Healthy eating habits should be established in childhood. If a child eats a lot of fatty or sweet foods, it is inevitable that after a while he will easily gain extra pounds. Obesity in children and adolescents requires a very different approach than in adults.

Principles

Considering the structural features of a child’s body and the functioning of all body systems, adult diets cannot be used. The child's psyche is very labile and significantly depends on age. Methods that will work for preschool children are completely unacceptable for schoolchildren, and even more so for teenagers

The only age during a lifetime when a person cannot become obese is the period from birth to the first feeding. At this time, the baby receives nutrition only through mother's milk. Breast milk is an excellent source of all nutrients, vitamins and microelements in ideal proportions for growth and development. It is 99.9% absorbed by the child's body.

After the introduction of complementary foods, the number of obese children increases markedly. Mothers try to feed their baby as much as possible. Many explain this by saying that they want to finish breastfeeding faster, because the baby is already receiving complementary foods. This is a fundamentally wrong belief.

All pediatricians are unanimous in their opinion on the issue of breastfeeding. The longer you breastfeed your baby, the less sick he will be and the less likely he will be to become obese. Complementary foods up to 8 months are only auxiliary sources of nutrients, giving leadership to breast milk. Only closer to the child’s first year can you reduce the number of breastfeedings and switch to eating regular foods.

All children's diets that are designed to reduce body weight are based on the same principles:

• Balanced diet. The correct ratio of nutrients with the predominant inclusion of protein products (up to 50% of the total diet).
• Fractionality of nutrition. It is set depending on the age of the child. Children under one year old should eat every 2-2.5 hours. From one to two years - 5-6 times a day. From 2-3 years - 5 times a day. After three years - 4 times a day.
• Daily calorie content. It is also calculated using special tables (according to the baby’s age).
• The right combination of dishes eliminating foods that contribute to weight gain.

We take age into account

When creating a diet, be sure to pay attention to the age of your baby.

Children under the age of five are strictly prohibited from all types of weight loss. At this time, all body systems are still improving and changing.

Abruptly eliminating some foods from such a baby’s diet can lead to an imbalance of nutrients, which can negatively affect metabolism as a whole. In the future, the child will have big problems: it is difficult to normalize weight if the metabolism has been disrupted.

If you notice that your child begins to gain weight at the age of 5-6 years, pay attention to what you give him to eat. At this age, harmful sweets and carbonated drinks should be completely avoided. Huge amounts of sugar provoke sharp spikes in insulin, which can lead to obesity and even diabetes. All cakes, sweets and chocolates are strictly prohibited for overweight children! Only natural fruits and berries. Teach your child to eat them instead of dessert.

Children aged 7-8 years should do more physical exercise. This time is the beginning of school. A previously more active child sits more at his desk and at home, doing homework. This leads to childhood physical inactivity and promotes weight gain.

Be sure to send your child to the sports section. This will help increase the baby's physical activity. After physical aerobic exercise, metabolism is activated, and extra pounds begin to literally burn off! Choose sections strictly according to your child’s wishes. Under no circumstances force your child to attend classes against his will. It’s better to choose a new sport that he will like and will bring joy.

Children aged 9, 10 and teenagers usually spend a lot of time on the computer playing computer games.

The second important reason for weight gain may be an excessive love of fast food and fatty foods. Children of this age really like a variety of snacks and chips with bright salty flavors.

The abundance of flavorings greatly whets the appetite, and they can eat a huge pack in just a couple of minutes. Such nutrition, combined with physical inactivity, contributes to the deposition of extra centimeters on the hips and abdomen.

Contraindications

When planning to choose any diet for weight loss, be sure to consult your doctor. A child may have various diseases in which losing weight would simply be dangerous to health.

Among the common contraindications for losing weight:

• Exacerbation of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract(chronic gastritis, colitis, enteritis, pancreatitis and many others).
• Cardiovascular diseases(arrhythmia and other heart rhythm disturbances). In such cases, a diet is prescribed by a cardiologist.
• Diabetes mellitus type 1. For this disease, endocrinologists prescribe insulin injections. It has a lipotropic effect, that is, it breaks down adipose tissue. Children with diabetes are strictly prohibited from using any type of diet. They use a special system for counting carbohydrates and bread units.
• Malignant and benign tumors. In such cases, a sufficient supply of nutrients is very important to strengthen the immune system. The use of regular diets is prohibited, only special therapeutic nutrition as prescribed by the oncologist.

Is extreme weight loss harmful?

Losing weight quickly, especially rapidly, is strictly prohibited for a child’s body! It is impossible to lose weight quickly without harm to the body under any circumstances. Fat breakdown occurs slowly.

Only 1-2 kg of fat can be burned per month using diet and exercise. Everything else is water or muscle. Regaining lost muscle tissue is much more difficult than losing it.

It is important to remember that you need to lose weight at home slowly but correctly. Be patient and support your baby through all stages of weight loss.

Kinds and types of diets

All diets can be divided into several types:

• Low calorie. They imply a reduction in daily caloric intake. The body perceives a calorie deficit as a stress reaction and begins to activate all its forces to maintain the desired level of energy. Fat depots become an excellent source of energy. When caloric intake is reduced, the child loses weight.
• Monotonous low-calorie. These diets include eating the same foods for a long time (for example, only buckwheat porridge or cottage cheese). Such diets are strictly prohibited for use in children. Fasting days are allowed, but only for teenagers over 13 years old. This can only be done once a week. At this time, the child can be offered 800 g of cottage cheese and a liter of kefir for the whole day. Before prescribing a mono-diet, be sure to consult a pediatrician or endocrinologist.
• Proper healthy eating. Includes fractional meals every 3-3.5 hours (only with approved products). All fast food, sweet sodas, fatty and fried foods, chocolate bars and chips are strictly prohibited. Such a diet should include many healthy protein products, cereals, fresh fruits and berries in season, and an abundance of vegetables.

Sample menu for the week

Monday

Breakfast: Homemade granola made from multigrain flakes with milk.

Lunch: Banana.

Dinner: Vegetable soup with chicken. Tomato and cabbage salad dressed with yogurt.

Afternoon snack: A glass of low-fat yogurt.

Dinner: Chinese cabbage salad with herbs and turkey meatballs.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Cottage cheese with dried fruits.

Lunch: A handful of walnuts.

Dinner: Soup with mushrooms and vegetables.

Afternoon snack: Rice pudding with pear.

Dinner: Hake meatballs with cucumber and tomato salad, side dish - buckwheat.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Fruit salad with whole wheat crackers.

Lunch: Apple.

Dinner: Vegetable and turkey soup.

Afternoon snack: Grated carrots with raisins and yogurt.

Dinner: Baked chicken with fresh vegetable salad.

Thursday

Breakfast: Cottage cheese with dried apricots.

Lunch: Dried fruits and green tea.

Dinner: White fish quenelles with boiled rice.

Afternoon snack: Low-fat kefir.

Dinner: Chicken with coleslaw.

Friday

Breakfast: Oatmeal cupcakes with kiwi.

