Children and Nutrition

Problem of Obesity in children and proper Nutrition
In general terms obesity means being overweight. If a child’s weight is more than by 20% in accordance with his age-height- weight chart, then the child is considered to be obese. Few children suffer from obesity due to hereditary problem, but others put on weight due to various reasons such as overeating, eating wrong foods, eating many times during the day, junk food and lack of exercise. This is one of the major problems of modern society.

In case your child is obese, do not be in hurry and do not put him on diet without consulting a pediatrician. If you won’t put your children on a right diet then this could cause adverse effect on their health. The dieting program should be monitored by a physician, because reduction in amount of calories or meals may effect the growth of the child.

The pediatrician will guide you in controlling the eating habits of the child and will prescribe the healthy diet, which is very much essential for the growth of the child. Pediatricians and nutritionists are of great help in chalking out the healthy meal plan, which is liked by both parents as well as children.

Problems of under-weight in children
Under-weight is just opposite to over-weight, means the children who weigh less than their normal weight as per their age- weight-height chart. Thin children are always at health risk if they do not have healthy food. Consumption of sufficient nutrition is very important for the overall growth and development of bones, organs, muscles, tissues, and a strong immune system. In this case also the major causes are improper eating habits and lack of exercise and if this pattern is not altered, this condition may persists with the child throughout his life.

Sometimes the children may not like the food, but parents need to take care that their child consumes sufficient food. There are many ways and means for the parents so as to ensure that the child gets the necessary food for overall growth. On the part of parents it requires a little extra effort and thought.

Tips for Good Health of Children:

Some useful tips for healthy eating:

• Avoid bringing junk foods to home.
• Have stock of cereals, which are rich in fibers instead of sweet cereals.
• Instead of giving chips, give your child crackers and peanut butter.
• Offer your child lots of celery, carrots and cucumbers.
• In place of dry fruits, offer fruit roll-ups.
• Replace high fat cookies with vanilla wafers, animal crackers, graham crackers and fig cookies
• Instead of offering ice cream, give them frozen yogurt.
• Replace chips, or cracker jacks with pretzels.
• Be little bit creative with vegetables, like mash the cauliflower like potatoes, add cheese to broccoli, and provide ketchup with pinto beans.
• Cook the meat separately if your child dislikes the meat with sauce.
• Have stock of tortillas, so that you can use them for eggs and sausage at breakfast, at lunch for grilled chicken, salad and cheese roll ups and during dinner for tomatoes, beef and rice.