Do You Have an Overweight Child? How to Improve their Health
Children often put on weight in adolescence, and their fitness is frequently below par, too. The phrase ‘puppy fat’ is often used in these circumstances, to describe a chubby period that many teenagers go through, without it having much of a long-term effect on their wellbeing. It is important, however, that you do not allow an adolescent weight problem to turn into a lifelong battle with weight, as this can have far reaching consequences for their wellness for the entire duration of their life.
It is tricky, however, to tackle the issue of weight and fitness with teenagers, as you want to avoid making them feel any more self-conscious than they probably already do during this period of their lives. Any discussion must be handled with tact and diplomacy.
One of the best ways of going about this is to talk about healthy eating with your children. Explain to them the importance of having a varied and balanced diet, and place emphasis on the importance of eating, rather than the importance of going on a diet. Your aim should be to encourage them to eat healthily but also to avoid crash of fad diets, as these are not long-term solutions to any weight problem and can actually end up making things much worse and contributing to an ongoing weight problem rather than fixing it. You also want to avoid the risk of your child developing an eating disorder. For this latter reason, it is also vital that you never, ever tease your child about their weight. It may be a lighthearted attempt to make them deal with their weight issues, but calling your child fat or even insinuating that they are can be the cause of some very deep-rooted insecurities that follow them into later life in the form of eating disorders or other mental health problems.
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