Fat Fighting Arsenals

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

14 Jun 2006 10:30 AM

Are you concerned about your children's weight? Are you worried that they might have a weight issue, but you aren't sure how to target it and you need to be careful to avoid damaging their self-esteem? Here are a few tips for moms and dads alike to employ in helping their whole family achieve healthier eating habits and increased activity to stimulate weight loss.

Remember, there is no single solution to being overweight. It's a combination of environmental factors that brought you or your family to the weight you are now. So it will take a combination of solutions and changes to the environmental factors to resolve these issues. There's been a lot of information provided here at Families.com and I'd love to know how helpful this is to you.

Where to Start

Begin by identifying the enemies located in your diets.

Portion Sizing is a huge issue to a society that loves to super size its meals. Our fast food is huge and our movie theater food is worse. Have you seen the size of a small drink at the movie theater? And how many times have you ordered a small or medium, only to have the person on the other side of the counter tell you that a large is just a quarter more. Fiscally, you get more bang for the buck if you buy a large and we're all for the more bang to the buck - but do you really need a large? You ordered a medium after all.

A good rule of thumb for families with young children and questions about portion sizes can be as following. Moms, make your portions the size of your fist or just a bit larger. Then section it - take one-quarter from those portions and put it on a child's plate. That's about the right size for your child and the three-quarters that are left are a good size for you.

You can apply this to your takeout menus as well as eating in the restaurants or cooking at home. In fact, if you are worried about weight loss and overeating, skip going out to eat for a while. Concentrate on making meals at home - that way you can be sure to add more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Limit sodas and encourage more fruit and water drinks.

The Second Front of Your Plan

The second part of your plan is to limit the time your children are inactive. Now note, I didn't say make them get more active - I said limit their inactivity. For example, cut down on the television watching and video game playing. Insist they spend time outside - in the summer time, you might target the mornings and evenings when its cooler as outdoor time - afternoons can be good for napping as needed and cooler downtime. You can also take the kids swimming. Remember, children need activity to help their growing bones and muscles to develop. It's also a by-product that if you get your children more active - you can get more active as well.

For this summer, for example, my daughter is going to a series of day camps for just a few hours each day (less than 5) designed to help her keep her activity level high and mitigate her boredom. She'd rather be running and playing and jumping and dancing than just about anything else - so it's a good plan.

What do you do to help monitor your child's diet and activity?

Related Articles:

Working Out With your Kids

How to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Kiddy Burn Out

Watch What You Say

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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