Childhood Obesity Prevention Is Number 1 Goal

The number one goal for children and parents is childhood obesity prevention.

Stopping childhood obesity before it starts is the only true prevention.

If your child is not overweight or obese than your child is ahead of the game.

This article will focus on tips to prevent childhood obesity.

• Do not allow your child to lounge around. Take your child outside and play with them.
• Get your child into a sport at school such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer or anything that they show interest in that is physical.
• Exercise with your child. Your child will make an excellent exercise buddy and it will build your relationship at the same time.
• Limit your child's TV, video game, and computer time to less than two hours per day.
• Do not feed your child fast food. This is the best childhood obesity prevention technique that you can use.
• Limit the amount of sugar intake in your child's diet. Try giving them low-sugar cereals or oatmeal.
• Avoid hamburgers, french fries, potato chips, chocolate bars, soda, and sweetened drinks.
• Be a role model for your child. Your child needs a role model in today's world.
• Serve low-fat milk with a low sugar cereal such as: corn flakes, bran flakes, and oatmeal.
• Serve more chicken, fish, turkey, and beans. Give them brown rice with the beans and you have a low-fat complete protein meal.
• Cook with less fat. Try cooking with olive oil; it is good for your heart.
• Give fruit dishes, low-fat ice cream, or angel food cake with fresh strawberries for dessert.
• Give your child three meals and one or two snacks per day. This will help them control their caloric intake and prevent them from overeating.
• Do not force your child to eat all the food on his or her plate.
• Allow your child to decide when he or she is full. This will help your child to learn to stop eating when he or she is full.
• Make sure your family eats breakfast. When you skip breakfast, this leads to over eating later in the day.
• Keep healthy snacks in the house such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat popcorn, low-fat yogurt or fat-free pudding and have them available when your child comes home from school.
• Eat meals together as a family as often as possible. Avoid eating in front of the TV.
• Make all of these changes together as a family. When you make these changes together it helps your child not to feel singled out.
• Spend time educating your child about nutrition and the importance of exercise. This will go a long way toward childhood obesity prevention.

There is plenty of tips to accomplish childhood obesity prevention.

Staying healthy is a lifetime commitment that takes work and dedication; however, it is easier to stay healthy than to fight obesity.

Remember: An ounce of childhood obesity prevention is worth a pound of cure.