If you've struggled with your weight for as long as you can remember, you may be dismayed to watch your child beginning to follow in your footsteps. However, being proactive about diet and fitness at an early stage can help your child avoid a lifetime battle by establishing healthy habits early. Read on to learn more about three things you can do to help your overweight child lose the excess pounds and achieve a healthier frame of mind.
Avoid mentioning "dieting" or "weight loss"
For adults, the word "diet" has a number of connotations -- few of them positive. Your initial reaction to this word likely involves thoughts of deprivation, hunger pangs, or consuming vast quantities of unappetizing food. Children are perceptive and often pick up on these nuances, so announcing that the family is going on a diet may actually be counterproductive to helping your child lose weight.
Instead, focus on improving your child's health rather than simple weight loss. By consuming healthier meals that incorporate fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, your child will quickly discover he or she has more energy and is better able to concentrate in school. By participating in sports or other physical recreational activities, your child can gain a greater appreciation for what his or her body can do, and may quickly learn to love the endorphin "rush" that occurs after physical activity.
Investigate nontraditional sports
If your child must be coerced to participate in gym class, signing him or her up for a team sport may not be the most effective way to encourage exercise. However, even if your child has shown no interest in football, baseball, or basketball, there are a number of more offbeat sports that cater to children of all ages and at all levels of fitness.
By joining a junior roller derby league, a martial arts class, or even a yoga group, your child can get a healthy amount of exercise without ever touching a ball or stick. Many of these sports (particularly roller derby) can allow children who are on the larger side to use their size as an asset, improving self-esteem and disabuse them of the notion that fitness requires one to be thin.
Find a gym with activities your child will love
Depending upon your child's personality and coordination, team (or even individual) sports may not be the way to go. You and your child can instead opt get a gym membership and to work out together at a local gym with child-friendly equipment and activities. Although your child is unlikely to be interested in running on a treadmill or lifting free weights, many gyms have trampolines, shallow swimming pools, and even foam pits that allow your child to catapult him- or herself off a balance beam or parallel bars.
You'll be able to exercise alongside your child, and may even wish to ask your child to be your "trainer" -- this can help the two of you bond while affirming healthy habits.