It is well known that obesity or being overweight is a growing epidemic among children, leading to increases in diabetes and other serious health effects. It is also well known what you have to do to lose weight, by eating less and exercising more. The problem is that it is hard to stay motivated to do these things.

And if it is hard for adults, you can expect that it is even harder for kids, who don't necessarily understand the negative health effects of being overweight.

Losing Weight

How do you help your children lose weight?

It can help to stick to the basics. Don't worry about counting calories and carbohydrates and fat grams. Instead, provide healthy meals and snacks and encourage regular physical activity.

Being a good role model is also important, starting when your kids are young. This can help the whole family to be healthy.

If your child is already overweight, you will likely have to make some changes to his diet. But this isn't as hard as you think. It doesn't have to involve counting every calorie that he eats and drinks, which can be especially hard when your kids are eating at school.

Instead, keep in mind that a pound is equal to about 3500 calories. So if your child is gaining an extra pound a week, he needs to cut his diet back by 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day so that he doesn't gain any more weight.

Fortunately, most kids don't need to make such drastic changes to their diet. Your overweight teen is likely just gaining an extra 10-15 pounds a year, which would be equal to just 100 to 150 calories a day, about equal to a can of non-diet soda.

Stoping Weight Gain

An important first goal for most overweight kids is to simply stop gaining weight.

Using the method above, instead of counting all of your child's calories and trying to stay below some set goal, you can use the fact that he probably eats about the same number of calories each day to help him not gain any more weight.

So just figure out how much extra weight your child gained in the past year and adjust his diet to compensate for these extra calories. The change might be as simple as changing to non-fat milk, diet soda or a more healthy after school snack.

Keep in mind that this 'extra weight' is above what your child would be expected to normally gain each year.
Extra Weight Gained
Last Year Number of Calories to
Eliminate Each Day
1 pound

10 calories/day
5 pounds

50 calories/day
10 pounds

100 calories/day
15 pounds

150 calories/day
20 pounds

200 calories/day
25 pounds

250 calories/day
30 pounds

300 calories/day

Cutting back on the above number of calories each day should help your child to stop gaining weight. If your child is not very overweight and he hasn't finished puberty yet, then not gaining more extra weight might be not enough, as he gets taller and 'grows into' his weight.

Losing Weight

Again, not gaining any more extra weight is an important first goal, but many overweight kids also need to lose some weight.

You can use the same calculations to figure out how much more to cut your child's daily calories by to lose weight. So, once your child is at a stable weight and not gaining, if you want to help your child lose 5 pounds a year, cut his diet back by 50 calories a day. To lose 10 pounds, eliminate 100 calories a day, and so on.

If your child is still gaining weight, then you will have to cut more calories out of his diet. For example, if he has been gaining an extra 5 pounds a year and he needs to lose 10 pounds, then that is a total of 15 pounds that you need to compensate for. So he will need to cut back his diet by 150 calories a day.

Diet Analysis

Although you don't need to count calories each and every day and know where every fat gram is coming from, you do need to understand your child's diet to help him lose weight.

Some good questions to answer include:

* How many calories does your child get from the things he drinks?

* How many snacks does he eat?

* What are his portion sizes like?

* On average, how many calories does he get at each meal?

After you look closely at your child's diet for a few days or a week, you should be able to see patterns of where the extra calories come from. Cutting back on calories might be as easy as eliminating a bedtime snack, changing to diet drinks or low fat milk, or not super-sizing his portions.

Exercise

More exercise and being more active is another good way to stop gaining and losing weight. Instead of thinking about how to diet to decrease the number of calories your child is taking in, you could also think about how much exercise he needs to do to burn those calories.

So just like we said that you had to cut back your diet by 50 calories a day to lose 5 pounds a year, you could also exercise to burn an extra 50 calories a day and lose weight.

Or even better, do a combination of both.

How can children burn 50 calories a day exercising?

Your children should be able to burn 50-100 calories a day in 30-60 minutes of regular activities that children enjoy, such as walking, roller blading, bicyling, or playing baseball, basketball or soccer.

Older Kids and Adults

Younger children who are overweight have one big advantage. Since they are still getting taller, if they stop gaining weight, they I said before, they will often 'grow into' their weight.

Once a teen finishes going through puberty, to get thinner, he actually has to lose weight. The same principles discussed above work though for both older teens and adults.

Eat less or exercise more or do some combination of both.

