Joani Jack’s was worried about her oldest daughter. Although she was not obese, she weighed more than she should…and was continuing to gain weight. Both Joani and her husband have dealt with weight issues their entire adult lives. They desperately wanted to help her while she was young, but she was becoming rebellious about anything involving weight or healthier food choices.
“We were totally frustrated with the situation,” said Dr. Jack. “As a pediatrician and a concerned parent I knew we needed to help her, but we weren’t making much progress. And, at the same time we were dealing with our daughter’s situation, I was alos seeing more and more overweight children in the office.”
Through her research, Dr. Jack stumbled upon, Thin Within, a book written for adults teaching them how to lose weight by following their natural body cues.
“As I read the book, I became very excited because it made so much sense for adults and children alike,” said Dr. Jack. “After seeing how easily our daughter picked up the concepts, I decided to write a book for all parents who are in the midst of the weight battle with their children.”
Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World basically operates off of three prongs: The first is eating less food.
“This is by far the most important,” said Dr. Jack. “Poor choices encourage us to eat too much food. We are surrounded by it. Restaurants often serve portions big enough for two people and fast food places give you the option to super size everything. If the portions aren’t big we think we are being ripped off. The book teaches parents how to understand their child’s hunger and fullness cues.”
When a baby is hungry he cries or chews on his hand. As soon as he is satisfied he turns away from the bottle or breast. The same thing applies to toddlers, but somewhere toward the end of toddlerhood parents often begin to teach their children to ignore these cues.
“We encourage our children to eat because it is a certain time, even if they are not hungry,” said Dr. Jack. “We teach them to eat to celebrate or to eat when you are sad. We tell them to be a member of the clean plate club if they want dessert. When parents do these things they are teaching their children to ignore their natural hunger and fullness cues. We are encouraging parents to rethink everything they do surrounding food. The good news is children pick this up very easily.”
The second part of the process is teaching your children to make better choices when it comes to food and the amount of food they eat.
“I find that children respond well to parental guidance when it comes to making healthy food choices,” said Dr. Jack. “We are not talking about depriving your children of all the yummy foods they enjoy. They can still eat mac and cheese or a hamburger, this is about teaching moderation. How to stop before your stomach is killing you?
Instead of eating out eat in. Almost anything you prepare at home including fried foods will be better for you than what you get eating out. Teach your children to eat healthy snacks and whole foods. This is a great opportunity to teach self discipline.”
The third piece is being consistently active. It is recommended that young people get 60 minutes a day of moderately intense activity. The good news is, it doesn’t have to happen all at once.
“This is so important, yet it is often the thing we don’t do even as adults,” said Dr. Jack. “There are all kinds of ways to help children be active. The most important thing is it has to be fun. Participation in an organized sport is one way to help your children be active. Family bike rides, hiking, geocacheing, walking, playing tag or hide and seek are also ways you can encourage activity. If it is a pretty day we will often tell our children to head outside and don’t come back for an hour. In many instances they want us to come outside and play with them. While it is tempting to say no because you have too much to do, the truth is it would be good for you and it is really good for the children because they crave connectivity to their parents.”
Parents are the key to instilling life-long healthy eating habits and building positive self images in their children. Make a family commitment today to live a healthier lifestyle. You and your children will benefit.