Lunch: Pear.

Dinner: Chicken balls with tomato salad.

Afternoon snack: Low-fat cottage cheese with yogurt and strawberries.

Dinner: Stewed cabbage and chicken cutlet.

Saturday

Breakfast: Buckwheat flakes with boiled quail eggs.

Lunch: A handful of almonds.

Dinner: Tomato salad with veal meatballs.

Afternoon snack: Grated carrots with green apple.

Dinner: Poached white fish with boiled rice.

Sunday

Breakfast: Homemade granola with berries

Lunch: Low-fat kefir.

Dinner: Mushroom noodles with cucumber salad.

Afternoon snack: Kiwi.

Dinner: Cabbage and turkey salad.

Is it worth taking vitamin complexes?

Any vitamin preparations should be prescribed only by a pediatrician. A child’s body does not need to constantly take vitamins. Even while losing weight, with proper nutrition, you receive a sufficient amount of all the necessary vitamins and microelements.

Vitamin complexes should be taken only during colds. This will help strengthen your immune system and prevent infection.

How to stimulate a child?

Forcing a child to follow a diet is an absolutely stupid and completely pointless activity. The psyche of children under 5 years old is structured in such a way that they copy the behavior of adults and peers. They do not yet realize why and how this happens, but their behavior is guided by what they saw.

If it is customary in the family to eat the wrong and unhealthy foods, or to indulge in fried and fatty foods, then the child perceives this food as tasty. Explaining to children what is healthy is an extremely impossible task! It's not worth doing this. Just show by example that healthy eating can be delicious. If you have a salad and a piece of lean poultry on your plate, rather than a pork cutlet fried in oil, your child will eat the same. It is better to inculcate eating habits from early childhood.

Often parents do not know how to put their child on a diet. There is no need to put anyone anywhere! Just review your baby's diet by adding the right and healthy foods to the diet. Throw out all prepared processed foods and meat sausages from the refrigerator. Cook for your baby yourself, do not add a lot of oil when cooking. Bake or cook in the oven. Instill good eating habits in your child (starting from a very early age). In this case, the problem of obesity will be irrelevant for him.

How to help psychologically?

Support your baby through all stages of weight loss. He's a great guy for achieving such results. Reinforce your positive attitude with small gifts. Focus on your child's interests. If your child loves to draw, give him beautiful coloring books or a set of paints for the lost pounds. In short, everything he likes!

For children, it is better to choose all exercises from the practice of physical therapy. They are safe, were developed specifically for babies and will definitely not harm the little body.

A few simple exercises to get rid of your belly:

1. Have your baby lie down on the floor. First, place a special mat under your back. It should be soft enough, but at the same time elastic, so that the baby does not hurt his back. Legs bent at the knees, hands behind the head. As you exhale, lift your body to your knees. The head, back and neck form one straight line. As you inhale, return to the starting position. You need to do 2 approaches at least 15 times.
2. Starting position standing. Hands on the belt. The back is straight. As you inhale, the baby should pull in his stomach and hold his breath. Count to 5, then exhale sharply. This should be repeated 10-15 times in two approaches.
3. Exercise for the oblique abdominal muscles. Starting position - lying on the mat. Legs bent at the knees, hands behind the head. As you exhale, the baby raises his body and bends towards his right leg. On inhalation, it returns to its original position. Then the bend to the left leg is repeated in the same way. Do 15 times in each direction.

Termination

As the ancients said, diet is a way of life. This is true. Any proper nutrition can also be called a diet, only a therapeutic one. The use of such proper nutrition throughout life will help maintain not only normal weight, but also health (this will prevent a person from accumulating many chronic diseases).

• Necessarily control your diet baby. Make a menu in advance, preferably separately for each week. Follow all the principles of proper nutrition. Don't forget to separate your meals by time. To lose weight, your baby should eat at least 4-5 times a day.
• Include more vegetables and fruits in your diet. They have a low calorie content, but are perfectly filling. In combination with protein foods, they provide the body with energy for a long time and without a feeling of heaviness.
• Keep track of how much fluid your child drinks. Often, when water intake decreases, metabolism slows down noticeably. Products are poorly excreted from the body, which contributes to more pronounced weight gain.
• Instill a love of physical activity your baby has had since childhood. For a child, activities should become a habit - like brushing your teeth in the morning or washing your hands before eating.
• Form good eating habits. Show by your own example that wholesome and wholesome food is extremely tasty. Don't keep high-calorie chips and sugary soda at home. Your refrigerator should only contain healthy foods.
• Become your child's friend. This will help you motivate him more easily while losing weight and achieve good results. Replace the habit of eating unhealthy foods with others - for example, going outdoors with the whole family or visiting a pool or water park.

The diet for children should be selected strictly individually, taking into account the existing characteristics of the body and chronic diseases. Gradual weight loss over several months will help you shed accumulated pounds and improve your baby's health. The main thing in any weight loss process is a positive attitude and patience.

Children's weight

Body height (cm)	Body weight kg)
75-79	9,0 - 11,5
80-84	10,0 - 12,5
85-89	10,7 - 13,0
90-94	12,1 - 14,4
95-99	13,3 - 15,7
100-104	14,2 - 17,2
105-109	15,8 - 18,6
110-114	17,2 - 20,1
115-119	18,8 - 21,8
120-124	20,4 - 24,2
125-129	22,3 - 27,0
130-134	24,5 - 30,0
135-139	27,0 - 32,8
140-144	29,5 - 36,2
145-149	32,5 - 40,4
150-155	36,0 - 45,6

In children, a classification is used to determine the severity of overweight or obesity. So if the child’s actual weight exceeds the table figure by less than 15%, we are talking about overweight. This is not obesity yet, but it is better to take action without waiting for it to develop. If the weight is 15-30% more, we can talk about obesity of the 1st degree, 30-50% of the second, 50-100% of the third, and if the weight is more than 100% (almost two or more times) higher than normal, we We're talking about stage 4 obesity.

Not only adults, but also children suffer from extra pounds. Moreover, more and more often. The incidence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is growing and now reaches, according to conservative estimates, somewhere around 15-20%. And 30 years ago it did not exceed ten. These trends are frightening, since obesity in childhood is almost certainly obesity for life with all the ensuing consequences. Weight gain can be explained by some painful causes in no more than 5% of children. In other cases, no diseases that could cause extra pounds can be detected. In these at least 95% of cases, we can talk about some natural reasons that our children encounter in everyday life, in their choice of food, in communicating with us or with each other.

We will look at some of them below:

New trends in nutrition culture and children's weight

The general trends that humanity is now facing is that our food is becoming increasingly fatty, sweet and refined. An increasing share of energy comes from treats. The laws of the market play an important role in these changes - food producers need to feed well-fed, sated people with delicious food. This means that advertising is needed to convince us to try a cheeseburger or biscuit. And if you and I can still figure out what is useful and what is not, then our children are completely defenseless in front of this advertising stream. And food advertising is increasingly targeting children. And what does she offer them to eat or drink? Coca-Cola is a drink containing 4 teaspoons of sugar (!) per glass. Crackers for children's breakfasts with a fat content of about 10% (for comparison, regular bread contains only 1-2% fat), chips, the fat content of which reaches 30%, milk drinks with twice the fat content of regular milk, plus an unnaturally high sugar content .

