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Teens Weight Loss
How to help your children lose weight - 4 practical suggestions
Suggestion 1 :
Encourage your
kids to make changes to their general lifestyle
Suggestion 2
:
Encourage them to
become more physically active
Suggestion 3
:
Make it easy for
them to eat healthily
Suggestion 4
:
Set a good example
for them, yourself
Suggestion 3 :
Make it easy for
them to eat healthily
Basic approach
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Be positive about making changes.
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Be encouraging rather than dogmatic.
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If there are other kids in the family whose weight is normal,
don't make an issue of the overweight child having to 'go on a
diet', while the other kids carry on eating as 'normal'.
-
Introduce changes on a 'healthy eating' pretext for all the
family rather than a 'diet' for the overweight child.
-
Let them know that they're great as they are, and that losing
weight is something they can do to improve their life, not
something to make other people approve of them.
-
Talk about the benefits they will get from changing their
eating habits. Explain it will make things even better for them:
e.g. more energy, more confidence, more friends, more clothes
and so on.
-
Talk to them about the changes that they could make. Get them
to agree. Don't impose anything.
15 Practical suggestions for teens to eat
healthily
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Provide a range of healthy snacks that the teenager can
grab for themselves - a variety of whole wheat cereals,
different breads, fresh fruit, fat free yogurt etc.
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If they really love junk food, cook your own at home rather
than allowing them takeouts. Use lean steak to make burgers,
serve on a whole wheat bun with lots of salad. Make your own
oven chips by cutting potatoes into thick chips, spray with
light cooking spray and cook in a hot oven.
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If they eat at school, find out what choices are available
and talk to them about the best choices to make. Don't insist
they take a packed lunch if this makes them uncomfortable.
Remember what it was like at school - kids like to be the same,
they don't want to stand out.
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Fast foods need not be fattening - buy a pizza base and put
your own low fat toppings.
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Mix some fat free milk with whole milk and keep it in a jug.
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Make your own popcorn using half the normal amount of oil.
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If you know your child loves a particular dish which is high
in fat, don't cut it out completely. Include it in his/her diet
every couple of weeks.
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Make a healthy fizzy drink by mixing one-third fruit juice
with two-thirds fizzy water.
-
Get a set of ice-pop moulds, fill them with fruit juice and
freeze for a delicious cool ice.
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Encourage them to use the blender to make their own shakes.
Use any soft fruit, banana, peaches, raspberries, strawberries,
blend with fat-free milk and top with a scoop of low-fat
ice-cream.
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For a more sophisticated snack, mix dried fruits with seeds
- use sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds.
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If you see your child eating something fattening, don't make
a fuss and don't expect them to be perfect. The occasional bad
food isn't going to stop them losing weight. Remember the most
important thing is to teach them long-term, good eating habits.
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Don't compare your child in a critical way with anyone else.
I'm sure we all remember hearing about so-and-so being so good
at everything, or so cleaver, or so good looking. Kids pick up
on these things and what they hear is "why aren't you more like
so-and-so?"
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Constantly talking about weight/dieting, your own or your
child's, can be damaging. There are many cases of eating
disorders in teenage girls who have grown up in a household
where the mother is an obsessive dieter.
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Ideally, introduce good eating habits to your child as early
as possible, but remember it is never too late to start. The
wonderful thing about kids is that they adapt to new ideas very
quickly.
Suggestion 4 :
Set a good example
for them, yourself
Most kids learn by example. They watch and they copy. So one of
the most important things you can do to prevent obesity in your
kids, is to set a good personal example.
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Take
regular exercise.
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Don't
sit in front of a TV all day.
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Find
out about nutrition.
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Buy
lots of healthy food.
-
Cook
healthy meals.
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Explain
to your kids what makes foods healthy and unhealthy.
 Suggestion 1 :
Encourage your
kids to make changes to their general lifestyle
Suggestion 2
:
Encourage them to
become more physically active
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