February 18, 2015

How to help your child lose weight: Keeping and staying on a healthy weight

How to help your child lose weight will require that you bring in the weight loss experts for the results to be realized

Obesity is not happening like an accident it develops gradually over a period of time and interestingly once settled it cannot be solved overnight. The solution will also take the same gradual process. If you or your child is struggling with obesity or overweight, you must be ready to take one step at a time. The process will not be easy but at the same time it is not impossible. Your first step would be to acknowledge that there is a problem. With the right people around you the process may even be much friendly and enjoyable. However, when we are talking about solutions it is important that we look towards preventions. Our children must not be allowed to go through this problem of weight gain and its associates. Therefore how to help your child lose weight should be your priority number one. I have talked about prevention for sure this is the best remedy. It is always much easier and economical to prevent weight gain by maintaining a healthy weight than it is to losing it (weight). Doctor Dalal Akoury a weight loss professional of over two decades and the founder and CEO of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is sharing with us some of the available options for us.

How to help your child lose weight: Make it a whole family effort

Obesity is not just your child’s problem. It is a problem that the whole family must be involved in solving. Your child lives within your family environment.
Chances are, someone else in your family has also struggled with weight or experienced obesity. They may be able to offer valuable help and support in developing realistic goals for your child.
As a family try to think of problems that you have solved successfully. This will help you stay positive, and look for other areas that are opportunities for change.
Mealtimes should be family times. Create a relaxed atmosphere around mealtime. Eat slowly and enjoy your food. Eat together as a family, and don’t watch TV during meals. Families that do not eat together tend to consume more fried foods and soda and less fruits and veggies than families that share meals.

How to help your child lose weight: Be a positive role model

Remember children are the best photocopiers. They are very observant and will do exactly what you do and very little on what you say. They may be getting the best teaching in their schools but if what they observe at home is different then, that is what they will do. In other words if your whole family eats healthy foods and gets active then your child will do the same with ease.

How to help your child lose weight: Help your child set goals

Set short-term goals for changes in your child’s diet and exercise on a weekly basis. Update your goals each weekly and write them down. Like you could set time limits for watching TV and jogging around.
Ensure that the set goals are realistic. For example, exercising an hour every day is unrealistic for a child who is de-conditioned, and not used to even minimal physical activity.
Appreciate them when they meet their weekly goals.
Have your child keep a record of their food intake and exercise. This will allow them to be more self-aware of their behavior. Give them positive feedback where necessary on their performance.
Praise your child for healthy food choices and physical activity. Criticism and punishment just don’t work.
Make sure your child understands that they can make a difference in their weight and that you will support them all the way.
Help your child recognize hunger and fullness signals. Stop eating when you’re full and turn down helpings when you are no longer hungry.
Help your child figure out what kinds of emotions and situations trigger overeating for them.
Make your child’s behavior changes a positive, fun experience by planning healthy foods, fun activities, and rewards for positive behavior.

How to help your child lose weight: Watch their media diet

Think about all the media your child uses: television, computer, video games, and hand-held computer games. These are all activities that replace physical activity in your child’s daily routine. Placing time limits on them will free up time for a more active lifestyle. Watching TV can use less energy than simply sitting and resting! Also, we tend to snack on high calorie foods during these inactive times.
Teach your child to be media savvy. The media bombards us with images of thin people having fun while eating and drinking high calorie foods. Kids don’t necessarily have the cognitive abilities to process this paradox.
Limit inactive things like TV, video games and computer time. Watching TV can use less energy than simply sitting and resting! Also, we tend to snack on high calorie foods during these inactive times.

How to help your child lose weight: Eat healthy meals and snacks

Have structured mealtimes and snacks on a schedule. Model and insist on good meal habits remember that eating less breakfast and more dinner or skipping breakfast increase the risk for obesity.
Don’t mistake healthy eating for dieting. Eating large amounts of high calorie food and frequent snacking have become commonplace. Bad eating habits become accepted as normal eating habits. Eating healthful foods in a healthy manner is not the same as dieting.
The food emphasis should be on a variety of vegetables, with half your plate being vegetables and fruits. Grains should be whole grains.
Keep only healthy foods in your home. Keeping junk food around for other family members, and trying to “police” what your child eats, only promotes sneak eating.

How to help your child lose weight: Get moving

Encourage physical activity. As kids move into adolescence, their levels of activity tend to drop too low. Do active things together as a family, like bike riding, hiking, walking and swimming. Here are some great ideas for helping to get your child and your family more active.
Build activity into your family’s daily life with household chores, walking to school, parking farther from buildings and taking the stairs. Decreasing inactivity works better for long-term weight loss than focusing on vigorous aerobic exercise. It’s also an easier lifestyle change for your family to make!
Make sure your kid gets outside during daylight hours. You could make it a policy in your family that unless the weather is bad, your children play outdoors after school. This encourages physical activity, and rules out the inactive pursuits of TV and other media.

Finally I will again make emphasis on the prevention as this is the best way to keep healthy all the days of our kids live. However knowing that this may have passed you and you are already struggling with weight gain. All is not lost for you. You can schedule for an appointment with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and doctor Akoury will take you through the weight loss program professionally leaving you with a much healthier weight and great life a head of you.

