By Roy Benaroch, MD
As printed in Around Town Publishing, August 2007
Many children and their parents struggle with concerns about becoming overweight, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed with advice about diet and exercise. Too much information about exact portion sizes, calorie counts, and rigorous exercise routines can discourage parents before they’ve even started! Fortunately, some very simple advice can go a long way towards ensuring your whole family reaches a healthy weight that can be maintained.
Turn off the TV. The more television watched, the more weight children will gain. You don’t have to fight to get kids to exercise–but you do need to get them away from the television set.
Eat slowly. When kids down their meals too quickly, they don’t reach a point where they feel “full.” Fast eating means overeating. Use mealtimes for conversation and relaxation, not just for shoveling down food.
Drink water with meals rather than high calorie juice and soft drinks. Sugary drinks add plenty of calories, and don’t help you feel full.
Eat as a family. When kids eat with parents, they choose healthier foods and more reasonable portions. This also gives more opportunity for conversation and modeling table manners.
Save treats for special occasions. Dessert will be enjoyed more if it’s a treat, rather than something expected with every dinner.
Offer low-calorie snacks before, during, and in-between meals. Carrot sticks and celery nibbled right before a meal can really cut down an appetite.
Try food that looks like food. That is, food that’s closer to “natural” is more wholesome and better than processed foods, and less likely to lead to excessive weight gain. Think about the difference between a fresh apple, applesauce (with its added sugar and stabilizers), and apple pie (loaded with sugar and extra fats.)
Incorporating just a few of these ideas can help your whole family reach healthy weight goals. You can do it if you try!