Diet and Fitness Tips for Lasting Weight Loss for Kids and Teens

One of the largest challenges that any child can face is being overweight. Not only are overweight children more likely to be heavy adults, but they also face many emotional and physical side effects even as kids because of the extra weight. They may become withdrawn, suffer from low self-esteem, and avoid activities that they enjoy because they feel that they are too overweight to participate.

If your child or teenager is overweight and needs to lose weight, they can follow some of these easy-to-use diet and fitness tips. These will help them change their minds about healthy food and get moving in a fun, yet effective, way.

Diet Tips

No one wants to go on a "diet" and kids most certainly will balk at the idea of diet food. But healthy eating principles are more than just a fad diet or something that will last for a few weeks. Nutritious noshing should be an essential part of any child's everyday life (as well as any adult!) and so kids need to apply principles to their everyday eating that can be turned into long-term habits. Some ways that kids can change how they eat and lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way include:

Cut back on junk food, but do not cut it out completely. Many kids struggle with feeling like they cannot eat the things that they really love because they are on a diet. If your teen or kid simply eats what they love in moderation, filling up on the good stuff and then having junk food as an occasional treat, they can lose weight and keep it off. As soon as a kid thinks that they can never have French fries or candy again, they will covet them even more. Moderation is the key with junk food.
Focus on eating at the table and not in front of the television. Kids should avoid eating in front of the television or the computer, because this is when they eat when they are not hungry and eat more than they need to. Try encouraging everyone in the family to eat meals and snacks at the kitchen table.
Avoid fast foods and make meals and snacks at home. Fast food can be dangerous to any healthy lifestyle. Children who eat meals and snacks at home as opposed to at fast food restaurants tend to be at healthier weights than those who exist solely on drive-through fare.
Build meals around fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins and minerals and are the perfect base for any meal or snack. Kids can lose weight simply from swapping French fries and candy for veggies and fruits.

Exercise Tips

No healthy life makeover for kids is complete without exercise. Some top tips for kids to follow to get in shape and stay healthy include:

Move for 20-30 minutes a day. Kids can walk their dog around the blog, go for a jog, shoot hoops in the front yard, jump rope or any other physical activity for 20-30 minutes per day. This can help them to get active and burn calories while doing something that is enjoyable.
Take up a new sport. Sports are one of the best ways for kids and teens to lose weight because they are fun and they foster a sense of connection with other kids. Look for neighborhood baseball or soccer leagues, sports at school that are "no cut" sports (like track and cross country) or even sports leagues at your local gym or church.
Play video games that are active. Many new video games combine video game play with exercise, such as Wii games. Kids can play these for a half an hour or so after school and get the necessary activity they need to be healthy.

Teenagers and children can also find out more healthy eating tips and exercise tactics when they attend fitness camps. These summer weight loss camps can help them to foster healthful eating habits, learn new exercises and make new friends all at the same time. They can help to teach kids methods for weight loss that they can use for the rest of their lives. They may also help kids who were suffering from low self-worth to get out of their shells and meet new people.

Kids and teenagers do not have to spend the rest of their lives overweight, as long as they adopt healthful eating habits and make exercise a part of their daily lives.

Joe Busch specializes in writing articles related to healthy weight loss for kids. He focuses on proper diets, exercise, and weight loss camps. Parents with children that struggle with their weight should consider a weight loss camp for teens to jump start the process.

Original article

Childhood Obesity - Is Gastric Bypass Surgery Right For Teens?

Last night I got hooked on a Nightline segment about a 400 pound teen opting for gastric bypass surgery.

This boy, Nick lives with his overweight Mom who had her stomach stapled years ago. I was saddened to see she had obviously learned nothing about eating right or exercising from her experience, which should always take place before going under the knife for weight loss. She had passed on her horrible eating habits and other poor lifestyle habits to her son. Her parents probably passed on their unhealthy habits to her. Lack of nutritional knowledge is moving from generation to generation and we have to put a STOP to it.

I have had to have some serious conversations with obese clients that plan to have children. My main goal with the conversation is for them to realize if they don't get healthy, their child is doomed to suffer from obesity as they have. 70% of children with overweight parents will become overweight adults. I believe most parents want what is best for their children and would spare their children from any pain possible. Being an obese child and adult is very painful. I don't have to tell you about bullying, the lack of dates, the added health complications and sometimes very serious depression. It's on a news show daily. So why aren't parents taking this more serious? Why are they opting to put their children under the knife? Well, there are many reasons. Some parents don't see their kids as fat until it's too late. There are so many fat kids now that fat is the new average weight. This does not mean it is any less detrimental to their health and futures. Many of these parents also lack the education of what is healthy and/or nutrient dense. Lastly, people are still looking for a quick fix. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix.

I was mortified when the mother opened her fridge last night. I did not see one fruit or vegetable. In fact neither mom or son had tasted Broccoli before! I would wager that means they have not tasted a lot of other vegetables. Then Cynthia McFadden from Nightline pulled out hot dogs and the mother responded, those are turkey hot dogs. Like, turkey hot dogs are super nutritional. Turkey or not, hot dogs are a processed food, which are fine once in awhile, but by the 400 pound weight issue of her son I would guess turkey hotdogs were a regular meal. Now I don't want to seem like I am completely slamming the mom. I think it took great bravery and love for her son to be on Nightline and show the world that refrigerator and admit she too struggles. She had also started taking exercise classes with her son and was working on learning to eat better. I give her kudos for that and I pray her sons story really hits home for some families, so they can make healthy changes in their lives.

Well I have wrote about surgery for weight loss before, so those of you who have read my articles know I completely against it when it is obvious there was never work on the mind or the body. I am especially apposed when it is a teenager. Yes, now Nick is losing weight at a fast clip, but how is that going to affect his metabolism in the future? I will tell you, it's going to slow down, so if he doesn't learn to eat right and exercise for the rest of his life, he will gain the weight back, just as his mom did.

I am glad for Nick though. He was so happy with his weight loss, I would be a real meany if I wasn't cheering the kid on. I especially loved it when he said, "I want to be a chic magnet". Go Nick! I hope he is and that he keeps the weight off the rest of his life.

So what can we do? The childhood obesity epidemic is enormous. I have a few tips for people.

1. If you are thinking of having children, whether you are overweight or not, take a nutrition course and start making physical activity a priority. I know you want your future child to be healthy and happy. That child will emulate what you do, so prepare to be a role model now.

2. If you are already dealing with weight issues in your family, it's never to late to work for the better. You can do it! Take a nutrition course and get active now. Plan fun, physical activities for your family.

3. If you feel like you can't do it on your own, seek assistance. You have to get your mind straight and believe you and your family can be healthy first. You may need a psychologist or a coach. You may also want to consider a weight loss coach and/or trainer. Just make sure you check their backgrounds thoroughly.

Hopefully, as Nightline and other media outlets continue to share these types of stories more and more lives will be touched and changed for the better.

I know how painful you must feel right now if you are morbidly obese. You can get healthier and thinner. It will take some time, but you can do it! I believe in you!

Karen Hummel, MPA
BS Nutrition & Exercise
Certified Wellness Coach and Personal Trainer

For more free tips on healthy weight loss visit http://www.uloseweighthealthy.com/.

Original article