Dietician Sheela Seharawat
Child obesity is one of the major health problems that is being faced by developed nations today. The most alarming and frightening part of childhood obesity is that if the same is not cured or attended to during childhood; it will result in the child being obsessed throughout their life, which can cause some major health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Therefore, reducing the risks and attending to the problem early is necessary for a child’s happy and healthy future. The importance and value of a healthy being should be imbibed in children from the time they are in their mother’s womb. Proper education to pregnant women is equally important to ensure that their children are not the victims of obesity. Proper eating and living habits developed by mothers at this stage, is likely that their child follows their lifetime. It has been noticed that babies who have been educated since early childhood to develop correct habits are saved from obesity throughout their life.
Diet plays an important role since the infant stage of a child. Normally fat cells are formed in the body by the first year of an infant’s life, and the numbers do not increase later. So it clearly says that if an infant is overfed at the first years of life, the fats cells exceeds in number than normal, and at later stages fats starts depositing in these cells, thereby causing obesity. Therefore, it clearly indicates that if the fat cells does not exceeds normal at early life stage, chances of obesity is also minimized.
Carbohydrate intakes are known to play a crucial role in obesity. So during the infant stage if the child is not overfed with carbohydrates at the early first year stage, the chances of getting obsessed later is also almost nil. It is important that right from the beginning we encourage children to develop the habit of having right and balanced diet.
There are certain food habits that we need to consider for our child to lead a healthy and obesity free life:-
- Water: water is important for normal body functioning like digesting the food eaten. It is recommended to drink 3 to 4 liters of water per day. In case the child feels hungry often, give him a glass of water first to see whether it is hunger or thirst.
- Snacks: it should be taken as a mini meal to take the child to the main meals. Snacks are very critical for children, and they get a large quantity of their daily calorie intake through snacking. Its why, it is important to ensure that they get healthy snacks.
- Fruits and veggies: full of vitamins, minerals and enzymes – all that a child’s body need to grow and develop effortlessly. Using them in meals and snacks is a great option.
- Proteins and dairy: beans, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, nuts and pulses are rich sources of proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of the body and child needs them for proper and healthy development. Milk and dairy products are sources of calcium for bones and teeth.
Developing healthy habits from the beginning is important for a child’s growth and development and stay away from unwanted and lifestyle issues like obesity.
