How Did Your Child Become Overweight?
June 9, 2009 by Mohamed
Filed under Weight Loss
Obesity or being overweight is something that can take an individual years to achieve – with that in mind, it will take a long time to lose the weight as well. People don’t plan on becoming overweight – you don’t wake up and say to yourself — “hey, I want to gain weight and I will start today by…” at the same time it doesn’t happen subconsciously either.
Take me as an example – I started to gain weight around 13-years of age. My doctor told my parents that if he does not control himself from now he will be 180 lbs by the time he’s 18. You know what, the doctor was right.
It started by eating, and eating, and eating and not exercising. By eating the wrong foods, and the wrong time and in the wrong place. Do you eat in front of the TV? Bad idea. Why? Kids then associate TV with eating, so when the TV is on the instinct is to eat.
Eating should be done in the appropriate place – in the dining room or kitchen. A late night snack of popcorn might be fine, but don’t make it a three-course meal in front of the TV.
There are many reasons why children may gain weight:
- Little to no parental involvement in their daily lives. Parents can be busy, in most families both parents work and as such meal planning and activities are quickly forgotten.
- Kids have easy access to junk food and prepared foods – hamburgers, hot dogs, processed meats, soda pop, chips, candy, frozen meals etc., If kids have easy access to this, why would they want to eat anything healthy?
- Bad cooking habits – being of Indian descent growing up we ate a lot of fried foods, lots of rice and all the sweet things that go with an Indian style diet. This includes rotis where there is oil or ghee in the initial preparation of the dough and then more ghee added after its been cooked.
- Kids and the TV, or computer, or game machine – regardless of what the item is, kids need exercise. No exercise? They will gain weight. My son is tall and skinny – he doesn’t gain weight but he still needs to exercise. Exercise is UNIVERSAL – regardless if you are overweight or just the right weight, our bodies need exercise.
Obese children, will become obese adults.
Most parents are also reluctant to put their kids on diets – but parents, you need to think about your child and don’t think of it as a diet. It is lifestyle changes that need to be made and when dealing with children it must be a family effort. You can’t tell your child “no pop/chips” and proceed to open a bag of chips and down it with soda — won’t work.
With lifestyle changes, everyone needs to be involved.
More of my own examples. When I started making my lifestyle changes, I ate everything that is traditional — but I was eating more proportionate meals – so rather than 6 or 8 rotis when my wife made curry, I would have 2 or 3. My wife eliminated salt and significant amount of oil when cooking as well — it was hard but it was possible.
I also started to exercise more – small steps, like walking around the house with my son following closely behind — he thought it was a game and had loads of fun! Even now (he’s 6-years old) he still loves it! Then I started to do more – went out for walks after dinner, went for walks after lunch at work, helped more in the house with cleaning (you will be amazed how many calories you can burn by simply vacuming the house or doing dishes).
Did you know that if you weigh 300lbs and go out for a 15 minute walk you will burn about 120 calories? Now if you could go out for a walk one hour per day, you will burn 4x that amount or 480 calories per day perhaps a small amount, but every big of activity you add to your day is another opportunity to lose weight.
Another example – 1 hour of moderate household activity (cleaning) can result in 340 calories burned for a 300lb man.
- Caloried burned walking – 1 hour / 300lbs / 480 calories
- Calories burned swimming - 1 hour / 300 lbs / 827 calories (moderate)
- Calories burned swimming - 1 hour / 300 lbs / 1332 calories (vigorous)
The next question is – how many calories do you need in a day?
Answer – depends on your age and activity level.
For a 30-year old man, weighing in at 300lbs that does light-activity he will need just under 3,000 calories. There is a calorie calculator here http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-burned.php.
Young children and young adults will of course need more to maintain their growing bodies, and minds but we all need some level of activity if we want to either lose weight or maintain a steady weight.
Kids will probably need something that isn’t as regimented – I know trying to convince my son to go for one hour per day of swimming would be like getting him to see the dentist or go for his shots — instead when it comes to kids make if FUN for them. Most kids won’t like walking, it’s too boring. Let them ride the bike and YOU walk. Kids love water, and could probably spend several hours at the pool without even realizing it. Try doing that a few times per week.
You probably won’t have much luck when it comes to housework and kids — so do things that make exercise FUN and they will be glad to do it.
For example my kid loves water gun fights. I bought two water guns and on warm days we’re out playing. There are many parks in our area that have water playgrounds, I join him there also and if we’re in the playground he loves hide and seek — I’m with him.
He’s having fun and getting exercise. I’m having fun and getting exercise. My wife gets to sit back and relax. It’s a win-win-win situation!
When it comes to helping your child loose weight – speak to your doctor to ensure that there are no risks in physical activity. If you can afford it, speak to a personal trainer to give you and your child tips on exercise and stretching so that everyone can partake in physical activity without hurting themselves.
There is an excellent article in Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318113604.htm) that starts by saying “Children who exercise in bouts of activity lasting five minutes or longer are less likely to become obese than those whose activity levels are more sporadic and typically last less than five minutes each, Queen’s University researchers have discovered.”.
Remember – exercise alone is not the solution, you need to promote healthy eating at home and when you go out.
When you are out shopping it is very easy to pick-up something quick from the food court – and unless you are watching what you are buying, you’ll grab the easiet thing. Why not plan ahead? I’ve talked to parents and grandparents that will pack their kids fruits and veggies. They may also pack a few sandwhiches. You an buy small coolers that can be left in the car along with reusable frozen packs that can sit in the freezer until required.
When we go out, we pack extra water, juice and some fruits and veggies that can be eaten raw and toss it into the cooler. When our son (or any one of us) is hungry – grab a quick snack from the cooler. Remember you’re not limited to fruits and veggies. Try nuts (provided there are no nut allergies), or crackers and cheese. A bagel can be very filling as well.
Once you develop a strategy to help your child loose weight, stick with it and ensure that you have complete family participation.
Here is to your health!
Mohamed
