Leading your sons or daughters down a healthy path when it comes to food and fitness involves a unique touch.
When it comes down to little kids, we’ve got big problems: Overweight stats have more than doubled for preschoolers and adolescents in the last 40 years-and a lot more than tripled tor kids between ages 6 and 11. And those numbers have generated a nation of little people who have adult-size health problems-including type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea-conditions which have lasting consequences for health and longevity.
Where to get started on to fix these problems? Begin with leading by example-the one strategy researchers say has worked when it comes to children’s health problems. Yet role modeling a healthy lifestyle isn’t about concentrating on your child’s weight. It’s about showing (and teaching) your kids smart habits. And therein lies the issue: Unlike in your parents’ day, all your family lives in a 24/7 world-a place where options and information are endless. You seldom (if ever) turn off, unplug, or get a day off from any of your roles (employee, mother, daughter). It’s no surprise you shift into autopilot concerning day-to-day decisions, opting for whatever seems easy or convenient. If you sometimes give up too quickly when issues about what to eat or how much TV is okay arise, then our goal is to give you a taste of what you need to do and to whom you can turn as a parent to make healthier choices. Trust us: Even in today’s go-go culture it is possible to be a healthy role model for your child.
THE NEW REALITY
Today’s experts say we are living in an “obesogenic environment,” one in which a combination of excessive calorie consumption and decreased physical exercise conspires to pack on the pounds. The straightforward explanation is that we’re not getting enough physical activity and we’re establishing unhealthy eating patterns. But there is positive news amidst all these new realities: As a parent and role model, you have a profound influence in all these areas- for better or worse. Study after study has concluded that your own personal eating and exercise behaviors, as well as your parenting practices, can have a potent and enduring impact on your children’s weight while they grow and develop.
YOUR HEALTHY PARTNER
Remember that you have a partner in your mission to guide your kids to a more healthy lifestyle: your pediatrician. If your child’s doctor does not discuss her weight with you, be sure to ask. If you voice your concerns, your health care provider should then elicit a discussion of what’s going on in your house in terms of eating and activity and suggest healthy changes. These might include limiting the consumption of junk food, encouraging the whole family to eat more produce, limiting TV and screen time, and promoting physical exercise every day.
Your child’s doctor should also help you develop an appropriate strategy to address your child’s weight problem based on her age, (he degree to which she’s overweight, and her health. This can be done by slowing the speed of weight gain, trying to maintain a child’s current weight while she grows in height, or encouraging slow, gradual weight reduction, based on what the doctor feels is acceptable. After all, it’s important to balance reaching and maintaining a healthy weight with making sure your kid’s body keeps growing and develop normally. These changes will not happen right away. They require planning, forethought, and a mindful approach in terms of how you’re managing your family’s routines. However the changes can become easier over time since children are so flexible. Most of all remember that ultimately everything you do matters: Making changes to your family’s eating and activity habits will have a profoundly healthy effect on your kid’s life.
Get the Conversation Started
If there’s any possibility that the conversation with your pediatrician about your kid’s weight may take on a negative tone, be sure your child is not present. In the end, the very last thing you or pediatrician might like to do is make a child feel embarrassed with his or her body. Consider passing the doctor a note at the beginning of the visit requesting a private talk to her after your child’s appointment. It is also a good idea to briefly tell the pediatrician if you have had any weight struggles and whether there is a family history of obesity; if there is, be sure to tell the pediatrician about any weight-related health problems those members of the family had too. That way, the doctor will have a broader context in which to deal with a children’s budding weight problem.
ASK THE PEDIATRICIAN
- How is my child’s weight?
- How is my child’s weight developing relative to his height? If the pediatrician tells you that your child is overweight, follow up with:
- Is he at risk for health complications due to the excess weight?
- What’s the best way for us to address those extra pounds through lifestyle changes?
- What’s our goal? Does he need to actually lose weight or simply maintain the current weight while continuing to grow in height?
