There is really nothing surprising about the fact that America is host to the highest number of obese kids! If you ever visit a decent American fast food restaurant, you would find out almost an equal number of kids and adults eating out there! In fact people there not only eat fast foods outside but bring them at home to eat during lunch or dinner time! In short, fast food seems to have become almost an huge part of American diet!
Eating once in a while at a fast food restaurant is one thing, but making it a habit and considering junk foods to be part of your staple diet is going to make you and your kid fat and nothing more! These foods have an attractive outer appearance and also taste great in mouth, but once they go inside the body, they get deposited as fat and make the person overweight! Thankfully there are certain simple and easy ways to get rid of this menace. Read on to find out about these methods!
It would of course be wrong on your part to put the entire blame of adopting unhealthy eating habits on kids. After all, don't children pick up habits only from their parents? They have sufficient knowledge to understand what their parents are doing, but are not intelligent enough to differentiate between good and bad eating habits!
As a parent, it is your duty to guide your kid during his childhood. Many parents, some purely out of laziness and others because of lack of time, ask their children to have their fill at a local fast food restaurant! Why? It is simple and effortless, since parents don't need to spend time on cooking! The concept may look attractive on the surface but the ending is obviously not so good!
Now the question-why should you worry about your kids' health! Kids should remain fit and healthy not just for cosmetic reasons and social acceptance but to keep themselves away from harmful diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc., which go side by side with obesity! If you don't want your kid to suffer from these terrible maladies and die an early death, your best bet is to start implementing the following three measures right now!
1. Breakfast is important: Starting the day with a healthy breakfast is as much important for you as your kids. Very often, adults skip breakfast citing 'lack of time' or 'important business appointments' as excuses. Children too follow them, their excuses being either 'lots of homework' or 'getting delayed for school'. However if you or your kid skip breakfast, it won't be surprising for either of you to gorge on a couple of burgers later in the day when you would no longer be able to put up with hunger!
Eating breakfast regularly is as much important as having a healthy breakfast. White breads, sodas, burgers, French fries, etc. are NOT what you should include in your kids' breakfast! Kids should have a breakfast rich in protein which can be found in plenty in chicken, eggs, etc. Salads are also a good breakfast food! Apart from that, any homemade meal cooked using low-calorie oil would make for an ideal breakfast food!
2. Make the food attractive: Unlike adults, kids won't eat anything which doesn't taste or look good. They may not be like to eat something as dull as vegetables, but top it with cheese, and they would lick the plate dry! Same goes for pasta. Instead of serving them plain pasta, try serving it in "shapely" form!
To give you an idea, how about a triangular or octopus-shaped pasta! The more visually appealing the food is, the more they would be attracted to it! Slowly they would get so accustomed to healthy meals that their addiction to junk foods would wear off!
3. Let them eat small: The principle of eating in small portions applies as much to kids as adults. It is no use forcing your child to eat a bucketful of rice when he doesn't need it! Instead, you should serve him the same rice in three or four smaller portion!
Kids are habitual grazers, which mean that they would take longer to eat than an adult! This is a good habit, so don't discourage it! Let them enjoy every bite of the food they eat, as they are likely to become satisfied quicker this way than otherwise! As a result, there is much less of a chance of them ever overeating!
Eating once in a while at a fast food restaurant is one thing, but making it a habit and considering junk foods to be part of your staple diet is going to make you and your kid fat and nothing more! These foods have an attractive outer appearance and also taste great in mouth, but once they go inside the body, they get deposited as fat and make the person overweight! Thankfully there are certain simple and easy ways to get rid of this menace. Read on to find out about these methods!
It would of course be wrong on your part to put the entire blame of adopting unhealthy eating habits on kids. After all, don't children pick up habits only from their parents? They have sufficient knowledge to understand what their parents are doing, but are not intelligent enough to differentiate between good and bad eating habits!
As a parent, it is your duty to guide your kid during his childhood. Many parents, some purely out of laziness and others because of lack of time, ask their children to have their fill at a local fast food restaurant! Why? It is simple and effortless, since parents don't need to spend time on cooking! The concept may look attractive on the surface but the ending is obviously not so good!
Now the question-why should you worry about your kids' health! Kids should remain fit and healthy not just for cosmetic reasons and social acceptance but to keep themselves away from harmful diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc., which go side by side with obesity! If you don't want your kid to suffer from these terrible maladies and die an early death, your best bet is to start implementing the following three measures right now!
1. Breakfast is important: Starting the day with a healthy breakfast is as much important for you as your kids. Very often, adults skip breakfast citing 'lack of time' or 'important business appointments' as excuses. Children too follow them, their excuses being either 'lots of homework' or 'getting delayed for school'. However if you or your kid skip breakfast, it won't be surprising for either of you to gorge on a couple of burgers later in the day when you would no longer be able to put up with hunger!
Eating breakfast regularly is as much important as having a healthy breakfast. White breads, sodas, burgers, French fries, etc. are NOT what you should include in your kids' breakfast! Kids should have a breakfast rich in protein which can be found in plenty in chicken, eggs, etc. Salads are also a good breakfast food! Apart from that, any homemade meal cooked using low-calorie oil would make for an ideal breakfast food!
2. Make the food attractive: Unlike adults, kids won't eat anything which doesn't taste or look good. They may not be like to eat something as dull as vegetables, but top it with cheese, and they would lick the plate dry! Same goes for pasta. Instead of serving them plain pasta, try serving it in "shapely" form!
To give you an idea, how about a triangular or octopus-shaped pasta! The more visually appealing the food is, the more they would be attracted to it! Slowly they would get so accustomed to healthy meals that their addiction to junk foods would wear off!
3. Let them eat small: The principle of eating in small portions applies as much to kids as adults. It is no use forcing your child to eat a bucketful of rice when he doesn't need it! Instead, you should serve him the same rice in three or four smaller portion!
Kids are habitual grazers, which mean that they would take longer to eat than an adult! This is a good habit, so don't discourage it! Let them enjoy every bite of the food they eat, as they are likely to become satisfied quicker this way than otherwise! As a result, there is much less of a chance of them ever overeating!
About the Author:
Frances Norah Smith and her group have been reviewing on the fat loss 4 idiots diet for a few years. For a limited period, you can get an excellent free report on losing weight tips by visiting her blog.
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