How To Prevent Obesity In Childhood?

December 16, 2022

Obesity

How to prevent obesity in childhood? As you can see, obesity not only makes us shy, but it also has more severe consequences, such as being the root cause of many chronic diseases. Furthermore, childhood obesity is a significant issue in the United States, putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity was prevalent in 19.3% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years in 2017-2018, affecting about 14.4 million children and adolescents (1). Give your help to reduce that rate by preventing your children from becoming obese or overweight starting today. Liftyolife (liftyolife.com) will point you in the right direction.

Contents show

1. Eat the rainbow

A healthy diet can help children obtain the nutrients they require for healthy growth and development, as well as help them achieve a healthy weight. Eating a variety of different-colored fruits and vegetables throughout the day means to eat the rainbow. The majority of colorful fruits and vegetables have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that may benefit various aspects of your health.

Eat the rainbow

How to do:

To eat the rainbow, including two to three different-colored fruits or vegetables at each meal and at least one at each snack. While you don’t have to eat every color every day, try incorporating them into your diet at least once a week.

The seven colors of fruits and vegetables represent the seven colors of the rainbow, and each one has its own set of health benefits (2) (3) (4) (5) (6).

Red
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidants.
- Improve heart health.
- Reduce sun-related skin damage.
- Reduce your risk of certain cancers.
Orange and yellow
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidants.
- Heart health promotes.
- Support eye health.
- Reduce the risk of cancer.
Green
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidant.
- Reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
Blue and purple
- Advantages for health.
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidants.
- Benefits heart health.
- Reduce the risk of neurological disorders.
- Improve brain function.
- Reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Dark red
- Advantages for health.
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidant.
- Reduce the development of high blood pressure.
- Beneficial to heart health.
- Reduce the risk of developing certain cancers.
- Improve athletic performance by increasing oxygen uptake.
Brown and white
- Advantages for health.
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Antioxidant.
- Reduce the chances of developing colon and other cancers.
- Beneficial to heart health.

2. Slow down on sugar

Sugars are still present in a well-balanced diet, particularly natural sugars. This is because monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) or disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) are essential components of vegetables, fruits, milk, milk-derived products, and grains (7). Furthermore, many sugars from candies, soda, or processed foods can be a redundant source of our daily sugar intake. To evaluate the harm that excessive sugar consumption can cause, you should understand the process by which ingested sugars are broken down, converted to fat, and stored in the human body.

Children under the age of 2 should have no added sugar at all, and they should keep sugars to less than 10% of their daily calories. Avoiding sugary drinks such as soda, juice drinks, and flavored milk is an excellent way to cut back on sugar. Offer water, plain low-fat milk, or 100% juice instead to encourage your children to reconsider their beverage choices.

Slow down on sugar

3. Make a favorite dish healthier

There is room for your intelligence to shine. Make all of your unhealthy favorite dishes healthier by using creative and evolutionary methods. Let’s reduce harmful factors such as saturated fat, processed carbohydrates, etc.

For example, instead of spaghetti with regular noodles, try whole-wheat pasta or get creative with zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash. In case your kids are big fans of rice, let’s replace your regular rice with brown rice, which is super healthy for them. That’s amazing! It’s time to make your children jump into an eating-clean lifestyle now.

4. Incorporate healthy snacks

Every child loves snacks, so they always ask their parents to eat their favorite snacks. Many parents are soft-hearted and indulgent in their children’s wishes, but that’s not true at all. This situation happens once, twice, and it will last forever. Stop here. Why don’t you generate unhealthy snacks for healthier versions?

If your kids are hungry in between meals, offer them a fruit or vegetable instead of ice cream or chips. Alternatives include ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins) and Greek yogurt with berries. Another delicious option for a healthy snack is kale chips for a high-energy afternoon.

5. Reduce screen time

Adults and children spend more than 7 hours per day sedentary – and that doesn’t include sleep! Many of these hours are spent sitting or lying down with a phone, computer, or tablet, surfing social media, watching TV, or playing video games (also called screen time).

Too much screen time has negative health consequences ranging from poor sleep, weight gain, lower academic performance to poor mental health in youth. When you limit that harmful time, you make more time for family activities or hanging out with exercises. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests developing a family media plan external icon, which includes ideas like keeping meal times tech-free, charging devices outside the bedroom at night, turning screens off an hour before bed, and many more.

Reduce screen time

6. Sleep well

A good sleep at night or snap allows your brain to recharge and recover. Furthermore, adequate sleep is essential for avoiding type 2 diabetes, obesity, injuries, poor mental health, and attention and behavioral issues. Did you know that children aged 6 to 12 require 9 to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, while adolescents aged 13 to 18 need 8 to 10 hours? Insomnia is linked to obesity because it causes us to eat more and be less physically active. Ensure your children are active during the day, remove screens from their bedrooms, and establish a consistent sleep schedule, even weekends or on holidays, to help them sleep better.

In addition, children mimic the adults in their lives. Adopt these healthy habits as a role model for them, and they will follow suit! Finally, bear in mind that obesity is a complicated disease with numerous contributing factors. Find out what states and communities can make healthy and active living more accessible to everyone.

Sleep well

7. Teach kids about serving size

The next step your children should take is to control the size of their meals or dishes. Too large plates can hold a lot of food, so the energy consumed outweighs the energy expended on activities. That puts their weight in jeopardy.

As a result, gradually reducing the size of their meals can assist them in lowering their redundant energy intake. However, a Twinkie or snack-size bag of chips is permissible. These foods are delicious, but they should only be consumed in moderation. Controlling the input will be a massive success on the road to rescuing your children from obesity.

8. Move more

The best way to reduce overweight and obesity is to keep the energy consumed for activities always more significant than the energy intake. So, don’t dismiss the benefits of physical activities.

Furthermore, when compared to inactive youth, physically active ones have stronger muscles and better cardiovascular fitness. They also have less body fat and stronger bones. Physical activity is also linked to a lower risk of depression in children. Children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day to enhance their health to the next level.

Childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic in the United States. According to data from 2015-2016 of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly “1 in 5 school-age children and young people (6 to 19 years) is obese” (8). Have you discovered any methods above on how to prevent obesity in childhood? Do not postpone anymore; act now.

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