The statistics are scary.
Childhood obesity is on the rise and parents are becoming increasingly anxious over every bite of food their children eat. Parents often ask me what they need to tell their kids to prevent them from a lifetime of weight issues and my answer is, “Say less, do more.”
Let’s face it, our society is terrified of fat. This isn’t surprising, since everywhere we turn there are people offering countless suggestions for how to get rid of it. We avoid it in our food and go to great lengths to eliminate it from our bodies. We are taught that fat is bad and, as a result, teach the same to our kids.
If we want truly healthy kids, we must understand that healthy is not always synonymous with skinny. Healthy bodies really do come in a variety of shapes and sizes and we need to stop confusing physical appearance with physical fitness.
By focusing on “weight”, we are missing out on the real goal, which is “health”.
Here are a few tips on preventing obesity without creating body preoccupation:
- Keep food talk POSITIVE. Food is not “good” or “bad”. Instead of demonizing certain foods and creating fear around them, try introducing new foods, bring home a new fruit or vegetable weekly. Accessibility is key, and having a bowl off freshly washed fruit on the kitchen table is a great way to get kids to eat healthy without even thinking about it.
- No More Diets! While kids are growing, the last thing we want to do is mess with their bodies. Any kind of restrictive eating will only set them up for weight issues later on. According to NEDIC, “Adolescent girls who diet are 325 per cent more at risk for obesity than those who don’t.”
Recently, a writer at Vogue magazine made the news by writing about the ridiculous diet she created for her seven-year-old daughter. Determined to make her daughter lose weight, she completely neglected her overall well-being. I cringe at the parts of her essay when she talks about “forcing” her child to eat certain things and “giving in to her pleas” to eat others, warning her that they’ll make her too heavy. Clearly, this mom was more concerned with a skinny child than a healthy one. The emotional weight she’s burdened her daughter with far outweighs whatever physical weight has been lost. - Get Active! With the focus being put on what we’re eating, we have completely forgotten the importance of what we’re DOING. Kids need to play more! Encourage them to run, skip, and dance, whatever will keep their bodies moving.
More and more schools have begun implementing anti-obesity programs which target school lunches and snacks, but ignore the importance of physical education classes. Kids need to learn that being active feels good and is important and schools need to give them the time they deserve to get moving!
“The pervasive anti-obesity message may be partly to blame for young girls’ obsession with weight and body image,” According to an issue of the Canadian Medical Association journal. Additionally, Health Canada found that almost one in every two girls and almost one in every five boys of Grade 10 either were on a diet or wanted to lose weight. - Walk the walk. We can’t expect our kids to engage in a healthy lifestyle, if we aren’t showing them how easily it can be done. We need to eat with balance and moderation, eliminate the negative body image “fat talk” and get outside more!
We need to worry less and play more.
Article by: Marci Warhaft-Nadler for OurKids.net, Canada’s trusted source for camps and schools.