Child obesity is a serious situation that needs to be dealt with, not ignored. Kids of all ages will enjoy life better if they are taught to eat healthy foods and to get enough exercise.

If you notice your child is not as happy as she could be, take some action to put her on the path to being healthy and loving life.

Child obesity starts with what children eat. Any child who is obese could have glandular problems, but that only makes the work much harder.

Calories and fat come from somewhere and that is in the food. Diets and diet foods don’t usually work. Diet foods tend to make you hungrier rather than energize your body.

Instead, go back to the basics. Give your child a little reign on the decisions about food. Go with her to the grocery store and check out the fruits and vegetables.

Does she prefer apples to oranges? There is no harm in letting them choose the fruits they like best.

Stick with juice, milk or water. Would they like something sweet? A bowl of juicy fruit gives them the vitamins and minerals they need and satisfies a sweet tooth.

Serving baked goods, ice cream or sweet treats on a rare occasion is fine, but keep it controlled. In other words, this should not be a nightly event.

Keep food interesting and varied and your child will learn how to pick a variety of healthy foods and eat properly as a general goal every day..

Child obesity is not something that goes away overnight. Kids need to eat properly and to exercise. Find a hobby your child likes, perhaps basketball or swimming, or tennis.

Help them to become healthy and yet still enjoy it as they are exercising. You and your child will both be healthier and happier.

If you are an average parent, you have discovered that if a particular food item is very healthy and great for us, our children quickly learn to dislike it. The challenge then becomes, “How can I get my children to eat more healthy food?”

One great answer to this challenge - smoothies. Most children love these drinks. And for the real die-hard kids, we can add just a bit of “bad” food and the children will surely come over to the good side! If you have never made a fruit smoothie, it is easy. Just prepare the fruit as if you were going to eat it raw, put it in a blender, add some extra water, and blend away.

Here are 3 advantages to Fruit Smoothies.

One big advantage to smoothies is that it is easy to pick ingredients that give the result an appropriate colour. Young boys are often fascinated by gross looking objects, and some of the smoothies that you can make will sure look the part. Girls, on the other hand, might like pastel shades, and you can do that as well.

Another advantage to smoothies is that they travel well. Make sure their consistency is right (add more water if necessary) and put them in travel safe drinking containers. Then either just take as is or add them to your picnic cooler so they are still cool when you bring them out. They may be just right for you as well while watching the kid’s soccer game.

Advantage number three is the ability to sneak in some powdered supplements that your doctor may have recommended. However, avoid adding protein powders. They do not digest the same way that fruit does, and may actually interfere with the normally quick fruit digestion process.

Additives

Although smoothies are usually just several types of fruit blended together, you can add spinach leaves into a fruit smoothie and still get an amazing taste! Experiment by using leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, chard, and celery. These green smoothies are the ones the boys should like, as the colours are not appealing looking to adults. Get creative and come up with interesting names like Alien Juice, or Swamp Slime.

One more thing that will aid the desired outcome. Keep some of those thick straws on hand. The children will usually prefer using them over just drinking it straight from a glass.

Enjoy watching your children look forward to their daily “treat”, which is really some super healthy foods in disguise.

Have you come to dread family mealtimes? Are you fed-up making “special” recipes for the fussy eater in your family? Worried that your child is not eating enough to develop?

Don´t despair! You are not alone. Despite parental concerns that fussy eaters will not get their proper nutritional intake, most kids still thrive and grow. Even with a limited repertoire of meals, there are several steps that parents can take to encourage a wider range of foods and healthier eating. Implement these tips one at a time, allowing time for your child to adapt. With a relaxed environment, patience and regular repetition, most children will eventually respond!

Here are our top 10 “tried and tested” tips for handling fussy eaters:

1) Don´t be disheartened if your child rejects a new food the first time he sees it. Most kids need to see and taste foods several times before they will accept them. Keep offering new foods until they become familiar. If your child still refuses, leave a decent time interval before re-introducing again.

2) Resist the temptation to offer your child bribes, particularly of the “sweet ” variety. Although that bribe to “eat your peas and you can have chocolate” might work today, in the long term, it only causes more problems by reinforcing the difference between “nice foods” and “yukky foods”. Your child may readily comply with a bribe to get a reward, but will still not like certain foods.

3) If your child refuses an item of food, get creative! Offer an alternative choice, and try not to get drawn into a battle of wills. The ideal solution is to find an alternative that is acceptable.

4) Try involving your child in the food preparation. Most kids will enjoy cooking, and the chances of them eating the end result are improved greatly! Prepare simple meals, such as pasta and rice dishes and allow them to select their favourite ingredients. A simple way to get children involved in the kitchen is by using a crock pot. Start with a simple crock pot recipe, like this crock pot meatball recipe and then progress to something more difficult.

5) If your child prefers “junk” food, try and develop your own healthy substitute. I make chicken dippers for my kids with chicken breast cut into strips, dipped in egg and rolled in crushed cornflakes. Quick, simple and so much healthier than the processed version.

6) If your child suddenly starts refusing food, check that there is not an underlying medical reason. Sore throats, colds, teething problems… these can all have an impact on a child´s appetite.

7) Children like routine, so stick to fairly fixed meal times. Offer meals that you know your child will eat in regular rotation. There is nothing wrong with serving the same main course more than once a week, and you can vary the side dishes.
Involve your kids in “menu planning” for the week ahead. Let everyone in the family choose their favourite meals. Whilst your child may not eat everything on offer, at least they can look forward to their favourite foods a couple of times a week!

9) Watch your child´s fluid intake around mealtimes, and don´t allow them to fill up with drinks just before a meal. Kids have small stomachs, and a large beaker of juice could kill their appetite completely.

10) If all else fails, try sneaking healthier items into the daily diet. Pureé fruit and serve as a sauce for ice cream. Add pureéd vegetables to pasta sauces. Mash some carrots into the potato. You´ll soon find your own way to make sure that a few extra items are included at mealtimes.

Above all, stay calm, and be patient. There are very few areas in a child´s life where they have complete control, and refusing food is generally the exception. Just look at the reaction it gets from Mom and Dad! Eating habits will improve as they get older, and more adventurous. Despite your worries, they will grow out of it. After all, think about it…how many adult fussy eaters do you know?