All these products cannot be the basis of a modern person’s diet; they directly contribute to the increase in body weight. But advertising doesn't just advise eating them. It creates a culture of their consumption. What company, what friendly conversation without chips, nuts or crackers fried in oil? How to play, run and jump, how not to slow down, if you don’t have a chocolate bar at hand? A youth party without cola? Do not make me laugh!

And as a result, we get a generation of people who, since childhood, are accustomed to eating on the go, chewing casually, preferring foods that are excessively fatty and sweet.

Child's weight: the influence of sedentary forms of leisure

Children must play. It is during games that the experience of communication, relationships with each other, the choice of roles, behavior patterns, and so on is formed. This process is absolutely necessary for the normal development of the human personality and psyche. And until recently, games also protected our children from weight gain. They required too much energy. And time. Our children often forgot about food while playing.

But it turned out that you can play and master “adult” skills without literally leaving your seat. A computer console instead of a war game, TV series instead of mother-daughter games. Without leaving your computer you can practice martial arts, play basketball or football.

By the way, inactivity is dangerous not only because it reduces energy expenditure, but also because it increases food consumption. The usual switching for wild nature is triggered. The animal either moves in search of food or eats it, and in this case remains in relative motor rest. Stopping for an animal means that food is somewhere nearby. To feel the effect of this mechanism on yourself, just remember when we eat more, on weekdays or weekends? Research shows that food consumption on weekends is approximately 20-30% higher than on weekdays.

And a behavioral stereotype develops that absolutely leads to extra pounds - sitting for hours in front of a monitor screen and, in order to relieve the tension caused by a computer game, nervously eating some kind of chips.

Child's weight: bad example of parents

A generally accepted fact. Overweight children appear much more often in families of overweight parents. It is believed that if both mom and dad are overweight, all their children will be at least inclined to be overweight. If one of the parents is obese, the likelihood of extra pounds appearing in the offspring is about 50-60%. Why? Here the opinions of scientists differ. Some believe that genetics are to blame for everything. Some genes that are inherited make the likelihood of becoming overweight significantly higher than the population average. Others reasonably note that in addition to any genes, children adopt their lifestyle and eating habits from their parents.

Most likely, both are right. The tendency to be overweight is partly inherited, partly transmitted through upbringing. Children, watching their overweight parents, unwittingly adopt their diet (often with the usual excess of fats and sugars) and attitude towards mobility (often negative). And extra pounds become a consequence of such a “fat-producing” lifestyle.

It’s a paradox: children’s actions, designed to save them from this obesity, lead to obesity.

But sometimes everything happens exactly the opposite. Parents, realizing the harm of extra pounds, at the slightest sign of obesity, begin to limit the child’s nutrition, prohibit him from chocolate and candy, not allow him to eat after the notorious 18 hours, force him to run around the stadium, and so on. It seems that their actions are dictated by caring for the child, but in fact they do not help him lose weight. Moreover, there is always a way to steal food: a compassionate grandmother who will feed you, money hidden and spent on chips or chocolate bars. A negative attitude towards loads and sports efforts is developed. The child continues to recover. This justifies parents in coming up with new ways to limit tasty things, and makes the child more resourceful in searching for food. The circle closes.

Psychological factors contributing to weight gain in children

The problem of childhood obesity is not limited to poor diet or lack of exercise. There are also many psychological factors, determined by relationships in the family or in the company of peers, that contribute to the increase in excess weight and prevent its loss.

It is known that peers often treat overweight children and teenagers negatively, laugh at them, do not accept them into their companies, or accept them in some minor roles. Children, feeling and painfully experiencing their own, as it seems to them, inferiority, often resort to food as a comforter. Tasty foods, that is, excessively fatty and sweet foods, are especially good for comfort.

By the way, according to the observations of British doctors, overweight children demonstrate higher levels of intelligence and school performance. Apparently, suffering from isolation, they try to prove themselves in other areas of life, and study their lessons more diligently.

I have often observed that a child prone to obesity, in order to somehow stay in the company, agrees to the role of a kind of fat clown, ready for good-natured ridicule and even trying to provoke it. Watch American children's films. There are quite a lot of such characters there. What is important for us here is that such a child will subconsciously resist everything that leads to weight loss. Why lose weight? After all, he has already found his place in the sun.

Plump teenage girls who feel uncomfortable in the company of their peers often find a place in the company of boys. Their fatness smooths out their gender differences, and they can now participate in their noisy games on an equal basis with boys. The image of a girl-comrade, “her boyfriend” is formed. If a girl values ​​such an attitude towards herself, she will also not strive to lose weight.

There is a lot that contributes to completeness in the psychology of relationships between children and parents.

For example, parents, due to their busy lives, do not have time to fully communicate with their children. The child feels lonely, abandoned, and sad. Chocolate and other delicacies may be the only consolation in this situation.

Mom believes that her life has not been very successful, and puts all her efforts into protecting the teenage girl from mistakes and helping her in life. Her concern is dictated by the best feelings. But the girl wants to live by her own mind. Behaves in defiance of his mother. They quarrel almost every day. The girl tends to be overweight and has extra pounds. But since her mother constantly tells her that no one will need her so fat, the teenager, out of a sense of resistance, does not want to do anything to lose weight. Do you think this doesn't happen? It still happens! I recently had exactly this case. And the matter did not move forward until I reconciled them. And I would not have achieved anything, or would have gotten a very short-term effect, if I had simply explained to them that they needed to eat less fatty foods and do exercises.

What are the dangers of obesity in children?

Some of these dangers have already been discussed above.

1. Obesity in children is an almost obligate predictor of obesity in adults

This is true. The probability of developing obesity in adulthood in obese children is close to 100%. Moreover, often obesity in such people reaches downright frightening degrees, third and fourth. It is often complicated by the early development of diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and progressive atherosclerosis. And it can cause a reduction in life expectancy by an average of 10-15 years.

2. Obesity in children often impairs sexual development and can cause infertility in older age.

Adipose tissue interferes with the exchange of sex hormones. Accumulates them and turns them into less active forms. The participation of adipose tissue in the conversion of female sex hormones into male ones is known. In the presence of severe obesity in boys, underdevelopment of the gonads (adiposoginetal dystrophy) with enlargement of the mammary glands (gynecomastia) is possible; in girls, against the background of obesity, a syndrome may develop, manifested by underdevelopment of the uterus and appendages, disruption of cyclic activity and excessive hair growth.

3. Obesity disrupts the development of a child’s personality.

It is often difficult for an overweight child or teenager to find their place in the company of their peers. In the future, obese people often have difficulty finding a partner and creating a full-fledged family. Extra pounds and unsuccessful attempts to get rid of them can cause unstable self-esteem and neuroses.

