10 tips to prevent childhood obesity

culled from:webmd.boots.com

• Respect your child's appetite; children do not have to finish everything on their plate, or finish the entire bottle.
• Provide your child with a healthy, balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables (5-a-day), and cut down on food containing bad fats.
• Avoid pre-prepared foods and foods with added sugar.
• Provide enough fibre.
• Limit the amount of high- calorie foods kept in the home.
• Do not reward completion of meals with sweet desserts.
• Replace whole milk with semi-skimmed milk at about two years of age.
• Enjoy physical activities as a family, such as walking, swimming and playing outdoor games. The Department of Health says pre-school to primary school children should do three hours exercise a day once they can walk. Five to 18 year olds are encouraged to do an hour to several hours a day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. Three days a week this should include vigorous intensity activities to strengthen muscle and bone.
• Encourage your child to participate in active play.
• Limit television watching. Parents are also urged to cut the amount of time this age group (5-18 year olds) is inactive, dragging them away from TV and video games for example.