Healthy Eating for Kids
and Avoiding Obesity

The most important strategies for preventing obesity are healthy eating behaviours, regular exercise, and less time watching TV and playing computer games.

By doing this you will encourage your child to develop a healthy lifestyle during early childhood that will last a lifetime.

Since their bodies are growing and developing, overweight children should not be put on a diet unless a doctor supervises one for medical reasons. Children need energy and nutrients for normal growth and development so it is not wise to restrict their intake of good food. Maintaining their current weight while they grow normally in height is the key.

“A healthy outside starts from the inside”
~ Robert Urich

~ HERE ARE SOME TIPS:

• Good health should be the focus, not a certain weight goal. Have a healthy and positive attitude toward food and physical activity without emphasizing body weight.
• Let the whole family participate, not focusing only on the overweight children.
• Make specific meal and snack times, eating together as often as possible. Make a wide variety of healthy foods available to them.
• Help your children choose the right portion size for their specific ages. You can find the relevant guide lines on the internet.
• Snack time is a great opportunity to sneak some extra nutrients into your child’s diet. Discourage store bought snacks that are full of sugars, chemicals, colourants and the wrong fats.