What to do? How to lose weight for a child?

The best place to start is to consult a pediatrician, pediatric neurologist or endocrinologist. These consultations are all the more desirable if we are dealing with obesity of the third or fourth degree, when the child’s weight exceeds normal by 50 percent or more. This will allow us not to miss those cases of obesity that are caused by painful causes, diseases of the nervous system or endocrine sphere. In these cases, special treatment is necessary.

Basic methods of weight correction in a child

Dietary method of losing weight for a child

As numerous studies have shown, the most common cause of weight gain is a relative excess of fat in food. Hence, the main dietary action is to limit fat content. This can be achieved using different methods. Reduce the consumption of overtly fatty foods - oils, mayonnaise, fatty meats, creamy yoghurts, and so on. Something can be replaced with low-fat analogues. You can fry food in non-stick pans with a little oil or bake it in foil.

Along with reducing fat, it is advisable to reduce the consumption of sweets. Sugar stimulates appetite and promotes overeating. Naturally, all restrictions must fully preserve the comfort of nutrition. Try to separate the concepts of tasty and everyday food in the child’s mind. Treats should be given to the child in small quantities when he is already full. It is advisable to give preference to low-fat treats, marshmallows, marshmallows, and caramel.

The basis of nutrition should be lean meat, fish, cottage cheese, dairy products, complex carbohydrates - cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes, as well as vegetables and fruits. It is advisable to take food in small portions more often.

Physical activity and child weight loss

It is necessary to encourage the child’s mobility and participation in games. Try to take more walks, quietly increase the pace of walking. Loads are necessary to maintain high muscle tone. This in turn will activate systems for extracting fat from their reserves and breaking it down.

Method of psychological correction for losing weight in children

As we have already said, psychological reasons may underlie weight gain. And in this case, it is necessary to work with a psychologist or psychotherapist. Moreover, often the object of this work should be, along with children, their parents and possibly other adult family members.

Basic principles of weight correction in children and adolescents

Voluntariness

The child must fully agree to all your actions. It is clear that this is only possible if your actions are not violent and do not cause pain to the child; on the contrary, they are comfortable and actually improve the quality of life. For example, light food does not leave a heaviness in the stomach and does not interfere with games and sleep.

It is important to emphasize that everything accepted voluntarily will remain a habit and will allow a person to successfully control his weight at an older age.

Goodwill

Try to be as correct and constructive as possible when talking about your child’s weight. The child should not feel your negative, derogatory attitude. He needs to know that the situation can be corrected, and you will help him with this. Never scold children for being overweight. It's not their fault.

Absence of dietary restrictions and violence in sports exercises

As we have already seen, all these actions, for all their seeming logic, actually lead to the exact opposite, to weight gain. The prohibition gives rise to lust, the desire to get a delicacy at any cost. One lady told me that she hid sweets from her overweight children in the wardrobe until she realized that the children could easily find them there by smell.

Let us add that severe food restrictions, protein and vitamin deficiencies can be harmful to health, disrupt development (including mental development), and slow down growth.

Continuity

Actions aimed at weight correction should not be in the nature of a campaign. On the contrary, they must be continuous. There will be no benefit from short-term attempts to restrict your child's diet or force him to exercise. As soon as you relax your efforts, the reasons that cause extra pounds will start working again and the weight progression will continue.

Sufficiency (moderation)

Children and adolescents often do not need to insist on weight loss and be upset if this reduction is not achieved. Moderate restriction of fats and encouragement of play will ensure that weight stabilizes and growth and development continue. And after some time (sometimes several years), the child’s weight will come into line with his new height.

As an example, I will give one observation.
The boy, who is prone to obesity due to heredity, already weighed 16 kilograms at one year old, and 20 kilograms at one and a half years old and had all the signs of severe obesity.

We took the following tactics. Limit the fat content of your diet. Made meals more frequent, up to 5 meals a day in small portions. Adults stopped eating in the presence of the child and tried not to talk about food in his presence. If a boy wanted candy, it was cut into 6-8 pieces and he received it one piece at a time, only after eating the previous one.

As a result, half or even a third of the candy was enough to fill me up. The same applied to other delicacies. Through preferences, we achieved that the child would rather choose fruits and bread as light snacks than sweets. No one insisted that the boy finish his portion. Walking and playing were encouraged in every possible way.

Now the boy is three years old, he weighs the same 19 - 20 kilograms. And no one will call him fat anymore. This is a strong, healthy child.

And in conclusion, one piece of advice. If you see that your child has a negative attitude towards the very idea of ​​losing weight and resists your efforts. If there is no agreement between older family members regarding tactics. If you feel that your child is embarrassed by his fatness and, because of his weight, limits contact with peers or agrees to minor roles, then you have direct indications to discuss this situation with a family or child psychologist.

I must warn you that working with a psychologist or psychotherapist is far from an intimate conversation, the purpose of which is to convince you of the correctness of your intentions and the purity of your thoughts. This conversation does not always go in a way that is pleasant for you, but the truths that are revealed make you happy. But if you are positive and truly want to help your children live happy and healthy lives, this type of work will be extremely beneficial for you.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, nutritionist Mikhail Ginzburg, Cocktails for weight loss "Energetik Slim"

24/06/2016 03:18

Childhood obesity – perhaps one of the main problems of the so-called consumer society.

The topic of mass consumption concerns not only material goods. Our children’s generation is incredibly attached to fast food and store-bought nastiness – Coca-Cola, chips, various snacks. In some families, not a day goes by without French fries, a burger and sweet soda. Moreover, often the parents themselves buy their child “killers” of our health during their next walk.

It would seem - so what’s wrong: a child will snack on harmful crackers once or twice, why not indulge? This dose will not harm your health. It’s just that parents simply don’t have time to monitor the amount of nastiness their child absorbs - work and household chores take up their whole lives. And the result of uncontrolled pampering in a few months will be gastritis, excess weight, caries and a host of other problems, including mental ones. Then moms and dads grab their heads - it’s too late to scold, it’s urgent to treat!

Fact. Only 5% Overweight children have health problems. Rest 95% - the result of the bad example of parents and the culture of unhealthy eating imposed by society.

Our topic today is dedicated to children whose poor nutrition has led to problems with excess weight. Nutritionists and child psychologists tell how to cultivate willpower in a child and why you should not encourage your child with junk food (which, by the way, is most often neglected by parents of the smallest toddlers - as they say, no matter what the child enjoys, as long as he doesn’t cry!).

Childhood obesity - causes and consequences

Before you begin to solve the problem, you need to understand the reasons for its occurrence. So, when faced with excess weight in a child, do not rush to deny him dinner and organize a two-hour marathon in the gym, since some diseases that inevitably accompany obesity serve as contraindications to certain diets or different types of physical activity.

