Parents Page

What is Overweight?

The term "overweight" is a new concept in medicine. In the past, it was known that very heavy people had many health problems and a shorter lifespan. Recent studies are now showing that severe health risks increase at a weight only 20 pounds over the average adult weight for a given height.

Children who have too much fat in their bodies already have the problem of "overweight" and  have a higher risk of becoming obese as an adult. Even in childhood, they are at risk of diabetes, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure, and emotional problems. If treated early, the weight can return to a healthy level for life.

Links
Links to educational web sites.

Fructose is Poisoning our Children
Find out why fructose is starving our brains.

How Much Is Too Much?
Tips on serving size and how to improve your child's diet.

Portion Size Guide
The Good Food House guide for moms and for kids from Parenting Magazine.

Info on Healthy Food Habits
Check the Louisville web page for lots of good health information. Download it on easily printable pages.

Calculate Your BMI
Find out more about the BMI or Body Mass Index.

Help Your Overweight Child
Strategies for your overweight child, from Contemporary Pediatrics.

Fitness Resources
There are lots of opportunities for fitness in the Southern Kentucky area!

Your weight is determined mainly by the amount and types of food you eat, and by the amount and types of exercise and activities that you do every day.

Pediatricians are now trying to identify all children who have overweight, so that early changes in diet and exercise can reverse the problem. Unfortunately, several factors in our society are leading to a rapid increase in the percentage of children who have overweight. Approximately 17% of U.S. children are considered obese. About 30% of children are at risk of overweight (by BMI measurement), and will need some intervention to prevent them from having overweight as adults.

A parent wants to be a friend to their child, yet giving in to his demands, and not setting limits, will make a child out of control. This applies to food intake, as well as all other aspects of that child's behavior and development.     [more...]

New Handouts from the NIH Available

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has just released four new handouts giving tips on diet and weight control. Click here to get these helpful guides:
    FOOD COMPARISON CHART (EAT HEALTHIER AND CHEAPER)
     GROCERY LIST (PICK "GO" FOODS)
     HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES
     WEEKLY MEAL PLANNER

Some of the factors leading to overweight in our society include:

1) Changing diet habits. We have increased the serving size of many meals, decreased the amount of vegetables and fruits, and increased the amount of sugar and fat. More children and adults "eat on the run" and choose foods for convenience rather than nutritional value.

2) Elimination of exercise. About 90% of adults in Kentucky (like in other states) are considered "sedentary". This means they have virtually no exercise, defined as less than half an hour of exercise twice a week. Children are being trained to be sedentary by the elimination of PE in our schools, and by their increased use of video games and other sedentary activities.

3) Absence of nutrition education. Schools are not committed to teaching good nutritional habits to our children. Most parents are not capable of teaching their own children, since they were never taught themselves.

4) Increasing power of the fast food industry. Large corporations are hugely profitting from the shift to "fast food" (non-nutritional) and have the power to stop legislation which would counter the increase in overweight. Large corporations also have great financial influence on our schools.  Children are trained to consume non-nutritional foods because that is all that is available in the vending machines in schools. This has resulted in a cultural change within the school systems, such that non-nutritional food is now being used as a standard reward in 40% of classrooms!

What can Parents Do?

1) Discuss your child's growth pattern with your pediatrician. If you don't have the chance to do that soon, you can calculate your child's BMI, and find out if it is right for his or her age. Follow the health recommendations that your doctor provides.

2) Read the Physician Resources section of this web page, and find out what doctors are doing about childhood obesity.

3) Talk to your child's school (teachers, principal, superintendent, and School Board if necessary) to insist that all children get an hour of PE every day: Kindergarten through 12th grade. It has been well-proven that children's test scores go up, not down, when they take off an hour to exercise every day. Physical fitness is essential to proper brain functioning. Also discourage the practice of using food as a reward in schools.

4) Learn as much as you can about good nutrition, and buy foods that are healthy for both you and your children.

5) Make fitness a family priority, and spend time exercising with your children every day. This does not mean that you have to do push-ups or go jogging for miles. Even a 30-minute walk every day can greatly add to your family's fitness. There are many other fitness activities, such as swimming, riding bikes, or playing frisbee golf that can make exercising more fun and easy to continue throughout the year. The key is to make fitness activities a daily routine, not just for weekends.