Essential Tips For the Struggling Mom With an Obese Child
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
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Obesity in children seems to be everywhere in the news these days. Some people want to blame the parents, others the child and still others blame outside forces like advertisers and the schools. If you and your child are struggling with an obesity issue, you really don't need to hear all that negativity, because you already know how serious the problem is. You need constructive help to get you going in a better direction.
First of all take a breath, hug your child, and realize that you CAN do this together. I'm not going to repeat all the negative health issues related to obesity and just assume you've heard it and want to move on to what to do about it.
If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this: knowledge is power. You have the ability to help your child by educating yourself. Two areas to begin with are household awareness and reading labels. Understanding these two will start you on your way to making better decisions and put the power into your hands.
What I mean by household awareness is simply writing down notes on the food buying and eating habits of your household. Keeping written notes for just one week will give you plenty of information to work with.
Who eats what for breakfast?
Does everyone eat breakfast?
Is there snacking between breakfast and lunch?
If so, what was eaten?
What beverages do you and the family drink?
What is eaten at lunch? Does snacking continue through the day?
What are the snacks? What is eaten for supper?
Is there dessert? How often and how much?
What snacks are eaten between supper and bedtime?
How many sodas are consumed throughout the day?
Once you see for yourself what is being consumed, you can come up with substitutions: oranges instead of cookies, baked apples with cinnamon instead of pie. It will take an effort, but you'll know what you're up against.
When grocery shopping how much of your purchase is for snacks? Go through your receipt and circle the food items not included in a meal. No one is going to judge your list but you. You don't have to show it or even tell anyone. The whole point is for you to become aware of what you and your child are actually eating.
The next important step in educating yourself is reading labels. This is another awareness exercise. You can't eliminate bad foods from your diet unless you know which ones they are. And the only way to do that is to read the labels. A simple rule to start with is look for sugar in the list of ingredients on packages. If it is one of the first 4 ingredients, leave it in the store. Another is if it contains high fructose corn syrup at all, leave it in the store. These are just two simple rules to start with. As you learn more about quality nutrition, you'll add more of your own. It's best to start slowly and build rather than being overwhelmed from the start.
Learning about nutrition can be very involved, but you need to start someplace. These are just a few tips to get you started. My hope is that it will help you to feel like you have control of something in your life. Tune out the naysayers and blamers and just do what you've got to do. As you learn more, you'll pass that on to your child, who in turn will learn how to make healthy choices. And isn't that what all moms want?
First of all take a breath, hug your child, and realize that you CAN do this together. I'm not going to repeat all the negative health issues related to obesity and just assume you've heard it and want to move on to what to do about it.
If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this: knowledge is power. You have the ability to help your child by educating yourself. Two areas to begin with are household awareness and reading labels. Understanding these two will start you on your way to making better decisions and put the power into your hands.
What I mean by household awareness is simply writing down notes on the food buying and eating habits of your household. Keeping written notes for just one week will give you plenty of information to work with.
Who eats what for breakfast?
Does everyone eat breakfast?
Is there snacking between breakfast and lunch?
If so, what was eaten?
What beverages do you and the family drink?
What is eaten at lunch? Does snacking continue through the day?
What are the snacks? What is eaten for supper?
Is there dessert? How often and how much?
What snacks are eaten between supper and bedtime?
How many sodas are consumed throughout the day?
Once you see for yourself what is being consumed, you can come up with substitutions: oranges instead of cookies, baked apples with cinnamon instead of pie. It will take an effort, but you'll know what you're up against.
When grocery shopping how much of your purchase is for snacks? Go through your receipt and circle the food items not included in a meal. No one is going to judge your list but you. You don't have to show it or even tell anyone. The whole point is for you to become aware of what you and your child are actually eating.
The next important step in educating yourself is reading labels. This is another awareness exercise. You can't eliminate bad foods from your diet unless you know which ones they are. And the only way to do that is to read the labels. A simple rule to start with is look for sugar in the list of ingredients on packages. If it is one of the first 4 ingredients, leave it in the store. Another is if it contains high fructose corn syrup at all, leave it in the store. These are just two simple rules to start with. As you learn more about quality nutrition, you'll add more of your own. It's best to start slowly and build rather than being overwhelmed from the start.
Learning about nutrition can be very involved, but you need to start someplace. These are just a few tips to get you started. My hope is that it will help you to feel like you have control of something in your life. Tune out the naysayers and blamers and just do what you've got to do. As you learn more, you'll pass that on to your child, who in turn will learn how to make healthy choices. And isn't that what all moms want?
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