Belly Fat and Child Obesity

Abdominal obesity is a common term for what we know as belly fat. Excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and the abdomen also occurs at an early age in our children and teenagers these days.

Studies have shown that potbellies in children have increased greatly in recent years. This information should serve you as awareness to a wake up call to help parents limit children’s sedentary activities.

Inactivity such as watching TV, Playing video games, and computer surfing should be discouraged. Get them out of the house, help them become more physically active to reduce the risk of early health problems, and fatal diseases. Physical illnesses can occur later in your child's life if they don't take care of their health in their early years.

Childhood obesity associated with belly fat is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children and teenagers on a wicked path to serious health problems that can confine them to a life of misery.

This problem can lead to poor self-esteem depression and most importantly diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can also occur.

How you can Help your Child from Belly Fat

One of the best and most important approaches to reduce childhood  obesity in your child is to improve the diet and exercise habits your children currently have. Children can be encouraged to adopt healthy eating behaviors and be physically active. 

When parents help children focus on good health early in life children will have a solid foundation in which they can refer to during their adult years. Parents can begin with educating the children with some basic principles. Below are a few principles that may help you to establish a solid foundation for your child’s future health.

• Establish daily meal and snack times. Eat together as frequently as possible. Make a wide variety of healthful foods available based on the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children. Determine what foods are offered and let the child decide what they like to eat from that guide.

• Focus on good health, not a certain weight goal. Teach and demonstrate healthy and positive attitudes toward food and physical activity without emphasizing body weight.

• Plan sensible portions. Use the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children as a guide to determine the proper food portion for your Childs age.

• Focus on the family. Do not set overweight children apart. Involve the whole family and work to gradually change the family's physical activity and eating habits.

• Nutrition education help young children develop an awareness of good nutrition and healthy eating habits for a lifetime, talk to them often about food nutrition.

• Make the most of snacks; Continuous snacking may lead to overeating. Plan healthy snacks at specific times and in proper portions. Include two food groups, for example, apple wedges and peanut butter.

• Focus on maximum nutrition - fruits, vegetables, grains, low-sugar cereals, low-fat dairy products, lean meats and meat alternatives. Avoid excessive amounts of fruit juices, which contain fructose sugars and calories, and help to avoid juices that have fewer nutrients than the fruits they come from.

• There is a national guideline that children should have at least 60 minutes of physical exercise per day. That’s a good gauge of how to measure your child’s daily physical exercise.

Medical, health experts, policy makers, and child advocates are calling childhood obesity an alarming trending epidemic. It is clear that without some drastic changes, we are destined to bestow upon our children a future of debilitating and life-threatening diseases.

These preventative strategies are part of a healthy lifestyle that should be developed during early childhood.  Preventing obesity in children can lead to a better body, better health, better attitude, and better self-esteem for your children. 

I know you love your children and would only want the best for you kids so start combating your Childs belly fat today.

If this article helped you in any way please let me know I would love to hear from you.

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