For the last year or two the childhood obesity epidemic is more and more prominent on the news. If a child is obese it can lead to serious health issues for the child like diabetes, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, skeletal disorders, sleep problems, psychological symptoms and gastro-intestinal problems. Such disorders can be expected to continue into adulthood. Recent studies have shown that if a child is obese it is extremely likely that adult obesity will follow.

Nonetheless, parents can easily impact on the lifestyle of their children and guide them to achieve a healthy lifestyle and remain healthy.

What role can parents play to have a positive impact on obesity amongst children? Parents must address the causes of childhood obesity. Parents must give their children a lot of attention and help them to feel wanted. If your child is neglected by you there is an increased possibility of obesity compared to other children. Be sure not to force your kids to eat more than they feel like at mealtime, all you will achieve is to train your child’s metabolic system to make your child eat more than he or she needs.

The amount of food eaten is not what is most important. Of far more importance is that the child should eat properly and then get adequate exercise. Your kid will acquire abnormal eating behaviours if you are going to be constantly fussing about food intake.

Your child should not spend so much time in front of the telly. As your child spends more time in front of the TV so he or she will be more obese,TV obviously reduces physical activity, and then it naturally also reduces the body’s metabolism. Children also watch the commercials on television and it affect them, they are encouraged to eat more junk food and drink beverages with high levels of sugar leading to increased weight problems for the kid.

If you can see that your kid weights more than he or she should and is on the way to being obese, consult with a physician as soon as you can, to ensure that obesity is halted quickly and effectively. It is not really necessary for expecting mothers to eat for two persons, if you eat too much while you are pregnant there is a good chance that both you and your unborn child will become obese. Your newborn should be breastfeeded for a period of not less than one year. With your infant still very young, there should be strong emphasis on fruits, grains and other fresh produce while closely watching to see if the child is really hungry before being fed.

If you note that there is a high risk that your child may become obese, try using low fat milk instead of the richer variety. Sugar and fat containing snacks must be avoided, because they are very high in calories. For kids that are still of school going age, you must enforce rules as to how much time can be spent each day watching television, snacks must be nutritious, food treats will be allowed only occasionally and generally good food habits must be maintained.

The child obesity problem does not remain static, it increases with each year that passes and, since 1981, there has been a dangerously high increase. The child obesity epidemic poses a great risk to our children’s children, it is now the time to stop it on a globewide scale.