Diet Habits, If you’re a parent, childhood obesity may be something that you’re paying close attention to. If your kids are already showing signs of excess weight, it’s vital that you take action now to learn what you can do to turn this situation around.
If you don’t, you may have a child who is in for a life full of weight loss problems ahead.
Understanding some of the biggest eating concerns facing young people today can give you a good idea where to start with your intervention strategies.
Let’s look at little bit closer into the diet habits of younger individuals so you can get the information you need to know.
Produce Consumption
According to a survey put out by the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, most US youth are not meeting the recommended intake of 2 ½ cups to 6 ½ cups of fruit and vegetables each day.
What’s worse is that the primary intake of fruit comes in the form of fruit juice, which is no better than drinking soda from a bodyweight point of view.
Add to the fact the greatest form of vegetable consumed is potatoes, which are far higher in starch and calories than any other vegetable out there and it’s easy to see why this is the problem that it is.
Start always keeping fresh fruits and vegetables on hand along with a healthy dip variety to encourage your kids to start eating more of these foods in their daily diet.
Sodium Intake
Another critical problem facing the youth population today is the sodium intake they’re consuming. There’s no question about it, their reliance on fast and processed food is what’s driving this sodium intake upwards, with most eating more than the maximum recommendation of 2300 mg per day.
Getting your kids to eat more whole grains along with the fresh fruits and vegetables mentioned above is a great way to promote a lower sodium intake.
Empty Calories
Finally, the last big problem facing the youth population with their eating habits is the over-consumption of completely nutrient-devoid calories. These are come from soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, pizza, as well as other fast foods and candy-like products.
When they eat these foods not only are they risking damaging their body due to the harmful ingredients they contain (sugars and trans or saturated fats for instance), but they also reduce their consumption of the nutrients they do need because these foods are crowding out the healthy ones that should be a part of their everyday diet.
All in all, this is putting them in a far more negative health standing.
So start focusing on preparing healthier meals to send your kids away with as they go off to school and then also making sure to prepare healthy meals to serve up for dinner when they arrive home.
Remember that you must model good behavior yourself, so sticking to a proper weight loss diet so that you can maintain healthy body weight, along with possibly using a safe and natural supplement to help promote faster weight loss such as Adiphene, can ensure that you’re being the role model you need for your kids.
Childhood obesity is something to take very seriously and it starts with making sure that your kids are eating the healthy diet they should be.
