Best Way to Help a Overweight Child

Despite intensive medical research over many years, nobody knows whether a child’s tendency toward fatness is inherited or whether it is due to food consumption.

Probably a bit of both is involved. However, the following is known:

• About 40 percent of children who are overweight during their primary-school years will continue to be overweight in adulthood.

• Although a high proportion of parents worry that their child is fat, only between 2 and 25 percent of North American children are obese. The figure is higher in the United States than Canada, which is attributed to the dif­ference in the amount of exercise and the amount of TV watching between the two countries.
• Very few plump babies grow into plump children.
• If you and your partner aren’t fat, there is a one in ten chance your child will be fat; but if you are both fat, there is a four in ten chance.

Height and weight are directly linked. A child who gains weight faster than height will become fat. But remember that assessment of your child’s correct body weight for your child’s height can only be made using standard growth charts, which are available from your pediatrician.

Never put an overweight child on a rigorous diet to reduce the amount of food the child eats, unless you are medically advised to do so. Instead, exercise more control over the type of food your child eats. Following are common problems causing fatness during the toddler and preschool years:

• Too many desserts, candy, and potato chips. You may not be able to cut out sweets altogether, but try to reduce them. Your child might not even notice that you gave her an orange instead of a cookie.
• Too many sweet drinks. Encourage your child to drink fresh fruit juice, water, or milk instead of soft drinks. Milk con­sumption should follow the daily food guide for the age of your child.

• Too many fats. Spread butter and margarine more thinly (or give your child toast without any at all), serve boiled potatoes instead of French fries, and reduce the amount of fried food you serve.
• Too many snacks. Nothing is wrong with snacks as long as they are nutritious and infrequent. Don’t give your child a high-sugar or high-fat snack every time she asks for some­thing to eat. Give her fresh fruit or raw vegetables instead.
• Too little exercise. We are becoming a chair-bound society. A toddler can push her stroller along the street; a four-year-old can run, jump, and climb—this activity decreases the opportunity for fat to build up. Turn off the television and go for a walk together.