Ways to Help your Child Fight Childhood Obesity

Halloween, slumber parties, birthdays ?sometimes, it seems like childhood is one big food fest. It is difficult to deprive your child with special delicacies and delights when all her friends are having a grand feast.

However, this simple condition can bring about more trouble than you can think of. Treating your child occasionally may be good, but giving them the chance to devour every sweets and treats that they want could mean one big problem ?childhood obesity.

In some instances, some people claim that genetics can play a major part in childhood obesity. It does, but not as big as the role that parents do. It is a falsehood that genetic materials induce a child to be heavy at an early age.

For the greater part of the population, genetic materials may establish the lower maximum values of people抯 weight, but people themselves establish the higher maximum values by their food choices. In addition, since most kids cannot simply set the limits and choose the food that they need to eat, it is the duty of the parents to set the limits.

You do not know how to do it? Here are some tips that will help you keep track of your child抯 food and eating regimen and help him fight childhood obesity.

1. Happy Halloween!

As the only festival dedicated almost completely to overeating on 搒ugar-laden treats,?Halloween holds an extraordinary place in hell for most parents dealing with childhood obesity.

This can understandably be a very tough time for your child to get through, but you can make it easier. Try focusing on the real spirit of the season and make a special haunted house for the kids, or let them have a 搒pooktacular?party with ghost stories, rubber spiders, and the old 搒paghetti intestines and grape eyeballs?game.

For younger kids, a costume party with pumpkin painting and other activities is always fun. The important thing is that you shun away your kinds from any signs of sugary sweets.

2. Overnight trips

The first solo sleepover can be nerve-wracking for both you and the host parents. Kids old enough for slumber parties and overnight trips are typically at least starting to manage some of their own food and diet regimen, which helps.

Spend some time with the parents in advance of the event to give them a briefing on what your child might potentially need, and make yourself available via phone for any questions they might have.

Provide them with healthy snacks that they can eat and give them nutritious to cook.

3. Calorie-conscious kiddos

It is important to teach your child about the kinds of foods that they are expected to eat. Splurge some time teaching your child the comparative calorie substance. That will make your child make better food choices.

It is better to teach them early how to read food labels to help boost their food awareness.

4. Snack on the right foods

Children are very vulnerable to snacks; hence, it would be difficult to remove them. The only best way to prevent childhood obesity is to allow them to snack on the right foods. Give them some apples instead of a bar of chocolates.

Keep in mind that eating is a habit. If your children抯 eating regimen has been accustomed to healthy eating from the very start, they will grow healthy and strong.

Indeed, fighting childhood obesity is not a problem. It is just in the manner parents teach their children the right stuffs to eat.

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Will A Spoonful Of Sugar Make Your Child Overweight?

Childhood obesity is on the rise. According to a recent National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) survey, almost one-third of American children can be described as overweight-an increase of nearly 20 percent from a study a decade ago. Fortunately, there's a lot parents can do to keep their children from becoming overweight.

While many people associate sweetness with table sugar, called sucrose, this is just one type of sugar that provides this taste. There is also sugar in fruits, called fructose, and many foods contain added sugars such as corn syrup, honey and high fructose corn syrup. All sugars are carbohydrates containing four calories per gram and after digestion they travel through the bloodstream where they are used as fuel for the body.

Sugar substitutes, also called low-calorie sweeteners, supply flavor but add little or no calories.

Limiting the intake of sugary foods, which often contribute few nutrients to the diet, can be a positive step in decreasing the number of American children who are overweight. Many health experts suggest using a sugar substitute like aspartame to replace the sweetness in some of your child's favorite foods. Before being approved by the FDA, sweeteners undergo extensive safety testing to be sure they are safe for consumption by children and pregnant women. According to the American Dietetic Association, children can safely consume aspartame as part of a diet consistent with the Food Guide Pyramid.

Snacks are an essential part of any child's diet, providing energy and nutrients.

"The challenge is getting children to snack less on high-sugar foods and more on nutrient-dense snacks from the Food Guide Pyramid," says Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian from the American Dietetic Association and a pediatric nutrition expert at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He recommends "sweet" snacking on low-fat, sugar-free yogurt, fresh fruit, raisins and other dried fruit, 100- percent fruit snacks, sugar-free flavored gelatin, fruit juice pops made with reduced sugar juice and sugar-free flavored water.

Nutrition experts agree sweet foods can be part of a healthful diet. The key is moderation-to ensure that sweet foods do not crowd out more nutrient-dense foods. Sugar substitutes have the potential to serve as effective weight management tools when used together with physical activity and healthy food choices.

• Althea Zanecosky is a registered dietician, national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and a mother of two daughters.

Foods sweetened with sugar substitutes provide healthy alternatives for children.

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