Ways to Lose Weight Fast and Healthfully for Kids

Obesity in all ages, including in children is bad and can be dangerous for the entire health. And like any challenge of losing weight, there is no magic bullet of weight loss for kids. However, there are plenty options you can do to fix the problem. If your kid is being overweight, start by encouraging her /him to adopt healthy habits as much as possible that last a lifetime. What else you need to know? Keep reading!

Short term and long term effects of childhood obesity

There are some studies observed the effects of childhood obesity (either for short term or for long term effects). But unfortunately, it’s difficult to get a conclusion from the review of these studies due the contradicted results of each other.

Furthermore, the scientific evidences found in these studies were not strong enough either way.

But overall, many experts say that obesity in children should be not underestimated because it can be harmful for their health if left untreated.

The long term effects of childhood obesity are often associated with the increased risk of some medical health conditions. These may include:

  1. Hypertension (high blood pressure).
  2. Problems associated with metabolic syndrome.
  3. Type-2 diabetes.
  4. Heart disease.
  5. And so on.

For short term effects, children with obesity are more likely to get lack of physical activity than other children who have normal weight. Their excessive fat put them to become lazy in moving their body. As a result, they tend to become sedentary and easier to get sick.

Furthermore, their obesity may also decrease their confidence when playing with their friends which then may also increase the risk of depression – though this decreased confidence is not as high as in adulthood obesity.

How does childhood obesity affect adulthood?

The increased risk of getting medical health problems mentioned above can be disappear when an individual with childhood obesity successfully restored her /his weight back to normal in adulthood.

But in fact, kids with obesity are also more likely to have overweight in adulthood.

For this case, the risk of getting hypertension, diabetes, and other health problems associated with obesity can be greater than individuals who had normal weight in childhood but being overweight in adulthood.

eating_right_for_kids_illustrationSo, if you were overweight in your childhood but now you have normal weight in adulthood, you are on the right track and there should be nothing to worry about. But if you still cannot restore the weight of your body back to its normal level, this should be serious issue you need to concern! See also ways to lose weight for teenagers.

Will childhood obesity goes away in adulthood? The answer varies from child to child. While some can cope with the problem, others fail. Typically, the prognosis in treating childhood obesity is also closely dependent on the child’s environment itself (such as the family, friends, school’s environment, etc).

Why the ways in losing weight for kids are slightly different?

When it comes to losing pounds of weight fast in children, this doesn’t mean you can do as fast as in adults. This is reasonable since they still need to get more plenty of nutrients in order to make sure that their body keeps growing optimally.

Even some experts recommend avoiding any weight loss program that asks you to cut calories for your kids, unless if there is a recommendation from your doctor.

It’s much better to only concern in maintaining their weight. In other words, you should avoid losing weight as the major goal. Aim to help maintain the weight of your child instead of losing weight!

How to lose weight in kids healthfully?

Again, one thing you need to completely understand that there is no simple /single formula to solve the problem of overweight in children.

In general, it’s recommended for you to learn about what states, you and your family, and communities can do to help make the easy and healthy choice in solving the problem. The following are some helpful suggestions that you can explore.

Start the small step from your family!

If you have a child with obesity, it’s important to make sure that you and your family give a positive contribution to improve the healthy weight of your child.

It’s not bad idea to become a cheerleader for your kid and your family to adopt healthy habits (including eating healthfully) as much as possible.

Educate your child about the importance of keeping hydrated!

Most of the body (including in children) consists of fluid. So you can imagine the importance of fluid to support a lot of activities in the body. Therefore, it’s very important for all to keep hydrated. And fortunately, it is not only great for the entire health but also can work effectively to suppress appetite of your child. Make sure your child get and drink plenty of water every day.

Plain water is not the single source for fluid supply. We can also get some fluids from vegetables, fruits, and other foods high in fluid.

But be careful to any beverages that are high in calories such as fruit punch, soda, or other sugared beverages! You need to restrict these kinds of beverages from the diet of your child!

A glass of fruit juice is yummy in taste and also great to supply vitamins and other essential nutrients to your kids. However, any kind of food (including healthy foods such as 100% fruit juice) also contains calories. For this reason, it’s much better to only give not more than a single serving of fruit juice (about 6 ounces for younger child and 8 ounces for older kid) per day!

Never skip breakfast for your child!

Breakfast is very crucial to start the day. Without it, children cannot start the day productively. It is also bad for their glucose metabolism since the released insulin in the blood stream doesn’t work as regular as it should.

Skipping breakfast can drastically increase the appetite of your child in the next meal. As a result, he or she tends to eat larger meal at lunch.

However, sometime there is an issue of time that can make you skip breakfast for your kid. For this case, you can use some appropriate items to eat on the run. For instance, you can choose peanut butter on toast. Whatever your choice, make sure it is healthy and good for the growth and weight control of your kid!

Ensure your child gets plenty of eating fruits and vegetables!

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, fiber, and other essential nutrients to support the growth during childhood. And getting plenty of them in the diet is also great to help weight control. So, it is not too bad idea if you learn how many servings of fruits & vegetables that your kid should eat.

In general, your ultimate goal should be about 4-5 servings of veggies and fruits per day.

But asking children to eat plenty of veggies and fruits is not always easy. But as a good parent, you should be able to make sure that your children get the best nutrients that they need.

One of easy ideas to help your child want to eat fruits & vegetables is to make them visible. Just put some fruits such as apples or banana in a bowl on the table. Or for better result, put cut and washed bite-sized veggies and fruits with a healthy dip on a plate wrapped with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Educate your child about how to eat right and healthfully!

There are lots of things you can teach to your kid about how to eat right. For instance, ask her /him to avoid eating by standing. Do your best to spend most of your meals with your children.

According to one study, children who ate most of their meals with their parent and family had lower risk of overweight problem.

Moreover, prepare most of your meals at home instead of choosing fast foods from restaurant! Cooking at home can help you control what you will put in food. In fact, it’s not always easy to mark which one of foods at restaurant that can be safe and healthy (particularly about salt, calories, and nutrient value) for your child.

On the other side, it is very controllable when you prepare your meal at home. You can control how much sugar you should use and only choose healthier ingredients.

If there is a time when you have to take your meal outside, help your kids and family in making the healthiest choices! Try the following tips:

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