Among the main causes of childhood obesity:

• Poor nutrition. Baking, sweets, fast food, store-bought sodas, unhealthy snacks as school snacks - all this slowly but surely leads the body to the accumulation of extra pounds.
• Genetics. Inheritance of obesity is a common problem in families where at least one parent is overweight. The probability of the baby getting sick in this case is close to 40%. Excess weight in both parents increases the risk of inheriting the problem by up to 80%.
• Hormones and diseases of internal organs. Diseased adrenal glands and pancreas, dysfunction of the thyroid gland (low activity) - in other words, dysfunction of the endocrine glands provoke increased fat deposition in the child.
• Premature babies. Babies born prematurely are also at risk.
• Early transfer to artificial feeding. Unbalanced high-calorie mixtures can cause the child to develop obesity in the near future.
• Physical inactivity. A computer, tablet, TV, smartphone are the enemies of babies from birth. All these incorrect rewards with gifts for good behavior, eaten oatmeal and straight A's at school develop in your child the desire to get the coveted gadget in any way (most often by hysterics to the point of losing sanity). As a result of satisfying whims with this method, parents get a sedentary, silent, withdrawn baby, who is not interested in active games with peers in the yard - just let him play on the tablet! Is it worth talking about roller skates, bicycles, skateboards, sleds and other means of active recreation? Many modern children have not even heard of these wonderful inventions! And the parents should definitely be blamed for this, for whom the option of a home baby with a gadget in their hands is more suitable than worrying about the broken knees of an active child.
• Example of parents. I want to become like my dad - a common answer from kids to the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” And when parents have problems with excess weight, the child's future is almost predetermined.

Excess weight in a baby is a serious problem, and preventing it is much easier than solving it later. And if you are always touched by the sight of a donut baby, we hasten to upset you: nothing good awaits this child in the future! Excess weight introduces a serious imbalance in the functioning of the entire body, and every year a growing baby increasingly turns into a chronically ill person, not only with excess body weight, but also with a host of medical problems.

Note to parents!

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal and excessive fat deposits that can be detrimental to health. Body mass index (BMI) is a simple ratio of weight to height, often used to classify obesity and overweight. The index is calculated as the ratio of body weight in kilograms to the square of height in meters (kg/m2).

The body mass index indicator was developed by the Belgian sociologist and statistician Adolphe Quetelet in 1869, and is used exclusively for an approximate assessment of a person’s physique.

And BMI is calculated using the formula I = m: (h × h), Where m is the body weight in kilograms (for example, 55.6 kg), and h– height in meters (for example, 1.70 m).

In accordance with WHO recommendations, the following interpretation of BMI indicators has been developed.

	Correspondence between a person's mass and his height
16 or less	Severe underweight
16-18,5	Insufficient (deficit) body weight
18,5-24,99	Norm
25-30	Excess body weight (pre-obesity)
30-35	Obesity of the first degree
35-40	Obesity of the second degree
40 or more	Obesity of the third degree (morbid)

The consequences of childhood obesity are terrifying:

• Disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, namely: increased blood cholesterol, increased blood pressure, changes in heart rhythm, atherosclerosis, coronary disease, angina, increased risk of stroke and heart attack, and other problems such as varicose veins and even deadly kidney failure.
• Diabetes- appears by the age of 15-20 years.
• Problems with the musculoskeletal system, namely: flat feet, poor posture and gait, osteoporosis.
• Dysfunction of the gonads, namely: in boys - underdevelopment of the genital organs, in girls - menstrual dysfunction, as well as the risk of infertility and sexual disorders in both sexes.
• Oncology of the mammary glands, uterus, colon – the result of obesity in 11% of cases.
• Disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system and related body systems, namely: constipation, hemorrhoids, cholelithiasis, cholecystitis.
• Decreased immunity and increased susceptibility to colds.
• Sleep disorders– snoring, apnea syndrome.

Let's add to the presented list of problems the ridicule of peers - and we get severe complexes instead of a self-confident child.

On a note! Statistics show that children who have serious weight problems usually do not live to see 60 years of age. Practice confirms the fears of doctors - obesity today is one of the main causes of death, and in the coming years this danger may even surpass the harm from smoking!

Proper nutrition for an overweight child - a list of taboo drinks and foods

Of course, you should not choose a complete diet for your child on your own. For help, contact a pediatric nutritionist. But you need to eliminate the following harmful foods and drinks from your diet today.

Prohibited foods and drinks for childhood obesity:

• Fast food. No hamburgers, French fries, breaded chicken, pasties - none of what is usually sold at McDonald's and shawarma stands!
• Semi-finished products. Also classified as fast food, they are instant products, which means they no longer contain anything useful.
• Chips, crackers. All kinds of dry snacks are a taboo for anyone, even the healthiest child.
• Confectionery. Sweet pastries, candies, chocolate with filling, ice cream - this is an endless list of harmful products containing a lot of sugar, and nothing but sugar, which is destructive in the excessive quantities in which it is consumed today by most of the world's population.
• Smoked meats, pickles, spicy dishes. They seriously disrupt metabolism and provoke the development of many diseases, including obesity.
• Fats. Taboo – fatty meat, sausages, lard, fried fish.
• Alcohol. Prohibited in any form and any strength! Oddly enough, many young fathers, and mothers too (which sounds even worse!) do not see anything wrong with a ten-year-old child drinking a little beer - and the parents themselves are pushing the child one step into the abyss. This is a serious problem in modern society, where teenagers consider alcohol a mandatory and integral attribute of any meeting with peers.
• Sweet soda. Sugar, sugar and more sugar - just an outrageous amount of it, which leads to metabolic disorders and rapid accumulation of excess weight! And also a lot of extremely harmful food additives - dyes, defoamers, preservatives.

Experts on the site tell you more about prohibited and permitted foods for obesity in the topic. In the same topic you will find an example menu for the week and reviews from doctors about the diet.

This is interesting!

The development of childhood obesity has one feature: the maximum amount of extra pounds is gained at age from 7 to 10 years. If during this period the parents missed the problem, it will be very difficult to solve it in the future.

What should be the portion of an overweight child: a set of products and their volume

Standards for portions in grams are not entirely the correct approach in any diet, because the individual needs of each of us vary greatly: for some, a bowl of vegetable soup is enough, for others, a serving of the main course is enough for others.

A pediatric nutritionist will help you create a competent menu with a set of healthy products and establish an acceptable portion size, based on a combination of factors, such as the baby’s weight, the presence of certain diseases, the rate of development of the body, and the degree of physical activity of your child.

Feeding an overweight child - a few recommendations:

• Teach your child to eat at the same time every day.
• Divide your entire daily diet into 6-7 meals – fractional meals allow the stomach to be constantly full, without requiring large portions and unhealthy snacks between meals.
• Establish a physical activity regimen. This could be daily walking in the fresh air, morning exercises, housework - anything that causes the body to burn calories. The main thing is in moderation, otherwise, instead of improving your health, you risk getting a bunch of heart diseases and a lot of other problems due to increased stress on an organism weakened by excess weight.

Remember that treating obesity is a tedious and very long process, this is especially acute during the treatment of a child: whims, tears, hysterics demanding to buy another portion of ice cream or chips will certainly accompany you along the path to success. And if only the parent allows himself to relax and allows the child’s whims to control his own mind, all the nutritionist’s successes will be reduced to zero!

