Forming healthy weight All along with life By Rehan Riaz Merchant

Being overweight is just not the first factor towards diseases like diabetes and blood pressure but lifelong diseases at different ages. Rehan Riaz Merchant adds a long-term approach towards managing wards health weight there is strong evidence to show that an overweight child often grows up to be an overweight adult. One reason for this might be that eating the wrong types of food and taking insufficient exercise at a young age are difficult habits to break as you grow up. Long-term successful management of weight means forming good habits from childhood onwards. Many studies show that. Childhood obesity can lead to a lifetime of weight problems says Rehan Riaz Merchant

Rehan Riaz Merchant

WATCHING CHILDREN’S WEIGHT

Alarmingly, the number of overweight and obese children is growing rapidly – some studies suggest the number of significantly overweight children in Britain doubled in the 20 years between 1960 and 1980. The role of parents in promoting a healthy lifestyle is crucial. Statistics show that if a child has an obese parent the child will have a 40 per cent chance of becoming obese also says Rehan Riaz Merchant. The risk is doubled if both parents are obese. If parents are uninformed or casual about healthy eating and undertake little exercise they are introducing their children to the lifestyle risks for obesity. Setting a good example, by eating well and taking regular exercise, is essential to teach children proper respect for their body.

Using food as a method of behavioral control can all develop the wrong attitudes about diet in children.  If sweets are given as a reward for good behavior and children are told they must eat up their vegetables in order to have dessert, messages are being sent about nice and nasty food at a very early age. Being creative in meal planning can be a way to introduce healthier foods subtly into the family’s diet. Most children enjoy the natural sweetness of fresh fruit, and a fresh fruit salad served with low-fat yoghurt is an appealing dessert. Disguising healthy food as “fast food can also be very successful: homemade hamburgers using whole meal buns, grilled burgers made with high-quality lean mince, fresh tomato and lettuce provides a healthy meal. It can also be helpful to try gradually reducing the amount of salt and sugar added to recipes – children will probably resist dramatic changes but may fail to notice a slow but steady decline.

Introducing exercise as early an age habit

Exercise needs to be introduced as an integral part of the family’s lifestyle. Watching television and playing video or computer games should be balanced with more active pursuits. Many parents are anxious about their children playing unsupervised in parks and in the street, but some sociologists believe that increased levels of fear in our society have led to a cocooning mentality where the home is considered to be the only safe place for children. Encouraging children to join youth clubs and supervised sporting organizations can be a way to reduce this concern. Rehan Riaz Merchant Diet and Weight Management