Help Your Kids Stay Healthy and Active
An obese child and adolescence have a greater chance of being an obese adult. Help your kids stay healthy and active by promoting healthy eating habits and daily exercise.
Obesity is the easiest medical condition to diagnosis, and the most difficult to treat. Lack of physical activity contributes to childhood obesity and an increase in the risk of getting:
- Diabetes
- heart disease
- high blood pressure
- breathing problems
- hard to sleep
Obesity occurs when a person eats more calories than the body is able to burn up. If one parent is obese, then the child has a 50% chance of being obese. If both parents are obese, then the chances of being obese are 80%. Childhood obesity can lead to poor self esteem and possible depression.
Obesity in children and adolescence can be related to the following:
- family history of obesity
- poor eating habits
- depression
- lack of exercise
- life’s changes (death, divorce, drugs, moving, step-parent, separations)
- medicines
- medical conditions
- over eating
- poor self esteem
- peer pressure and family problems
Since, obesity usually affects more than one family member, get the whole family involved in eating healthy and getting active.
Make physical activity part of your family’s every day life. Walk to school together, enjoy a walk and watch the sunset, take your dog for a walk, go bike riding, play and exercise together.
- Limit TV and video games to less than one hour a day, keep the TV’s out of the kids bedroom.
- Children should have at least 30-60 minutes of playing outside everyday. Adolescence 60 minutes.
- A little activity is better than no activity, over time it can make a huge difference in your child’s health and weight.
- At least 7 hours of sleep every night.
