Keep Your Kids Healthy
Childhood obesity is becoming an increasing problem in the USA and parts of Europe. Here are some tips for avoiding the problem.

Children can suffer terribly if they are overweight. It makes them a target for all kinds of bullying at school, both physical and psychological. The costs of being overweight in childhood don't stop there, though. Research has shown that overweight kids usually turn into overweight adults. Not only that, it has also been shown that people who were overweight in childhood are far more likely to suffer from life-threatening conditions like cardiac disease.

Because of all this, it is obvious that allowing your children to put on excess weight is the unkindest thing you can do either in the short or long term. How do you avoid it?

• Start young - as soon as your children start to be weaned, don't train them to prefer sweet foods. Never give them candy or desserts as a treat or reward.
• Don't give babies that are being weaned the sweet commercial desserts, mash up a banana instead, or stew an apple without sweetening it too much.
• Don't assume that because you like sweetened drinks like coffee or tea that you must put sugar in your children's drinks too. It is far better to get them accustomed to drinking them unsweetened.
• Get your children in the habit of eating breakfast. It is the one meal of the day we should all eat. A good breakfast would be something like cereal (no added sugar) and milk with some fresh fruit chopped up and mixed in or eaten separately. Eat it with a glass of real orange juice (unsweetened) and a milky drink.
• Children should avoid fast foods like burgers, fries, fried chicken, etc. Freshly cooked food with portions of fruit and vegetables are much better. Don't allow your children to develop the fast food habit - it's much easier than trying to break the habit later.

Good Food for Kids

• Milk
• Fruit and vegetables
• Eggs
• Bread
• Unsweetened cereals
• Fish and lean meat
• Cheese

Exercise
Although diet plays a large part in childhood obesity, lack of exercise can also be important. Here are some tips for getting your kids to take more exercise.

• Whenever possible, your children should walk to and from school rather than just ride in the car.
• Get a dog and make it your children's responsibility to walk it if they are old enough. If they are too young, make it a regular part of your routive for you and the kids to walk the dog (the exercise will do you good too!).
• If you don't want or can't have a dog, make regular visits to a local park where your children can play ball, use slides and swings.
• Allow time at weekends for the whole family to spend time on enjoyable physical activity like going swimming, walking, cycling, etc.
• At Christmas and birthdays, don't just give your kids computer games, give them a football, cricket or baseball bat, etc - anything that gives them an incentive to get out and play.
• Encourage your children to join a sports club or team - football, baseball, cricket, judo, karate, athletics, it doesn't matter as long as it demands physical activity.
• You might also want to think about taking the whole family on activity vacations. Instead of lying on a beach, why not take a vacation backpacking, horse riding or yachting?

The most important thing is to build a foundation, as young as possible, of an appreciation for good nutritious food and a love of physical activity. Your children won't suffer if they aren't addicted to sweet food or hamburgers and prefer a piece of fruit to a piece of candy.

The American Council for Fitness and Nutrition calls for action on childhood obesity. Learn more about it here.