There are a lot of people in my family that are over their ideal weight. Though they are not obese, they could be. The problems with family genetics are downplayed by many, but this does make a difference. It is also about environment and eating habits. Not only should your children have good habits, you should too.  If you try to get them to eat well while you do not, you are contributing to the problem rather than solving it. You want to think about child obesity prevention so that you know your children are as healthy and happy as they can be as they grow to adulthood.

One surprising thing that helped with my child in regards to child obesity prevention was her watching the Wiggles on television. She loved the Wiggles, and at age six, still does – though not with the same intensity. However, the Wiggles spend a lot of time singing and talking about healthy foods, and have even occasionally touched on what happens if you have too much of the wrong thing. Through these songs and shows, my daughter learned about good eating. I am surprised today at her choices. They are usually good ones and I credit the Wiggles for that – though I would like to think I had something to do with it as well.

You are going to have a hand in child obesity prevention, even if you have the help of influences like the Wiggles. You want to have good food choices around, and offer treats only sporadically. When they want to have a snack, give them some choices, but make each of those choices healthy.  They may ask for other things on occasion, but they are going to eat what you have when they are hungry enough. Children will not starve, so don’t worry about that. You have to keep going with child obesity prevention.

You have to keep an eye on what your children are getting in school. Some schools are on top of things in the way of child obesity prevention, but others are not. Schools can not fix everything, but you want to know that they are getting the right foods when they are in school. When your children are in kindergarten or even first grade, they may have to bring a snack to school. I know that my school asks that we do not send in sugary items, and I don’t. Make good choices there for the sake of child obesity prevention.

Another part of child obesity prevention has nothing at all to do with the foods you have your children eat or keep in your home. You have to make sure your children are up and moving each day. Some can get great programs at school for this, but some have been forced to cut physical education totally or at least shorten the program. Children have to be up and moving while eating the right foods. Those together go a long way towards child obesity prevention.

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 25% of children in the US are overweight, and 11% are obese. As with the child obesity epidemic, there has also been a great rise in adult obesity. Obesity means too much body fat. While it may be a crisis in this country, it’s not, however, a problem without a solution.

Just as with adults, there are a variety of potential causes for children being overweight; most of which are preventable or reversible. Only in rare cases is being overweight cause by a medical condition such as a hormone problem. Obesity begins at home; and it doesn’t happen overnight. It starts with what children eat. It is the fault of the parents–not the child. Children are not taking themselves to the fast food restaurants, buying groceries or preparing their own meals.

Childhood obesity affects both the physical and psychosocial health of children. The physical effects put obese children at a greater risk for medical problems that were once associated with middle-aged adults, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, bone trouble, fatty liver, sleep apnea, and gallstone formation.

But often more dangerous than the physical risks of child obesity, experts say, is the emotional pain children feel when they are teased and excluded because they are “fat.” Fat children are not happy children. They are less likely than other children to receive “best friend” ratings from their classmates. When shown silhouettes of fat and thin males and females, nine-year-old children rated the fat figures as having significantly fewer friends, being less liked by their parents, doing less well at school, being less content with their appearance and wanting to be thin. Overweight children are also more likely to be victims or perpetrators of bullying than are their normal-weight peers.

The real causes of child obesity are very obvious but no one wants to change their way of living. The blame is placed squarely on the parents shoulders because they dictate or control the lifestyle of their child. If you’re a parent and are concerned about your child’s weight, there are several steps you can take to prevent them from being included within these disturbing child statistics.

Eating habits must be changed. Parents must cook nutritionally balanced meals, virtually eliminate snacks high in fat and sugar, teach portion control, pack healthy lunches, avoid fast food and help their children increase levels of physical activity. Parents must teach by doing, which means parents must, themselves, also follow a nutritional and exercise plan that leads to a healthy weight.