It is from the parents that the child will pick up healthy eating habits. Any treatment program without parental guidance will definitely fail.
Child obesity is caused when a child eats more than the body consumes. Excessive intake of fast food and colas are often responsible for the imbalance between energy input and output.
Obesity can have an immediate negative impact on a child.
A diet diary can be used to study eating patterns and identify foods the child has a weakness for. The diet plan of the obese child can then be developed keeping these patterns in mind.
An obese child is often the butt of jokes in the playground. While treating child obesity it is important to provide the child with positive reinforcement. Do teach the child how to turn negative remarks into positive statements to help keep up his self esteem.
The other obvious thing to do to treat child obesity is to reduce calorific intake of the child. Children should not be subject to fasting or extreme calorie reduction. A well balanced diet with less fat content is the best diet for an obese child.
In treatment of child obesity it helps to involve children in their treatment. Children should be encouraged to ask questions. Simple words can be used to explain why they need to follow a diet plan and increase physical movement.
Only a small percentage of children suffer from child obesity caused by hormonal problems. Some children may also have a propensity to be obese due to hereditary factors.
Increase in physical activity is the first and foremost step towards treating obesity in a child. An addition of only 1000 steps per day to a child’s activity routine contributes significantly in reduction of body weight. Physical activity also reduces the chances of health related problems.
Child obesity is on the increase and there is a growing degree of alarm about the increasing prevalence of overweight among children.
A child is defined as obese when around 30% of his or her total body weight is composed of fat. Skin fold measures are also used as indicators of child obesity but they are not easily replicable over the years as the child grows.
Child obesity is also contributing to diseases like cardiac problems and Type 2 diabetes in children. It has effect on the future health of the population as most obese children are likely to grow up into obese adults.
Parents and guardians must be involved with the treatment of a child’s obesity.