Fact. Today, more than one person is overweight 50 million children all over the world. Moreover, the age of each sick child from this group is up to 5 years. Experts predict that by 2025 The number of overweight children will reach 70 million.

A set of healthy products for overweight children:

• Lean meat, fish.
• Unsweetened fruits.
• Low-calorie vegetables.
• Cottage cheese, fermented milk products.
• Vegetable fats.
• Rye bread.
• Sufficient amount of liquid.

All of the listed products are consumed in limited quantities according to the principle of reducing the calorie content of the diet by approximately 20-50%.

The right foods to snack on

So, you have discussed your baby’s nutrition with a pediatric nutritionist, and are already making the first progress, but one fine day a pack of half-eaten crackers in a school backpack treacherously indicates that the child has violated the diet - what to do next?

Depriving money for a canteen is not the best option, because the child will simply remain hungry. Children also don’t always like paid school lunches, and eating their mother’s cutlets with pasta from a bowl looks undignified - it’s embarrassing in front of their peers, in case they laugh.

What to do in this case? Let’s immediately make a reservation that it is impossible and useless to scold! The forbidden fruit becomes sweeter the more it is forbidden. Your task is not to focus on the harmful, but to quickly switch the baby’s attention to the useful.

If you still fail to convince your child to give up unhealthy snacks using the proposed methods, use the advice of psychologists.

How to refuse? We cultivate willpower in a capricious child. Advice from psychologists

When it comes to junk food disobedience, it's not because your child is inferior. Simply trying everything unknown is the same habit among children as smoking is among adults: we know that it is harmful, but it is difficult to give up. The only difference is that adults are already fully aware of the harm of their actions, but the child’s psyche is just being formed, and it will not mature tomorrow.

Psychologists advise how to refuse to buy unhealthy snacks for your child:

• Don't take your child to the supermarket with you. Many parents happily take their children to the store, teaching them from an early age to make purchases, count money, and handle goods carefully. However, there is another side to this coin - the constant temptation of colorful packages of sweets, chocolate, and so on. The baby asks for treats, begins to cry loudly, the parents feel sorry for the baby - and at this moment the line between normal childhood and health is erased. The cherished kinder surprise was received, the tears disappeared, as if they had never happened! A mark has been made in the baby’s subconscious about an effective way to manipulate parents, and now this method will be used every time mom and dad begin to refuse to buy sweets. It is for this reason that psychologists recommend going shopping without small children. You don't want the whole supermarket to be hysterical, do you?
• Ignore the tantrums. No matter how sorry you feel for the child, never allow yourself to be manipulated by tears. After many years, such a child will grow into a cruel manipulator, not ready to compromise.
• Stick firmly to one line of behavior and be consistent in your actions. The reaction to whims should always be the same. It is difficult to explain to a small child why today, after a tantrum, they bought him a Kinder surprise, but yesterday they forbade him. Sometimes it is difficult for parents themselves to understand such actions, and growing commanders happily take advantage of this: as soon as the child sees some doubt in your behavior, rest assured that pressure will now begin in the form of hysteria, and most likely the child will achieve his goal.
• Prohibit your friends and acquaintances from giving your child candy without your permission. No one can resist the eyes of a cute toddler, and this is one of the most common reasons for a child’s disobedience: someone else’s aunt is good because she treated him to chocolate, but his mother is bad because she forbids him to eat nasty things. This is how the child builds a negative attitude towards his parents, who, unlike the passing aunt, care about the health of their child, and in the future will be faced with the result of such uncontrolled treats secret from the mother - with the treatment of serious diseases such as excess weight, caries, gastritis.
• The whole family has the same opinion. Surely you have noticed from the outside how the baby’s mother forbids him something, and the grandmother immediately buys the coveted lollipop. This line of behavior is unacceptable! Agree with all family members that the decision not to buy nasty things is the same when the child approaches any of the relatives.
• Offer the option to cook some goodies together. Ice cream, marmalade, sweets, cookies - all this can be prepared at home from natural ingredients and without preservatives. Fortunately, there are plenty of recipes on children's culinary forums. Children are always interested in doing things with their own hands. Involve your little one in the entertaining process of making homemade ice cream - and he will not exchange his creation for any other, even if it comes in three beautiful packages from the best store.
• Try the so-called illusion of choice method. Psychologists unanimously say that a child’s request “mom, buy” does not always mean a desire to get a new toy or candy. This is often a sign of lack of attention. But if the child persistently asks for another harm, offer him an alternative, thereby switching attention. For example, when your child is eager to get a portion of ice cream, offer him to buy the game “Ice Cream Factory,” emphasizing that the child has never had such a game before, which means he needs to buy it in order to learn the whole process of preparing the delicacy. Well, to prevent a new hysteria from starting in the toy store, go to the children's world on your own, leaving the little one with dad. The illusion of choice method works in almost 100% of cases, because the child is offered something new and probably exciting. And while the baby is busy learning an unfamiliar game, mom will prepare healthy homemade ice cream.
• Reward correctly. From early childhood, you should not teach your child to reward his every step in the form of a toy or chocolate. This method of education inevitably leads to the dependence of the desire to do something on reward. In other words, if the child is not satisfied with the reward, then he will not help around the house. Option two - throw a loud tantrum demanding a well-deserved prize for eating a plate of oatmeal. More on the intricacies of consoling children.

We encourage wisely: why can’t you console your child with junk food?

Using food as a reward is a favorite activity of all parents. If you cry - get another portion of rich ice cream with dyes and preservatives. If you're upset, have a hamburger and a cola. This is how parents themselves subtly influence the child’s choice in the future.

Psychologist's advice. Don't reward your child with junk food. Never!

1. The first correct method is verbal praise. For many children, it is enough that their parents praise them for certain achievements with warm words.
2. The second option is an activity or gift that will promote physical development, for example, roller skates or a scooter. Often children eat simply out of boredom. Keep your baby busy with active games and he will forget that you didn’t buy him a chocolate bar. By the way, permission to walk longer is also well received by children.
3. And finally, the third method is only healthy products. Fruits, dried fruits, nuts, homemade sweets or cookies, homemade yogurt or smoothies, the very preparation of which can already become entertainment - all these delicacies can be one of extreme consolation options. A snack is just food. There is no need to make a cult out of it!

It's also important to remember that snacking has always existed as a method of preventing blood sugar swings - stable levels reduce cravings. In addition, snacking helps avoid hunger - and when a person is hungry, he is ready to eat everything, and often not the healthiest thing. It’s not for nothing that nutritionists and psychologists agree on one opinion: you need to go to the grocery store well-fed, otherwise the basket at the subconscious level will be filled with a lot of unnecessary packages of quick food instead of the necessary healthy vegetables.

Mom won't find out, or what should parents do when a child sneakily eats nasty things?