How to help your child lose weight: Keeping and staying on a healthy weight

Overweight children and advice for parents

February 17, 2015

Overweight children and advice for the parents: Parent Ore their children the duty of care

Overweight children and advice for parents. Parents have a duty to give feeding guidance to their children if obesity and overweight war is to be worn

For those who are religious the holy book states that teach a child the way he should go and when he grows up he will not depart from it. That is not just a motivating statement but it is loaded with a lot of truth. Children are very observant; more than 80% of what the children learn is out of observation. We are focusing on the overweight children and advice for the parents who bring up these children. If your child is overweight dear reader, there are lots of things you can do to help them become a healthy weight as they grow. Doctor Akoury says that, as parents we ore our children the duty of care to protect them from all kinds of harms. Weight gain is one of the dangers that we must shield our children from. While appreciating that at times it may be difficult to tell whether your child is overweight because it is not only about the appearance. The child may not appear to be heavy, but he is still overweight. Coupled with the fact that many children are today being born heavy, we are probably a custom to seeing bigger children yes, but this doesn’t absolve us from playing our role as the care giver to our children.

There is a lot you can now do to help your child reach a healthy weight. Research has established that children who achieve a healthy weight tend to be fitter, healthier, better able to learn, and more self-confident. They’re also less likely to have low self-esteem and be bullied by their mates in their environs. And most importantly is that they’re much less likely to have health problems associated with weight gain in their adulthood. Therefore as parents we must take our rightful positions to help our children become a healthier weight. This can be done by making them to be more active and eat well balance diet. Nevertheless the following are some of the practical suggestions that can help you bring up healthy children.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Steps for success

To be successful in anything, you must work towards it. In our case we want health weigh children and the following are some of the works you need to do, first:

Be a good role model
Encourage at least one hour of physical activity on a daily basis
Keep to child-size portions consistently
Eat healthy meals, drinks and snacks
Less screen time and more sleep

Let us now consider each of them briefly as we progress into the discussion.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Be a good role model

One of the best ways to instill good habits in your child is for you to be a good role model. Like I have mentioned above children learn by example. One of the most powerful ways to encourage your child to be active and eat well is to do so yourself. Set a good example by going for a walk or bike ride instead of watching TV, or surfing the internet. Playing in the park or swimming with your children shows them that being active is fun, and it’s a great way for you all to spend time together.

Any changes you make to your child’s diet and lifestyle are much more likely to be accepted if the changes are small and involve the whole family.
Physical activity may be more appealing for your child if you do something as a family.
Get Ideas tailored for getting children involved in switching to a healthier lifestyle.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Get active

As you get into the business of being active, remember that overweight children don’t need to do more exercise than slimmer children. Their extra body weight means they will naturally burn more calories for the same activity. But all the same all children needs at least one hour daily of exercise for good health. This minimum of 60 minutes can be done in portions say in bits of 10minutes through the day. However for younger children, it can take the form of active play, such as ball games, chasing games, riding a scooter, and using playground swings, climbing frames and see-saws. But as for older children it could include riding a bike, skateboarding, walking to school, skipping, swimming, dancing and martial arts.

Walking or cycling short distances instead of using the car or bus is a great way to be active together as a family. This mode of transport causes you money so if you drop then you will be saving money too.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Child size portions

Try to avoid feeding your child over-sized portions. In this practice, we have very little official guidance on precisely how much food children require. Therefore using your discretion, you need to be consistent with whatever the portion you are going to be allowing to be consumed. Remember not to starve your child in the pretext of losing weight. A good rule of thumb is to start meals with small servings and let your child ask for more if they are still hungry.

Try not to make your child finish everything on the plate or eat more than they want to. And avoid using adult-size plates for younger children as it encourages them to eat oversized portions. It may also help if you encourage your child to eat slowly and have set mealtimes. You can use mealtimes as an opportunity to catch up on what’s happened during the day.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Eat healthy meals

Children, just like adults, should aim to eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables every day. These are a great source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Discourage your child from having too many sugary or high-fat foods like sweets, cakes, biscuits, some sugary cereals and soft drinks. These foods and drinks tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients. Instead aim for your child to get most of their calories from healthier foods such as fruit and vegetables, and starchy foods such as bread, potatoes, pasta and rice (preferably whole meal). And switch sweet drinks for water.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Less screen time and more sleep

Alongside the advice to get them moving more is the need to reduce the time they spend sitting or lying down in the day.
Engage the children in different house duties. This will be helpful for then as sitting and lying around too much may cause them to put on weight.
Limit the time your child spends on inactive pastimes like watching TV, playing video games and playing on electronic devices.
There’s no hard and fast advice on how much is too much, but experts advise that children should watch no more than two hours of television each day. And remove all screens (including mobile phones) from their bedroom at night.
It also helps children stay trim if they sleep well. It’s been shown that children who don’t have the recommended amount of sleep are more likely to be overweight. The less children sleep, the greater the risk of them becoming obese. Lack of sleep can also affect their mood and behavior.

But in all these remember to consult with the experts consistently whenever you notice any difficulties. Doctor Akoury will be there for you on a phone call and handle your case in the best and most efficient manner.

Overweight children and advice for parents: Parent Ore their children the duty of care

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