Ways Parents Can Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

This is the last week of the National Childhood Obesity Awareness month. Have you taken the time to improve your physical activity this month? Did you start a new tradition on “Day of Play” when Nickelodeon went off the air to encourage physical activity?

Many parents want to help, but don’t know how. Here are some tips to help them help combat childhood obesity.

• Be a good role model!
• Volunteer to be a leader of one of the many after-school programs focused on physical activity.
• Begin making little changes. For example, when it is your turn to bring the snack to the soccer game make sure it is something healthy.
• Teach kids how to set and achieve goals.
• Remember you choose what your kids eat, and your kids choose how much of it they will eat.
• Let kids use their own hunger cues of knowing when they are full.
• Talk with your kids by focusing on health and not weight. Kids come in many different shapes and sizes, but everyone can improve their health.