Are you raising a fat kid?

Are you raising a fat kid?

Dr Tejender Kaur Sarna, Childhood Obesity Expert, Mumbai tells you about signs that your child could be at a risk of childhood obesity.

Do you force your child to eat even when he doesn’t want to? Do you tell him that one more roti will make him stronger and make sure he eats it? Do you often ignore the fact he’s snacking on burgers and pizzas every other day thinking it is okay as long as he’s eating? Well, then you are the perfect Indian parent. You want your child to be healthy and are actually happy that he’s putting on weight, because doesn’t chubby mean healthy? You clearly do not realise that his eating habits could make him obese, and childhood obesitycan have some far reaching implications and obesity in children is more dangerous than you can think. Dr Tejender Kaur Sarna, Childhood Obesity Expert, Mumbai tells about signs that you are raising an obese child-

1. Over feeding –Do you often force your child to eat one more chapati, some more rice because he’s in a growing phase and needs energy? It’s a classic Indian parent trait. And many times, parents fail to watch what their child is eating because they are happy with the fact that he’s eating. Your kid knows when he’s full, if he says he doesn’t want to eat more, stop. Do not force feed.

2. Feeding him ready to eat/processed food –Ready to eat food must have made your life easier. You are probably busy juggling your office and home and you do not have the time to prepare elaborate meals. But Dr Sarna says you must avoid feeding him ready to eat food. Avoid processed foods which include fry and serve chips and kebabs, ready to eat foods which require you just to add some hot water. Biscuits, bread, sandwich spreads must have made life easier but  these packaged foods are silently killing you. They are laced with preservatives and chemicals and have a very little nutritive value. They are mostly empty calories, and the body derives no nourishment from them.

3. No proper eating routine –There’s a reason nutritionists emphasise on eating on time and eating at least every two hours.When you don’t eat for a long time, your blood sugar level starts dropping and as it drops, it not just affects your metabolism, but it also affects your behaviour. You start becoming irritated, angry and may also have mood swings. The same is with kids. Feed them on time and make sure they eat at least two hours before dinner. Eating on time also improves the metabolic rate, digesting food better and preventing complication such as constipation.

4. Having a weekend or a weekday off from healthy food –Many homes have a spaghetti night or a pizza night during the week. And during weekends you probably spend your entire day outside. With fast food chains at every nook and corner, you are more likely to eat junk food. But these days off home cooked healthy meals do more damage than you can think of. While it’s okay once in a blue moon, three out of seven days of junk food is definitely detrimental to your kid’s health.

5. Stocking your fridge with sugar-sweetened beverages, colas and other carbonated drinks – Did you know a large serving of Coke contains 44 tsp of sugar? If your refrigerator is full of those coloured sugary drinks, your kid is bound to drink them. Sugary drinks are just good to taste the sugar just adds to the calories and give no nourishment. Plus the sugar and the sugar acids can cause tooth decay, and you probably do not know that soft drinks can do a bunch of horrible things to your body.

6. Letting them play games on phones and computers –Dr Sarna says that one of the biggest mistakes parents make nowadays is let their kids play games on the phone or the internet. Going outside and playing is something most kids nowadays do not know. Technology has become more of a bane than a boon when it comes to children’s health. If they are not playing games, they are hooked on YouTube watching different videos. How is it contributing to childhood obesity you ask? Their lifestyles have become sedentary because of this. Kids hardly get any physical activity. Most of them do not play any sport which makes things worse.

So if you think your child has started putting on weight and everything on this list matches your lifestyle, it’s time to make these changes in your kid’s life and keep him fit and healthy.

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