7 tips for avoiding childhood obesity

culled from:canadianliving.com

Forget the old chestnut that "Big Bobby just needs to grow into his frame.” Overweight kids are four times as likely as their normal-weight peers to grow into overweight adults, according to a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics. And whether kids or grown-ups, overweight people are more prone to diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis, back pain and sleep apnea than their peers, studies show. And, as reported in the New York Times, they suffer more taunts and even make less money later on in life, too. Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada estimate that more than one-third of kids between the ages of two and 11 are overweight, about half of them fitting the “obese” category. Here's how to make sure your kid doesn't become one of them.
Tip 1: Identify if there's a problem
“Fat? Not my kid!” Reality-check time. According to recent U.S. and British studies, parents are often in the dark (or in denial) when it comes to their kids' obesity.
A recent study by the Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England, published in the British Medical Journal, found 57 per cent of fathers and 33 per cent of moms didn't know their obese kids were overweight. A similar study in the U.S. and published in Obesity Research (and picked up the American Diabetes Association newsletter) found that only 11 per cent of parents in a test group with overweight kids actually recognized that their kids were overweight (meanwhile, 60 per cent of other parents called it correctly).
Find out if your child is overweight by calculating their body mass index (BMI), which measures their body fat by factoring weight, height and gender. Make an appointment with your pediatrician to get this information, and to talk about ways to ensure your child maintains a healthy weight.
Tip 2: Limit your kids' screen time
What's wrong with TV? How about endless junk food commercials, mindless loafing about on the couch, not to mention the dubious content of many shows screened during after-school and primetime hours. Many doctors suggest no more than one or two hours per day. Include computer and handheld gaming time in that allowance of screen-time.
Tip 3: Get kids hooked on water
Water should be your kids' go-to bevvy for thirst quenching. Kids consuming pop, fruit drinks and sports drinks take in more empty calories -– not to mention sodium, tooth-attacking sugar and other unsavoury additives. Vitamin-C-rich 100% juice and low-fat milk are fine options, but neither of them should be doled out like water. As for fruit drinks, pop and sports drinks, consider them liquid candy. For the nursing set, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention report that breastfeeding your baby reduces his or her chance of obesity later in childhood by 20 to 40 per cent, with benefits increasing for every month of breastfeeding.