Is Dieting Safe For Kids?

  Children need lots of nutrients as they are growing and face high energy requirements. But, intake of more calories than required causes them to become over weight. Child obesity is another health problem faced by Western world. The obese children, just like adults, face the risk of developing several critical health disorders in their later life, such as heart ailments, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and bowel cancer.

   Though some children are overweight due to medical reasons, a large number of children become obese due to unhealthy diet and lack of exercises. Moreover, such children are very fond of having fast food and sweets, which causes enormous weight gain in children. Today children are getting very less time to play or physical exercise, their body movement is nil. Even at home, these children spend a lot of time in playing computer games or watching television. Therefore, a sedentary lifestyle puts them at significant risk of gaining weight and several other health problems.

  Even when your child is overweight, it is highly recommended never to put them on a weight loss diet without consulting your doctor. This is because a weight loss diet often affects the growth of children. On the other hand, you should promote healthy eating habits in your child such as:

 o Offer them meals and snacks at regular intervals in a day to deal with "snacking" problem.

 o Eat healthy food. You need to set a good example or your kids.

 o Discourage the habit of eating food while watching TV.

 o Try to eat meals with entire family. This will help you monitor your child's eating habits and ensure that he or she is  getting proper nutrition.

 o Tell your children that food should be chewed slowly in order to enjoy its taste and nutritional value.

 o Avoid storing fat-rich snacks or foods in your house.

 o Avoid going to fast food restaurants every week.

 o Involve your children to cook food with you to devlelop an understanding about food they are eating.

 o Encourage walking habits in your children and take them along while going to places like school and market.

 o Take them along to a nearby park an enjoy playing with them different types of games such as football or frisbee.