Fighting Childhood Obesity with Diet, Nutrition and Exercise

Childhood obesity is a serious problem affecting children not only in the United States but in many areas around the world. Many children are struggling to stay at a healthy weight. Unfortunately obesity affects people’s overall health and can cause complications with heart disease, diabetes and other issues.

When fighting childhood obesity, it is important to look at several different areas. Children need to eat a healthy diet so that they can get the nutrition they need. Gut-related conditions like Candida can change the microbiome and actually contribute to obesity. They also need to exercise on a regular basis. It is important that the schools, health professionals and individual families work together to help stop childhood obesity.

Diet

A healthy diet is key to helping children stay in shape and lose weight. Children need to understand the importance of eating the right kinds of food. It also helps them to understand the difference between healthy food options and unhealthy ones. As individuals learn about the different food options, it becomes easier to embrace a healthy diet. While a healthy diet is very important, it is also important for parents and caregivers to maintain their children’s confidence and not make them feel bad about themselves.

• Snacks for Healthy Kids: This resource gives ideas on snacks that healthy kids would eat. It is good resource when you are trying to build a diet.
• Choose My Plate: The basic dietary guidelines for a basic diet. This program replaced the food pyramid.
• Growing Healthy Kids: This resource offers a variety of recipes and lesson plans to help kids eat a healthier diet.
• Understanding Youth and Adolescent Obesity: This page talks about the issues, including diet that lead to childhood obesity and the things that need to change in regard to diet.
• Age Appropriate Diet for Kids: The National Institutes of Health outlines the basic dietary guidelines for children at the different ages of their lives.
• Child Nutrition and Health: This resource by the USDA provides games and sites to help your teach nutrition to kids.
• Healthy Eating Habits for Kids: WebMD outlines the habits you need to establish to help your kids make healthy eating choices.
• Encourage Gets to Eat Healthy Foods: PBS offers some tips to help you encourage your children to make healthier choices.
• Healthy Eating: This site gives suggestions on how to eat healthy as a family.
• Fun Ways to Teach Kids About Healthy Food Choices: Parenting Magazine offers an article about how you can make teaching about healthy food choices fun.

Proper Nutrition

Creating healthy eating habits is just one part of the fight against obesity. It is important that children be able to make good food choices each day. They need to understand what each food groups offers in terms of nutrients so they can make better food choices in the future. Understanding why some foods, like probiotic foods, are much healthier than others enables them to make better overall choices. Ultimately, this is something that can easily be controlled by parents as they are generally the people making food purchases in the home. Leading by example is a great way to get your children eating healthier.

• Teaching Nutrition to Kids: Baylor provides information and resources on teaching proper nutrition to kids.
• Nutrition and the Brain: This site teaches kids about how important the right nutrition is for the brain.
• Nutrition for the School Aged Child: Learn about the different nutrients kids need to eat each day as the move from child to teenager to adult. As well as look at ideas for snacks.
• Sports Nutrition for Children on the Go: Children who are active need more calories and different type of diet for the different sports. Learn how to make sure your active child is getting the correct nutrition.
• Kids World Nutrition: This website provides trivia and games to teach children about getting proper nutrition.
• Kids in the Kitchen: Review video recipes and ideas to help kids learn to make healthy food.
• Eat Right Kids: Eat Right provides recipes, articles about nutrition and other resources to help kids get the right types of nutrition.
• Kids Games: Nutrition Exploration provides a series of videos and games designed to help kids learn about proper nutrition.
• Bridges to Wellness: This program explains how the school nutrition organization is working to teach children in schools about making healthy eating choices.
• Easy Child Care Nutrition: Learn about the recommended steps for child care centers to take to provide proper nutrition while preventing childhood obesity.

Exercise

In the fight against obesity, it is important to work with children on becoming more active. Regular exercise helps children to stay healthy. Young children may just need the opportunity to run around outside on a regular basis. Older children and teens may need a more structured exercise program if they are trying to lose weight. There are many activities that kids can partake in aside from strict exercise routines that will allow them to work out while having fun.

• Active Healthy Living – Prevention of Childhood Obesity through Increased Physical Activity: Read the official American Academy of Pediatric Association regarding exercise.
• Getting and Keeping Children Engaged in Physical Activity: This offers ideas and resources to help your children become more active.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Children: Learn the basic recommendations of exercises for kids to complete.
• Exercise Goals for Kids: This outlines the basic recommendations for exercise, as well as listing the benefits of regular exercise.
• Exercise and Eating Healthy Videos: View some basic exercise videos as well as videos on making healthy eating choices. These videos are targeted for kids.
• How Much Physical Activity Do Children Need?: The CDC outlines the basic physical activity requirements for children as well as gives suggestions on different types of activities.
• Get Active: The Let’s Move website offers tips and resources to help you and your entire family get active.
• The Benefits of Physical Activity: Learn the basic benefits of becoming more physically active.
• Raising Healthy Kids: This brochure gives suggestions on several different ways you can help your children be healthier. There is an entire section devoted to exercise.
• Get Sporty, Join Your Kids in Their Games: This article talks about how you can join your kids in their physical activities to encourage them to stay active.