Child obesity prevention

With more and more overweight kids, attention is turning to child obesity prevention and what we can do to improve the situation. Child obesity prevention is primarily the responsibility of the parents, though schools and other organizations also have a role to play.

The main factors for child obesity prevention are as follows:

• Be a good role model, helping your kids to understand the importance of making healthy food choices.
  
  
• Offer healthy food choices - food and snacks that are low in fat, sodium, and refined sugar and are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
  
  
• Involve your kids in shopping for healthy foods, and also teach them the various stages of food preparation such as washing vegetables, pouring and stirring ingredients.
  
  
• Don't ban all unhealthy foods, but offer them in moderation.
  
  
• Give your kids a diet consistent with food guide recommendations, and watch their portion sizes.
  
  
• Limit television viewing.
  
  
• Encourage your children to be active - take them to the playground regularly, on family walks etc.
  
  
• Walk them to school, or to local shops etc.
  
  
• Enroll them in after-school activities.
  
  
• Praise kids when they make healthy food choices.
  
  
• Food preferences develop with time and repeated exposure, so present new foods in small quantities and encourage them to take at least one bite. Over time they'll get used to a variety of new food.
  
  
• Aim for five servings of fruits and vegetables each day - this can be a mix of fruit and vegetable juices, and raw or cooked, canned or dried fruits and vegetables.
  
  
• Work with the school to replace vending machine serving sweets and fizzy drinks with those offering water, 100% fruit or vegetable juices, and healthier snacks.