Helping Kids Lose Weight
by Kate Beasley
It’s no secret that America is facing a weight problem. One of the gravest aspects of the obesity epidemic is the growing number of overweight children. Advice abounds on how to help children lose weight, often focusing on such commonsense practices as eliminating soda, cutting back on TV and video game time, and not using food as a behavioral reward. Many parents are finding, however, that helping kids lose weight is even harder than losing weight yourself. One key element for winning in the losing game is to ensure that your family’s weight loss plan is free from the motivation-zapping obesity stigma that pervades our society.
Focus on Health, Not Appearance
Recognize that your goal should be to have a healthy kid — one at low risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Adjusting your kid’s appearance should be a minor consideration, if one at all. Don’t underestimate the importance of this. A mindset of “I think my kid should lose weight” actually sends your kid a negative message — there’s something wrong with their body. So before you even start, make sure you adjust yourself to a mindset of “I want my kid to be strong and healthy.” Otherwise, any changes you suggest might seem more like punishments for being fat than healthy lifestyle choices.
Don’t Use Teasing
On a related note, never tease your kid about being heavy. Don’t allow other family members to do so either. That may seem like a no-brainer, but many well-intentioned relatives think gentle ribbing is a good way to motivate the kid to want to lose. But think of it this way: Would you encourage better schoolwork by teasing a child about not being smart? Teasing about weight also undervalues early success. Losing 10 pounds might barely dent your kid’s silhouette, but it’s a medically significant loss if they keep it off.
Give Health Reasons
One way to embrace a positive outlook is to give kids health-based reasons for behavior changes. For example, don’t tell your kid, “Eating candy makes you fat.” Instead, explain that high-sugar foods can make you sick — by leading to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Similarly, exercise is good because it strengthens the heart, muscles, and bones — not because makes you thinner.
Emphasize Lifestyle Change
One thing to avoid is putting your kid on a diet. People tend to see diets as temporary corrections that you abandon once you’re back on track. As a result, lost weight creep back over time. To achieve long-term success, think in terms of lifestyle change. Your child needs to learn habits and patterns that are healthy and easy to maintain across a lifetime. One way to do this is avoid changes that single out your child. If soda is in fact unhealthy, then should thin people drink it? On the other hand, if an occasional soda is healthy enough for you, a total soda ban for you kid will seem like a weight penalty rather than a nutritional maxim.
No matter what specific changes your family decides to make, focusing on health rather than appearance will help ensure successful and long-lasting results. Be prepared for the payoff to come slowly and over a period of time. Remember that changes made in a flash are often dropped in a flash. Small but consistent changes are easier to maintain over a lifetime, and they help emphasize your loving concern while avoiding the possibility of inadvertently stigmatizing your child’s current appearance.