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Abstract:
Should I encourage my overweight children to slim? Is slimming recommended for overweight children?
Question:
Should I encourage my overweight children to slim? What diet for treating childhood obesity do you recommend? Can child obesity
Answer:
Nobody should engage in short-term slimming. Overweight children need help in order to prevent harmful eating and instead get into good habits. Children do not become fat if they exercise sufficiently and get satisfaction from wholesome food.
Children are not usually sufficiently mature to take responsibility, but need help from their parents, teachers and other suitable people in their environment if they are to avoid eating disorders and overweight. It is difficult, however, for parents and others to resist those commercial interests, which make a profit from selling harmful junk food to children. There is a risk that our children satisfy their hunger with potato chips, candy and soft drinks instead of real food. What our children really need is a junk food free environment where there is good and healthy food accessible when they are hungry. Exercise needs to be a natural part of the school day where the children move automatically when they walk between different school premises. The children used to get exercise walking and biking to school, but nowadays the streets are no longer safe, and so they go by bus or car.
Children can be helped as follows: