Sue Scheff Blog

Sue Scheff: Should you monitor your teens and kids weight?

by Sue Scheff on May 01, 2010

Obesity trends among American kids are weighing heavily. Michelle Obama has been in the news with her new Let’s Move campaign to promote healthy eating and healthy living. But when it comes to kids and weight loss, what’s the best strategy? Perhaps you’d like your child to lose a few pounds, but worry about hurt feelings if you bring up the topic. It’s a dilemma for many parents.

Rochelle James, for example, wondered what to say to her 11-year-old daughter Maya.

A few months ago, the family pediatrician said that Maya was a borderline diabetic.

“I was thinking, ‘Uh oh, I might be the next person to pass away from diabetes,’” says Maya. “My grandmother, she was a diabetic and she had passed away. So I didn’t want to be like her.”

Maya admits she was making bad choices.

“Well, sometimes I would just like lay around or just eat and watch TV.”

At dinner, her mom would nag her about eating too much.

“She would go up to the oven and kind of look back like, ‘I know you are going to say something.’ And I felt bad,” says Rochelle.

But nagging kids to eat less or exercise more can backfire.

“There are some definite don’ts for parents,” says Beth Passehl, a family coach and program coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Don’t comment on your child’s food intake – good or bad. So if you are saying, ‘Don’t eat that,’ ‘Don’t eat this,’ ‘Stop eating so much of this,’ ‘You can’t possibly be hungry,’ that goes back to we as parents doing some judging around our children’s behavior.”

What can you do instead?

“You might want to talk to the child first and ask them if they have ever been teased about their weight,” explains Passehl.

If the answer is yes, your child may be motivated to change.

“Approach your child and say there are some things about our family in general that are not very healthy,” says Passehl, “We are having too much television time. We are going to work on watching less TV and spending more time together getting healthier.”

She says a child won’t make healthier choices unless the rest of the family does too.

So Maya’s family went to a class at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where they all learned to eat right, exercise, and avoid diabetes.

“I used to feel like I was lazy or like I was kind of sloppy,” says Maya. “But now I just feel like I have a boost of energy.”

What Parents Need To Know

More than 25 million American children are obese or at risk for becoming obese. Just what is obesity? The ratio of a person’s weight to height is known as body mass index, or BMI, which estimates how much body fat you have. Children with a BMI at or higher than the 95th percentile (for their age) are considered obese. Children with a BMI at or higher than the 85th percentile are considered overweight. Today, almost 20 percent of kids ages 6 to 19 are overweight.

How can you calculate your child’s BMI? It’s best to consult with your child’s pediatrician. That way, you’ll know the number is accurate and your doctor can discuss the result with you. To calculate BMI on your own, try an online BMI calculator.

For some kids, the doctor may recommend losing some weight, but this should be done with the doctor’s help. If you need a little help, don’t be afraid to ask. There may be a dietitian, nutritionist or counselor available to provide additional advice and plan meals. Kids need a variety of healthy foods to keep their bodies growing properly. Diets that don’t include a variety of nutritious foods, or have too few calories, can be dangerous for kids.

Parents can try these healthy-eating strategies:

• Eat meals at regular, routine times and eat as a family. If your child can’t count on a regular mealtime, he may overeat at one meal, or snack on fattening foods between meals. Irregular eating keeps him from “tuning in” to his body’s natural cues for hunger and satisfaction. Do not skip meals – and make sure your kids eat breakfast. Research shows most people who have lost more than 60 pounds, and kept it off for six years, eat breakfast.
• Make sure healthy food choices are available in your household refrigerator and cabinets. Do not make your family give up foods they love. Instead, find healthier ways to prepare these foods. For example, frozen French fries can be baked instead of fried. Cheesecake or macaroni and cheese can be made with a low-fat cheese. Take a cooking class to get your family excited about healthy recipes.
• Be a good role model for your children when it comes to making healthy food choices. Be aware of portion sizes.
• Do not use food as a reward – ever.
• Don’t overcook vegetables; this is probably the main reason why children (and adults) don’t eat enough of them. Raw is sometimes best.
• Do not allow children to think that every outing, every activity, every thing they do, must be accompanied by a high calorie snack.
• Educate yourself so that when your children do ask for particular foods, you can explain your answer. Check out the fat and sodium content. Be ready with other suggestions when your child asks you to buy something which you don’t think is a good idea. Bring the kids shopping sometimes, teach them to read labels, and involve them in decision making.
• Plant a vegetable garden. Let your children choose which plants will be theirs to take care of. Most children will happily eat the things they have grown and picked themselves.
• Even though you may be very concerned about your child’s weight, be careful about how you express your worry. Your child already knows there is a problem if there is one, and doesn’t need anyone to make him or her feel worse about it. Children grow up as well as out. Many children do not need to lose weight. They just need to stop gaining weight. Spend a little time learning about growth curves, and your own family’s health history.
• Get your family to participate in physical activity on a regular basis – even if it is just walking around the block after dinner. Be aware of the time spent in front of the television and computer.
• Once your kids reach a certain age, you really can’t control what they eat outside the house. But you can set the example in a number of ways. Make sure that your kids know what you think about nutrition and various food issues.

Resources

• Children’s Healthcare of AtlantaBe Smart, Be Well
• Let’s Move
• U.S. Department of Agriculture My Pyramid
• Empower MeKids Health from Nemours
• Kids Healthy BMI Calculator

Read more about Food Revolution and your school cafeteria - click here.

Tags: Childhood Obesity, Exercise, Parenting, Parenting Teens, Parenting Tips, Sue Scheff, Teen Help, Teen Issues, Teen Obesity