Overweight

More than 25% of American children are overweight. Your child is overweight if your child appears overweight, your child weighs more than 20% over the ideal weight for his or her height, or the skin fold thickness of the upper arm's fat layer is more than 1 inch (25 millimeters) when measured with a special instrument. There are health risks as well as social problems that may occur in overweight children including high blood pressure, type II diabetes, and lower self-esteem. The tendency to be overweight is usually inherited. If one parent is overweight, probably half of the children will be overweight. If both parents are overweight, most of their children will be overweight. If neither parent is overweight, the children have a 10% chance of being overweight. Heredity alone (without overeating) accounts for most mild obesity, whereas moderate obesity is usually due to a combination of heredity, overeating, and underexercising. Some overeating is normal in our society, but only those who have the inherited tendency to be overweight will gain significant weight when they overeat. It is therefore not reasonable to blame your child for being overweight. Less than 1% of obesity has an underlying medical cause. Your physician can easily determine whether your child's obesity has a physical cause with a simple physical examination.

Self-esteem is more important than an ideal body weight. If your child is overweight, he is probably already disappointed in himself. He needs his family to support him and accept him as he is. A child's self-esteem can be reduced or destroyed by parents who become overconcerned about their child's weight. Avoid the following pitfalls:

  • Don't tell your child he's fat. Don't discuss his weight unless he brings it up.
  • Never try to put your child on a strict diet. Diets are unpleasant. Dieting should be your child's decision.
  • Never deprive your child of food if he says he is hungry. Not letting a child eat eventually leads to overeating.
  • Don't nag your child about his weight or eating habits.

Diet: Decreasing calorie consumption

Your child should eat three well-balanced meals a day of average-sized portions. There are no forbidden foods; your child can have a serving of anything family or friends are eating. However, there are forbidden portions. While your child is reducing, she must leave the table a bit hungry. Your child cannot lose weight if she eats until full (satiated). Encourage average portions instead of large portions and discourage seconds. Shortcuts such as fasting, crash dieting, or diet pills rarely work and may be dangerous. Mainly use low-calorie drinks such as skim milk, fruit juice diluted in half with water, diet drinks, or flavored mineral water. Because milk has lots of calories, your child should drink no more than 16 ounces of skim, 1%, or 2% milk each day. He should drink no more than 8 ounces of fruit juice a day. All other drinks should be either water or diet drinks. Encourage your child to drink six glasses of water each day. Additionally, serve fewer fatty foods (for example, eggs, bacon, sausage, and butter). A portion of fat has twice as many calories as the same portion of protein or carbohydrate. Trim the fat off meats. Serve more baked, broiled, boiled, or steamed foods and fewer fried foods. Serve more fruits, vegetables, salads, and grains. For snacks serve only low-calorie foods such as raw vegetables (carrot sticks, celery sticks, raw potato sticks, pickles, etc.), raw fruits (apples, oranges, cantaloupe, etc.), popcorn, or diet soft drinks. Your child should have no more than 2 snacks a day.

Exercise: Increasing calorie expenditure

Daily exercise can increase the rate of weight loss as well as the sense of physical well-being. The combination of diet and exercise is the most effective way to lose weight. Try the following forms of exercise:

  • Walking or riding a bicycle instead of riding in a car.
  • Using stairs instead of elevators.
  • Learning new sports. Swimming and jogging are the sports that burn the most calories. Your child's school may have an aerobics class.
  • Taking the dog for a long walk.
  • Spending 30 minutes a day exercising or dancing to records or music on TV.
  • Using an exercise bike or Hula Hoop while watching TV. (Limit TV sitting time to 2 hours or less each day.)

Please do not hesistate to call during office hours if:

  • Your child has not improved his eating and exercise habits after trying this program for 2 months.
  • Your child is a compulsive overeater.
  • You find yourself frequently nagging your child about his eating habits.
  • Your child is trying to lose weight and doesn't need to.
  • You think your child is depressed.
  • Your child has no close friends.
  • You have other questions or concerns.