Children are very valuable assets for parents. With children, one can be happy. And can also be grief for parents, especially for parents who have children who have many shortcomings. One of them is a child who has more weight. But, you don’t have to worry. Because here you can learn tips that help lose weight in children.
As reported by WebMD, here are simple guidelines that parents can do to help lose weight in children by age category.
But, before that, make sure the parents have consulted a doctor first by checking the child’s health and finding out the ideal weight according to his age.
How to Lose Children’s Weight
1. Sports
It is not recommended for children aged 1-6 years to do strenuous exercise. Instead of vigorous exercise, give children opportunities to do activities that encourage them to stay active.
Parents can take them for a run in the park, give them expert-supervised climbing exercises, jump on a trampoline, or dance. Please do it for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, children aged 7-10 years and over can be given certain sports such as swimming, cycling, playing football, basketball, badminton, jogging, self-defense, and others. The duration of exercise is sufficient for 30-60 minutes.
2. Eat nutritious food
In addition to exercise, losing weight for obese children should pay attention to the food intake consumed daily.
Make sure children always get healthy, fresh, and nutritious foods such as vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meats, and nuts in normal portions.
Stay away from all forms of unhealthy foods such as processed foods, processed meats, soda, packaged instant sweet drinks, high-salt snacks, and artificial sweeteners.
As for snacks, children are advised to eat fruit, whole grain biscuits, cheese, popcorn, or yogurt.
3. Avoid things that make you fat
Avoiding habits or things that make the body fat is also important so that children are not too quiet.
For example, watching TV for a long time while eating a snack, playing on the cellphone, snacking in the middle of the night, or sitting in front of the computer for a long time.
The above activities should be closely monitored or diverted to other activities that involve movement.
Especially for children above six years old, parents can ask for their help doing some light household chores at home.
4. Give understanding
So that the weight loss program in children is successful, do not hesitate to understand their current diet.
According to research published by WebMD, parents should be able to invite their children to talk about the importance of living a healthy life and having an ideal body weight.
Because children tend to imitate their parents’ behavior, parents also need to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
5. Get enough sleep
The next way to lose weight for obese children is to improve the quality of their sleep so that it is sufficient, with a regular schedule.
Keep in mind that getting enough sleep in children has a good impact on their growth period and avoids the risk of obesity.
Recomended : Child’s sleep duration based on:
- 1-3 years: 12-14 hours per day
- 3-5 years: 11-13 hours per day
- 5-12 years: 10-11 hours per day
- 12-18 years: 8.5 hours per day
That’s all we can share on this occasion about losing weight in children. However, it is still necessary to consult a pediatrician to do this.