The perception of a Healthy child is quite confusing and many times people consider a child with more weight and bulk as being healthy. Parents fail to identify the fine line between a healthy weight and an over-weight among children as they love to see their child eating and growing big. However, in today’s world, where childhood obesity has become a major concern, parents should be aware enough to watch the weight of their child and take action on time to maintain their healthy weight and avoid child obesity.
Is your child overweight?
Every child is different. Their built, height, physique, and weight vary. So, it gets difficult to identify if a child is going towards an unhealthy weight. You can check the BMI of your child to know if he or she is Overweight. It is a screening tool which measures body weight relative to height and finds out if a child is overweight, normal, or underweight. If you find anything to be concerned with, then you can meet a pediatric for better suggestions.
What you can do as a parent for your overweight child?
Parents play the most crucial role in developing habits among children like their sleeping habit, eating habit, playing, drinking, and others. So, here are a few ways to develop some healthy habits and help your child be in the healthy weight range.
- Be a role model: Children imitate the people they are mostly around and are also good learners. If you will eat and drink healthy things, they will copy you. Gradually, develop healthy eating plan for kids and implement them.
- Make your child aware: Until your child understands the importance of eating healthy and having a healthy weight, he or she will not be motivated to follow healthy habits. Instead of telling the disadvantages of being overweight, discuss the advantages of being in right weight.
- Serve reasonable size portion: Eating high quantity is not going to make your child healthy. Eating high quality will make. So, ensure you are not over serving your child at meal time.
- Eliminate unhealthy snacks from routine: Do not shop for packaged foods, sweetened beverages, and fast food. If these are not at home, the child will not eat. Keep healthy snacks accessible to them so that they can munch with them and remain filled.
- Ensure one hour of physical activity: Engage your child in physical activity at least for one hour daily. Initially, you might need to go out and play with your child if he or she does not have a group around. Reduce screen time and keep away the devices from their sight.
- Ensure good sleep: Taking enough sleep is good at all ages, especially for children. Though it is not confirmed, but less sleep can affect body weight in either way. It results in weight loss as well as weight gain, depending on how your body reacts. So, sleeping adequately is important.
- Try to avoid shopping with kids: The shelves in supermarkets are quite tempting for kids. It gets difficult to avoid buying when they insist. So, try not to take them for grocery shopping as it will bring many unhealthy snacks at home.
Once your child gets into a routine of healthy eating and other healthy habits, he or she will definitely attain a good body weight. However, if your child is under any kind of specific medical condition, then you must consult a pediatrician for further suggestions.
This post first appeared on Online Health & Wellness Tips | Zoylo Digihealth, please read the originial post: here