Setting a goal for a child is the main task of parents. When it comes to dieting, it's often secret snacking that ruins all parents' efforts. If you accidentally discover that your child has started buying snacks in immeasurable quantities with money from his piggy bank, try the following effective methods of weaning off unhealthy purchases.

How to convince your child to give up unhealthy snacks:

• Take him to the health museum where exhibitions of not only healthy organs are presented, but also the liver, heart and even teeth affected by various diseases are put on public display. Such an educational excursion with the guide’s stories about the effect of chips and soda on each individual human organ will be very memorable.
• Make an agreement with the coach in the section of your child’s favorite sport: if the child loses weight, he will be taken to the team and invited to training. To make the incentive even more serious, the coach can offer your child the role of captain of the future team. And almost all children like to be in charge, so the proposed conditions will certainly appeal to the little one.
• Lead by example. When mom and dad eat snacks, washing them down with toxic-colored drinks, why can’t a child do the same? It is the example of the parents that most often pushes the child to buy the same mysterious package from which the parents yesterday crunched something with great appetite.
• Play with your child in accumulating points for a future purchase, for example, a desired radio-controlled car. For each healthy snack, write 10 points in your calendar, for each unhealthy snack, subtract 15. When the number of points reaches the cost of the toy or the agreed-upon mark, feel free to take your baby to the children’s world and buy the promised present. For convenience, use a reference period of 1 month. If during this time the required number of points is not scored, the account is canceled and everything starts again. This game is a great way to occupy a child’s mind with the right things.

A good example is contagious: how children copy their parents

The example of parents is always an authority. And if dad, mom, grandparents were actively involved in sports all their lives, ate right, and did not allow themselves bad habits (smoking, alcohol, etc.), a child in such a family will almost certainly inherit a healthy lifestyle, because he grew up in a healthy atmosphere. What can we say about children who from an early age watch the passive leisure of their parents, whose pleasure lies in a can of beer and endless television series.

Indisputable fact: If you want to know what your child will be like in adulthood, look in the mirror and you will see his future reflection.

And finally. Specialfood. rurecommends

Before you begin dietary therapy, examine your child. Perhaps in his case, nutrition is not the cause of excess weight, and it’s all about some specific disease. Especially if your child eats on a schedule and receives sweets in moderation, but still gains weight.

How to help a child lose weight is one of the most common questions of concern to caring parents. Overweight in children is a serious problem that leads not only to physical illness, but also to serious emotional problems.

Childhood obesity is a pathological condition characterized by the accumulation of greater amounts of body fat relative to muscle mass.

The way children eat depends on the eating habits of their parents, as well as the environment in which they move. Food choices may contribute to the development of diet-related diseases in later life or be the basis for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately, many parents try not to notice that their child is overweight. For the sake of your child’s happiness and health, it is worth recognizing the problem and trying to help him in the fight against poor eating habits and childhood obesity.

What is important is that if obesity is not treated, it will not magically disappear as the child ages, but it can subsequently worsen the health condition, so it is necessary to take action as soon as possible. For parents, this often means struggling with their own habits, eating habits, and weaknesses.

Obesity or overweight?

This concept should not be confused with excess weight, since excess weight is a less serious problem, since it is characterized by a slight excess of adipose tissue, which is easier to get rid of by introducing the principles of proper nutrition.

In childhood, obesity is diagnosed when the child’s BMI is above 30 kg/m²

Why is childhood obesity dangerous?

• Diabetes
• Heart problems: arrhythmia, high blood cholesterol
• Problems in the gastrointestinal tract: poor digestion, risk of gallstones
• Changes in posture, development of flat feet
• Low immunity
• Problems in sexual development. In obese girls, menstruation is disrupted; in boys, obesity can lead to underdevelopment of the genital organs

Although not all overweight children turn into obese adults, many pull themselves together, lead a healthy lifestyle, play sports, but they will never forget how hard it was for them as children.

Every overweight child has a lot of psychological problems. Offensive nicknames, constant ridicule from peers, reluctance to be friends with a fat person - all this leaves an indelible mark on the child’s psyche. Loneliness, a sense of inferiority, and a whole carload of a wide variety of complexes are the friends of children suffering from obesity. It’s especially hard for girls who have a desire to be attractive in their blood. Then parents begin to think about how to help their child lose weight.

To make it easier for a child to endure ridicule in a group and avoid psychological problems, he needs the support of adults. Your task is to explain to him that childhood obesity is just an imbalance in the ratio of weight and height, but since the child is constantly growing, this is a temporary problem that can be easily corrected, and you will help him do it.

How to help your child lose weight. A number of simple rules:

1. Don't force your child to eat if he doesn't want to. Sometimes it may seem to us that the baby ate little food and left the table hungry. But this is not so, which means that this is quite enough for the child’s body, and by forcing you to eat everything, you yourself provoke the child’s habit of overeating. The stomach tends to stretch. And if your child does not refuse food, but happily eats everything that is put in and asks for more, it’s time to reduce the portions.
2. Food shouldn't be a comfort. When a child is upset, you don’t need to give him candy, it will become a habit, just talk to him and calm him down. The baby needs your attention first.
3. Are you wondering how to help your child lose weight in a week? No way! A strict diet is a huge stress for an adult body, let alone children. In order not to harm your health, you need to lose weight in moderation, while taking all the necessary vitamins and microelements with food, not forgetting about moderate physical activity; only discipline will help you achieve the desired result.
4. Be an example. Children always want to be like adults. If mom and dad lead a healthy lifestyle, eat right, play sports, prefer an active lifestyle, and watch their figure, then it is unlikely that their child will be obese. You must understand that only you are to blame for the fact that your baby is overweight, has no friends, and everyone laughs at him. It's time to pull yourself together and change your lifestyle for the sake of the child.
5. No restrictions. As you know, the forbidden fruit is sweet. By forbidding your child to eat his favorite chips, chocolates, and candies, you only provoke diet breakdowns. Diet means proper nutrition, not starvation. Explain to your child why this is necessary, that his life will change. If the child does not want to completely give up harmful foods, you need to reduce their consumption to a minimum. Agree that you can have chips once a week, and you don’t have to take a large pack; you can get by with a small one to pamper yourself, but at the same time not harm your health and figure.
6. Love for sports. Even if you reduce the number of calories consumed, but constantly sit in front of the computer, the weight will come off very slowly; in order to lose weight, the child needs to move. Get out into nature more often, play outdoor games, give sports gifts (roller skates, bicycles, skis, skates, etc.). And it is best to send your child to a sports section, where he will not only lose weight, but become strong, resilient, purposeful, and gain willpower.
7. It is impossible to force a child to lose weight. You need to explain how important this is for him, encourage the baby, tell him that he will definitely succeed, and that you will fight together.

Causes of childhood obesity

The motivation for change should be the desire for a better life for your child, as well as protecting him from the consequences of obesity treatment. What kind of consequences? First of all, excessive stress on the joints, causing problems with movement, flat feet and knee pain.

Childhood obesity contributes to disruption of the body's hormonal balance, which increases the risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus and premature maturation of the body.

