Target on parents for childhood obesity

Reports, studies, surveys, research….the fight to tackle childhood obesity is taken up to parents everyday. And it’s a worthy fight, with almost of a quarter of our kids deemed ‘obese’

But whilst healthy eating programs and exercise programs rage on through schools, parents are coming under increasing scrutiny to get tougher on kids lifestyles.

And it’s a ‘get tough’ approach that they’re asking for. We all know our eating habits are far worse than what they were. The availability of fast food is far greater than it was 20 years ago. What used to be a ‘treat’ is now used as a meal, maybe because we’re rushing the kids home from soccer training or simply don’t have the time after work. Kids riding in the street is no longer safe due to the fact we no longer know our neighbours well enough to trust them.

But it is time to take a quick plan to arrest this epidemic. Take 5 minutes and change you and your children’s lives with these three steps

1. Write down your meals you’ve had for the week – You can’t go forward without knowing where you’ve been. Place the meals down across 7 days (including skipped ones) and identify problem foods and reasons you had them. Find solutions to combat the bad stuff.

2. Make a plan for bad-timing – The most common excuse for all of us was ‘it was just quicker’, so challenge yourself to find a quicker way than fast food to prepare a meal. Can you have a basic salad ready the night before? Grab meats that take short amounts of time to cook or maybe even cold meat as an alternative. Remember by the time you go through a drive through, pay extra and head home, you’re really only adding about 5 minutes to preparation anyway.

3. No TV until you’ve done some moving – The first temptation when we get home is to flick on the telly and plonk. Set the small goal of some exercise before the TV goes on, whether it’s taking the kids for a walk around the block, kicking a footy in the backyard or doing some small exercises in the house (starjumps, running on the spot etc).

From these three steps, you can branch out into a lot more, but it’s baby steps first. Shows like Biggest Loser are not the guiding light on how to lose weight, they’re made for entertainment. Speak with your GP, set the goals and go for it.

Do you have some tips?