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Involve the whole family
When once your teen is mentally prepared to tackle his or her obesity problem turn it into a family event. The two focal points for
effective weight loss will be physical activity and eating habits. Change it not just for the teen but for the whole family. After all you only stand to gain because of it.
Changed attitudes translate easily into changed eating habits
It will be easy to change your faulty eating habits into healthy ones, once your family is equipped with the knowledge of what helps and what causes harm to your body. Once equipped with the knowledge resolve to bring it into practice wholeheartedly. If your teen has decided to give up ice cream scoops for yogurt ensure that all of you do it too. You do not have to cut out all the 'fun' foods altogether. Let them be an occasional treat. When your attitude towards 'fun' food changes you find you do not miss not having them.
Make healthy food interesting to eat. Vary presentation and combinations so that monotony does not creep in. Healthy food is not necessarily distasteful. And do not be afraid to try new things as there may be health foods that you have never eaten so far. Read a lot, experiment and adopt whatever suits your lifestyle, budget and tastes.
Don't give up favorite foods. Reduce portion sizes. Substitute a small portion, say one third with health food. Every small step that you take will take you towards your goal.
It is important that healthy eating habits are inculcated at an early age.
After all children imitate their parents. You reach for a fruit and buttermilk,
your child does too. You opt for a bag of chips and an aerated drink your child does too. Show the right path - good for you and for the kids too. And, it is never too late to start.
Physical activity - make it enjoyable
Today urban lifestyle has drastically brought down the amount of
physical activity that we indulge in. The battle of obesity can be fought effectively only when you decide to sweat it out physically. Once your teen understands this and is willing to, give him
or her company and encouragement. Reschedule your lifestyle to include physical activity. Schedule a physical activity when usually your family would have been doing something sedentary like watching TV or playing games on the computer. Walks, outings that take you to places where the family
can run around and play a simple game of catch will be a truly enjoyable experience. Try it and you will probably get addicted. Put on foot tapping music and dance. When only your teen does it, it irritates you right? Well join in. It can be fun.
While scheduling such activities, keep in mind that an obese teenager might feel uncomfortable in certain situations and with people watching. Avoid such situations.
An obesity problem with a difference
Often the teen might not be obese but may just feel that he or she is. And as a result the teen may avoid food or go on fad diets. Such a situation can be harmful to the health. While being overweight is not desirable, being underweight can be detrimental to health resulting in low stamina, decreased mental alertness and in severe cases, depression. Keep yourself and your teenager informed on the ideal weight for his or her age and height. Falling below it will have a negative impact on the teen's health. This problem is seen more among girls, and is directly related to fashion trends. Stylish clothes portrayed on ultra slim models captures their imagination and they strive to conform to that unrealistic image. Imparting the right kind of values and a realistic attitude towards life will help safeguard your teen against such situations.
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