps children learn to enjoy a variety of foods.
•Don't be disappointed if your child will not eat a new food the first time it is served.
Some kids will need to have a new food served to them 10 times or more before they will eat it.
•Try not to use food as a reward when encouraging kids to eat.
Promising dessert to a child for eating vegetables, for example, sends the message that vegetables are less valuable than dessert.
Kids learn to dislike foods they think are less valuable.
•Only serve small servings and let your child ask for more if he or she is still hungry.
It is up to you to care for your child by providing it with healthy meals and snacks, but let your child choose for itself how much food he or she will eat.
•Some high-fat or high-sugar foods and beverages are strongly marketed to kids.
Usually these products are associated with cartoon characters, offer free toys, and come in bright packages.
Talk with your child about the importance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy foods-even if these foods are not often advertised on TV or in stores.
Healthy Snack Ideas Your child might enjoy trying the following foods: -Fresh fruit.
-Fruit canned in juice or light syrup.
-Small amounts of dried fruits, such as raisins, apple rings, or apricots.
-Fresh vegetables, such as baby carrots, cucumber, zucchini, or tomatoes.
-Low-sugar, whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk.
Eating too much and exercising too little may lead to overweight and related health problems that may follow children into their adult years.
Now you can prevent obesity by simply changing your habits.
Start today and help your child -and your whole family-by encouraging Healthy Eating Habits: •Buy and serve more fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned, or dried).
Get your child involved and let it choose them at the store.
•Avoid buying soft drinks and high-fat or high-calorie snack foods like chips, cookies, and candy.
These snacks may be OK once in a while, but always make sure to have healthy snack foods on hand and introduce the healthy snacks more often at snack times.
•Breakfast is important.
Insist your child eats breakfast every day.
Breakfast provides your child with the energy he or she needs to listen and learn in school.
Skipping breakfast can leave your child hungry, tired, and looking for less healthy foods later in the day.
•Eat fast food less often.
When you do visit a fast food restaurant, encourage your family to choose the healthier options, such as salads with low-fat dressing or small sandwiches without cheese or mayonnaise.
•Serve your your child water or low-fat milk more often than fruit juice.
Low-fat milk and milk products are important for your child's development.
One hundred percent fruit juice is a healthy choice but is not a wise choice calorie wise.
•Limit the amount of saturated and trans fats in your family's diet.
Instead, obtain most of your fats from sources such as fish, vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.
•Plan healthy meals and eat together as a family.
Eating together at meal times helps children learn to enjoy a variety of foods.
•Don't be disappointed if your child will not eat a new food the first time it is served.
Some kids will need to have a new food served to them 10 times or more before they will eat it.
•Try not to use food as a reward when encouraging kids to eat.
Promising dessert to a child for eating vegetables, for example, sends the message that vegetables are less valuable than dessert.
Kids learn to dislike foods they think are less valuable.
•Only serve small servings and let your child ask for more if he or she is still hungry.
It is up to you to care for your child by providing it with healthy meals and snacks, but let your child choose for itself how much food he or she will eat.
•Some high-fat or high-sugar foods and beverages are strongly marketed to kids.
Usually these products are associated with cartoon characters, offer free toys, and come in bright packages.
Talk with your child about the importance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy foods-even if these foods are not often advertised on TV or in stores.
Healthy Snack Ideas Your child might enjoy trying the following foods: -Fresh fruit.
-Fruit canned in juice or light syrup.
-Small amounts of dried fruits, such as raisins, apple rings, or apricots.
-Fresh vegetables, such as baby carrots, cucumber, zucchini, or tomatoes.
-Low-sugar, whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk.
