KEEPING
YOUR FAMILY
HEALTHY
R
ates of childhood obesity in the
United States are at an all-time
high. And for the first time in human history, children have shorter
life expectancy than their parents. To prevent
diseases associated with childhood obesity
from affecting your child, help him lose weight
by adopting lifestyle changes that affect the
whole family.
Plan a Family Activity:
One day your little one is going to be off
to college and out of the house. In the meantime, why not build some family time around
weekly exercise that the whole family can get
involved in? Sign up for yoga practice as a
family. Schedule a session or two a week and
make it a family affair with a healthy dinner
planned afterwards.
If your kids love the great outdoors, plan
a few family bike rides a week. Have the kids
pick out some of the routes. Add some excitement to the bike ride by making the trail end at
a place that the family likes to go. Exercising
together will positively enforce the activity and
avoid the negative connotation of singling an
obese child out.
Clear Out the Cabinets:
When one member of the family has a
weight problem, the entire family has a weight
problem. If your child was put on a restricted
diet by his physician, have the whole family
participate in finding new ways to enjoy new
foods. By making the change a family effort,
you’ll increase the chances that your child will
stick to the meal plan and incorporate it into
his adult life.
Having trouble making the change?
Consider this: the problems associated with
unhealthy eating may not show up as weight
gain in other members of the family, but they
may be harming them in other ways. A healthier diet will reduce the chances that members
of your family will develop high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and other illnesses
associated with or exacerbated by unhealthy
diet.
Take Active Vacations:
A resort may sound like a great getaway
for the adult members of the family, but they
are not always the best for kids. Resorts are
often stocked with calorie-rich buffets and
sugary drinks. Compound that with an activity
schedule that doesn’t provide enough for your
child to do and they will find plenty of free time
to bing