“Is Your Kid Fat?” Title Took Me By Surprise

Photo credit: malias

The cnn.com blog chose an interesting title for their article on overweight children. It was insensitive, not politically correct, and definitely attention grabbing. It certainly grabbed MY attention.

Although I disagree with the choice of title, I agree with the general advice that was given in the article.

Did you know that a third of American kids are overweight? This is serious, because it puts them at risk for serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. It’s also a big problem for us as a society, because managing these conditions is costly.

There are many discussions on what we can do as a society to solve the obesity epidemic, including taxes on fast food and other forms of government regulation. As an individual, you should be alert to any signs that your child is becoming heavy. Don’t rely on your pediatrician to alert you to the fact that your child is overweight. She won’t necessarily do it.

If your child is overweight, the best way to deal with it is to help her become more active by enrolling her in after school activities such as sports teams, gymnastics or self defense classes: anything that requires her to move. Packing healthy lunches and making sure the entire family eats healthy (so that you don’t just put the child on a “diet”) are very helpful too.

Remove soda, sugary cereal and candy from your shopping list. If it’s not in the house, your child is less likely to consume it. When eating out, it’s very important to manage food consumption by sharing dishes and by asking for sauces and salad dressing to be served on the side.

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