Overweight ToddlerIt isn't until the age of 2 that children can start using a body mass index calculator to determine their weight category. To calculate a child's BMI you need to know the height to the nearest 1/8th of an inch, the weight to the nearest .25 of a pound, the age, and the sex (male or female). All of these things are used to calculate the body mass index of an overweight toddler, or any child. A great link that will allow you to calculate your child's BMI is found at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
If it turns out that you do have an overweight toddler it's not the end of the world. Remember that the BMI charts are used as a guideline for what one should weigh. The important thing is that your baby eating healthy. They are still growing, and with better food choices and daily physical activity, they will lose the excess weight or grow in to it.
Child Obesity Prevention
* Eating Healthy Snacks. They should eat things like low fat cheese, apples, carrots, or celery with peanut butter (or low fat peanut butter). Healthy snacks like these provide protein and/or fiber. Protein and fiber help to keep you feeling satisfied and provide essential nutrients for your body.
* Limit your child's sugar intake. Things like candy, cakes, donuts, ice cream, soda, and juice (100% juice or juice drinks), should be given in moderation. Child pediatrician's recommended that your child drink no more than 4 ounces of juice a day. Candy, cakes and other sweet treats should be just that, a treat. They should not become an every day, or multiple times a day occurrence. * Child Size Portions. Once you become an adult and have been eating as an adult for many years, it may be difficult to judge how much a child's food portion size should be. So even though your overweight toddler eating healthy foods, if they are consuming too much, it can still lead to them becoming overweight. An informative guide to the correct portion sizes your toddler should be eating can be found by clicking here. * Try to Avoid Fast Foods. I know it's hard to go past a McDonald's without your little one getting excited and wanting some, but their health is more important. A McDonald's cheeseburger and small fries (standard kid's meal) contains 530 calories combined. This doesn't include the drink or dessert. Do you see how their weight could get out of control easily? It is recommended that a toddler of 2 to 3 years old should consume about 1000-1300 calories daily. Pediatricians calculate toddler's daily caloric intake by giving 40 calories per inch in height. So a 32-inch toddler should have 1280 calories a day (32 x 40 = 1280).
* Less TV More Activity. Toddlers without any physical restrictions should be active. There have been many studies that show watching too much television can lead to obesity in children and adults. Encourage them to play, dance, skip, anything that gets their heart pumping and doesn't mess up your house. You guys can even go for walks/jogs together. Kids really enjoy spending time with their parents, and you can combine quality time with getting fit and staying healthy. I personally don't believe that an overweight toddler should be put on a diet. They are too impressionable and precious to risk imposing a flawed self-image so young. These are just a few tips to help your overweight toddler. But if you are not eating healthy foods then your toddler won't either. Weight loss and child obesity prevention is a group effort. Everyone in your child's life has to help. These steps should be taken in order for them not to have an obesity problem as a teenager or adult. This way, the thought of weight loss surgery never has to enter their mind.
Leave Overweight Toddler Go To Weight Loss Surgery Home
|
