Healthy Eating For Your Children

The problem

Recent statistics from a large-scale survey in the UK reveal that 25 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls aged between two and nineteen years are either overweight or obese – furthermore there’s little sign the incidence of obesity is slowing.

Obesity is currently estimated to cost the country around £2 billion annually in healthcare and associated costs and shortens lives by an average of nine years. Some health experts have even stated we’ll soon see parents outliving their children.

Yet another concern is that parents are getting so used to seeing overweight kids, they don’t recognise their own children are obese.

Last year, a study from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, revealed that:

three quarters of parents failed to recognise their child was overweight.
33 percent of mums and 57 percent of dads considered their child’s weight to be ‘about right’ when, in fact, they were obese.
one in ten parents expressed some concern about their child being underweight when they were actually a normal, healthy weight.

What can be done

Don’t force younger children to eat everything on their plate – kids have small stomachs and also rapidly become tired of the same taste, which is why they often only eat half of their main course but still want a pudding – they’ve simply got bored with the taste of the main course.
Avoid using foods as a reward – it simply becomes more desirable. But that’s not all – other foods become less desirable, too. In other words, telling children they can have some sweets if they eat their veg simply makes the sweets more alluring and the veg less appealing!
Get children involved at mealtimes – younger children in particular are far more likely to eat something they’ve made themselves so have them help you cook healthy meals such as fishcakes, homemade burgers, fruit muffins, wholemeal scones, smoothies and sandwiches. Meanwhile, encourage teenagers to eat with the family.
Encourage children to eat regularly, especially breakfast – studies show that breakfast eaters tend to be slimmer than people who skip this meal. Smaller more frequent meals are healthier than few large meals.
Don’t make your child’s weight and size an ‘issue’. To help your child lose weight focus on good nutrition, avoid using the ‘diet’ word, don’t weigh your child regularly
Lead by example – if you and your entire family eat sensibly and exercise frequently, your child will be more likely to do the same.
Be positive- talk to your child about the benefits of eating well and looking after their body. Rather than being too negative by talking only about the dangers of unhealthy foods. Health is generally not a priority for children so focus on other issues that are important to them.For example, for teenage girls explain that a healthy diet will give them glowing skin, shiny hair and strong nails, give them more energy to go shopping with their friends and help them concentrate so they’ll perform better in their favourite subjects at school.For boys, explain that eating well will help to build and tone muscles, give them great skin and help them do well in their favourite sports.
Look carefully at what’s on the menu for school dinners and discuss with your child whether they’d prefer packed lunches. If they do want school dinners, talk to them about the healthier options they could choose, for example, a jacket potato with cheese and salad rather than a hot dog and chips.

Be aware of what the whole family are eating – kids rarely have bad eating habits on their own so if your child is gaining too much weight, it’s unlikely the rest of the family is having a healthy diet. If this is the case, encourage a healthy, balanced diet for everyone. This means…- Cutting down on sweets, cakes, biscuits and fizzy drink- Eating fewer fatty foods such as chips, burgers and fried food
– Eating regularly, especially breakfast

– Basing meals on starchy foods and choosing wholegrain varieties, when possible

In Future articles we will be taking a closer look at specific foods and nutritional requirements for growing children.