By: Muniba Mahmood
OBESITY:
Obesity is the biggest disease spreading across the world. But the major concern is child obesity.Overweight and obesity; both are same which is abnormal and accumulation of excess fat in the body parts. Millions of parents are worried about this child obesity, with lesser solutions, & child obesity affects more than 30 percent of children.
DIET CONTROL:
There is a saying, “As you eat so shall you be”. Now we are suggesting here is to a diet control, not restrict the diet, and we bet this is the most important part to maintain a healthy, fit and active body. And there comes the first main role of the parent in this matter, for kids.
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PARENTS ARE THE MENTOR:
Parents are the mentor of child and they are the ones who buy the food, cook the food and decide what food is to be eaten. Bitterly said but parents are majorly responsible for the child obesity. Remember even the smallest change in the diet can make a big huge difference in your child’s health. Hence to give a healthy eating habit to the child, parents have to become their role model.
Remember always, that child will surely imitate what their parents are doing, since they are their role model. Whether it’s a matter of walking, talking, food or eating habits, sleeping loving or any other things, but kids will 100% imitate parents. Hence to make changes in the Childs eating habits, a similar change of eating habits has to be made for parents also. We know this seems absurd at first, but if parents think deeply, they will get the reply, by just seeing around themselves.
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CHOOSE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES:
When buying; always choose fruits and vegetables. This is the best choice of food which is completely balanced in all its nutritional content, without increase the fat contents in the body. Also, Fruits and vegetables are very light to be digested by stomach because of its fiber content. If possible avoid meat and meat in all conditions. Bit tough, but then we can be selective too, in the case of meat.
Remember a rule in diet control for meat or fish, eat meat with less fat contents and deep fried.This type of food is very tough to be digested and generally stored as fats in different parts of the body, which becomes the prime factor for child obesity. And never use food as a reward or punishment for a child. This is a serious matter since this type of reward or punishment becomes a habit for the kids.
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LIMIT SWEETENED BEVERAGES:
Always restrict and limit sweetened beverages, including those containing fruit juice, which provides no or little nutritional value. Also since these sweetened soft drinks contains, main acidic or gaseous matters which makes an imbalance in the digestion function creating a condition for child obesity.
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ENCOURAGE FAMILY MEALS:
Always sit down together for family meals and make it an event. This is a wonderful work in the home or at any place, since this encourages kids to enjoy food, kids become expressive, & a loving, caring environment is created. Also when consumed food in this way, all the family members enjoy the real taste of food. Always discourage eating in front of a television, computer or video game etc, since this makes fast eating and lowering the awareness of how much you’re eating.
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LIMIT FASTFOOD AND OUTSIDE EATINGS:
Cautiously limit the number of times you eat outside, especially at fast-food restaurants, since generally menu options are high in fat and calories contents. We know this is a bit tough job, but then here comes some trick to be taught to kids. Teach the kids how to select limited food outside the home, by reading its contents, especially its calories, starch, carbohydrates, contents etc which is the main part of diet control. Also, create awareness in kids about how to differentiate between healthy food & junk food. Unknowingly consuming of fast foods or junk foods, these are the worst enemy for all sorts of physical problems like child obesity.
About the writer:
Writer is professionally an MBA Graduate. she frequently share her thoughts on health and technological topics.