An overworked heart, which is forced to pump more blood and may become enlarged, also increases the risk of myocardial infarction. The body is more vulnerable to the development of arterial hypertension, obliterating vascular atherosclerosis, and much more.

The mental sphere of the child also suffers, who may feel ugly, which in the future will lead to low self-esteem.

The following roles play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity: genetic factors, environmental factors (for example, diet and physical activity), social and cultural factors, as well as the hormonal status of the body.

In sociology they say that it is necessary to know the causes of a given phenomenon in order to find a solution more easily. Thus, by analyzing the mistakes made, you can successfully learn from them and try not to repeat them in later life.

What contributes to childhood obesity:

• Irregularity of food intake
• Between-meal snacks, sweets and salty snacks.
• Replacing full meals with fast food and instant meals.
• Low consumption of vegetables and fruits.
• Eating refined foods, white wheat bread, light pasta, white rice, small grains, sugary cereals.
• Low intake of whole grain foods, regular cereals, wholemeal breads, cereals, bran, brown rice, and dark pasta.
• Too large portions of food.
• High consumption of confectionery products such as sweet buns, cakes, cookies.
• Preference for sweet carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.
• Low consumption of milk and dairy products.
• Low physical activity.
• The child's emotional problems are compensated by food.
• Lack of interest on the part of parents and poor eating habits learned from home.

A diet for losing weight for a child should not be strict and low-calorie, since such an action can be dangerous for normal psychophysical development. In childhood, the body must have the right amount of energy and nutrients.

• If a child is struggling with excess body weight, it is worth analyzing the diet and gradually starting to introduce the following changes: regularly eating small meals, 4-5 meals a day;
• consuming breakfast at home before classes. It is also worth packing your child a second breakfast (the kind he likes, but from healthier products), since this is the most important meal of the day;
• increase the share of fresh vegetables and fruits in the child’s diet with the help of colorful sandwiches, cocktails, fruit salads, etc.;
• limit the consumption of fatty meats (pork, beef), in favor of white meat - poultry and fish;
• replace white bread with dark bread or made from rye flour; Replace sweet carbonated drinks with mineral water with the addition of lemon/orange juice or other fruits and herbs (mint, lemon balm);
• do not replace meals with sweets and salty snacks, or fast food;
• limit snacking between meals;
• prepare homemade sweets with your child from dried fruits, cereal flakes and whole grain flour, honey, agave syrup, berries;
• trying new recipes, like homemade chicken burgers on a whole grain bun full of fresh vegetables.

To change eating habits, it is worth instilling self-control in your child. He can write down various new dishes in a special diary or draw what was eaten during the day. Thanks to such information, in the future, in consultation with a nutritionist, you can look for errors and find a solution.

In addition, it is necessary to introduce physical activity into the daily routine, which will be most attractive for the child. If your child doesn’t like to run, but feels great on a bike, you should give him a gift that the child will enjoy using.

How to lose weight for an obese child?

Changes in diet should be introduced gradually into the child’s diet, so that there is time for their correct adaptation and the possibility of conscious application.

Losing body weight should not be sudden. Increasing physical activity and changes in diet are preferable to changes in diet alone. It is worth praising your child every time he manages to overcome the desire to consume a sweet snack.

If there is such a need, it is better to seek advice from a psychologist who will help the child adapt to a new situation.

It is important to talk with your child about how he feels when changing his usual lifestyle, what is especially difficult for him to cope with and what comes easier, what dishes he likes and what are not attractive to him, what he misses.

All parents whose children are overweight should know how to help their child lose weight. Only you can take the situation into your own hands and guide your child on the right path. Spending time together strengthens family ties; parental support is very important and gives strength to move on in overcoming the problem.

How to lose weight for a child? Why do children gain excess weight? What are the dangers of excess weight and childhood obesity? These questions are answered by a first category pediatrician, pediatric gastroenterologist at the Medisvit medical centers, Tatyana Sergeevna Polishchuk.

16:17 6.05.2014

How to lose weight for a child: child weight norms

Parents definitely need to know that the most intense accumulation of fat occurs in infants under 1 year old, at the age of 5-7 years, and in adolescents 12-17 years old. Moreover, only 1% of children are overweight due to genetic or endocrine pathology.

All other cases of obesity in children are associated with excess food intake or an unbalanced diet, in other words, overeating, or an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle.

By 6 months of age, the baby should double its original weight, by 12 months - triple. After one year, children gain approximately 2 kg per year (up to 5 years). At 5 years of age the average weight is 18-22 kg, at 10 years 28-34 kg, at 12 years 36-45 kg. An approximate calculation of the body weight of a child from 2 to 5 years old can be carried out using the following formula: M = 10 + 2n, where n is the child’s age in years.

After 10 years, the annual increase is 4 kg, the formula for calculation will be: M=30+4(n-10), where 30 is the average weight of a child at 10 years old, n is the child’s age. Pediatricians have special tables for assessing a child's weight and height.

Obesity has long been recognized as a disease. In medicine, obesity (overnutrition) is defined as a chronic disease characterized by generalized excess accumulation of fat in the subcutaneous tissue and other tissues of the body, weight gain, and metabolic disorders.

Why are doctors so worried when a child gains excess weight?

Yes, because if appropriate measures are not taken in time to normalize weight, he may come into adulthood with a whole complex of serious illnesses: increased blood pressure, disruption of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, diabetes mellitus, fatty liver, cholelithiasis, sexual pathology systems.

Obesity occurs when calorie intake exceeds energy expenditure. The most important factor in the increasing incidence of obesity is the consumption of foods high in fat, as well as large meals high in digestible carbohydrates, especially in the evening. It is difficult to deny that today the decline in physical activity is rapidly progressing: children spend more and more time in front of the TV, at the computer, and less and less prefer walking and outdoor games.

How to lose weight for a child: top tips

The first and completely difficult step for parents is to admit that their child is overweight. If parents are aware of the fact that their child needs help with weight loss, this is already half the battle towards success. The second point is the awareness that the fight against obesity is a long process, psychologically difficult for the child and his family members.

Food for a child can become, first of all, a source of pleasure, a way of avoiding problems at school or in the family, “eating” complexes - as a result, the development of excess weight, obesity, diabetes, etc. And here it can be difficult for parents to understand the essence of the problem. Psychologists and psychotherapists will come to your aid.

It is not an easy task for parents to explain to their child why it is necessary to change their eating habits. In no case can one say that his diet has changed because he is fat. When telling your child about food, explain that we owe our good health and well-being to the foods we eat, that food should be healthy and nutritious.

As a rule, children of overweight parents become overweight due to the “inheritance” of eating habits. It is in the family that we get used to eating this way and not otherwise. Have you ever wondered where sweets, cakes, and cookies come from in your home? That's right, you bought it yourself.

The habit of buying “something sweet for tea” takes root very quickly, but this is definitely not a tradition that will bring peace and harmony to the family. Try buying more fruits, vegetables, herbs, fish, and natural meat instead of sweets.