This is not meant to minimize the difficulty of losing weight though. If losing weight were easy, there wouldn't be so many different exercise programs and diets. The popularity of so many diets, such as the Atkins diet, Weight Watchers, etc. and frequent advertising for 'easy' weight loss programs helps illustrate just how difficult losing weight is.

But these basic tips should give you a better understanding of what you need to try to do to help your child get to a more healthy weight. You can get more help from your pediatrician and/or a registered dietician.

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Everyone has been on a diet. Does that sound strange? Well, it's true. A diet is simply the collection of the foods you regularly eat. But the word "diet" also can mean an attempt to lose weight by limiting calories or types of food.

You may know some adults and kids who worry about their weight and say they're going on a diet. You might wonder if you should be on a diet, too. But the majority of kids do not need to — and should not — diet this way. Why? Let's find out.

Dieting to Lose Weight
All foods and many drinks contains calories, a kind of energy. When someone diets to lose weight, the person is trying to eat fewer calories than the body uses. By doing this, the person may lose body fat and decrease his or her weight. Likewise, if a person eats more calories than the body uses, the person may gain weight.

Kids usually do not need to diet in this way. Unlike adults, kids are still growing and developing. During this time, kids need a variety of healthy foods to keep their bodies growing properly. Some kids are overweight, but even overweight kids often can improve their health simply by eating nutritious foods and being more active. Being overweight can cause health problems, but kids may hurt their health even more by doing something drastic, like skipping meals or deciding to eat only lettuce.

Who Needs to Diet?
Though some people may feel they weigh too much or too little, there is no perfect body shape. Some people have larger frames (bigger bones) and will always look bigger and heavier than people with smaller frames.

Talk to your doctor if you have questions about your weight. Your doctor can examine you and check your body mass index (BMI). That's a way of estimating how much body fat you have. If the doctor is concerned about your weight, he or she can recommend a couple of goals:

* for you to gain weight at a slower pace
* for you to maintain your current weight

For some kids, the doctor may recommend losing some weight, but this should be done with the doctor's help. Kids who need to lose weight may visit with a dietitian who can explain how to reduce calories safely while still getting all the necessary nutrients.

Dangerous Diets
Diets that don't include a variety of nutritious foods, or have too few calories, can be dangerous for kids. Some type of dangerous diets are called "fad diets," because a fad means something that's popular for a short while. Fad diets usually promise quick weight loss and require the person to follow a strict set of guidelines.

Some dangerous diets cut out entire categories of foods or require the person to eat just one thing, such as cabbage soup — yuck! The truth is there is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss. So pills, special drinks, all-liquid diets, and other gimmicks are poor choices, especially for kids. If someone offers you a diet pill or suggests you start having a magic milkshake that can make you thinner, tell them no! These diets can make people sick. They also usually end with the person regaining any weight that was lost.

Someone who is willing to take extreme steps to be thinner could have an eating disorder. These include anorexia nervosa (starving oneself) or bulimia nervosa (eating and then deliberately throwing up). They are serious conditions that need a doctor's attention.

Help for a Dangerous Dieter
If you know a friend or sibling who's following a dangerous diet, you need to tell an adult. You could turn to a parent, a teacher, or another adult you trust. You could also tell the person yourself that their eating habits are unhealthy, but you probably will need to get an adult involved, too.

It's not unusual for kids — or adults — to wish they were taller, or thinner, or that they could change something about their appearance. If you feel this way, talk to a parent or an adult you trust. You may need someone to help you understand these feelings and get a handle on whether your weight is a health concern.

The body changes that happen to kids during puberty include weight gain. This is normal, but it's a good idea to talk with your doctor about it if you or your parents have questions.

What Kids Can Do
So if kids don't need to diet, how can they stay a healthy weight? All kids can benefit from eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of physical activity.

Kids have a lot of choices when it comes to activity and exercise. Some like to play on sports teams or dance in troupes. Others may prefer to be more casual, riding their bikes or shooting hoops at the park. Just helping your parents rake leaves or clean the house is a kind of physical activity, though not as much fun as something like swimming! And it's a good idea to cut down on pastimes that aren't very active — such as watching TV or playing computer games.

Kids can also try to eat a variety of healthy foods. A balanced diet means that you don't eat the same thing every day and that you eat a mix of foods from different food groups. These include:

* fruits and vegetables
* milk and dairy products
* meat, nuts, and other protein-rich foods
* grains, especially whole-grain foods, such as whole-grain breads and cereals

This kind of diet helps your body by giving it the right nutrients. For instance, protein helps build your muscles and other body structures. Calcium helps your growing bones. And you need vitamins and other nutrients to keep your body working as it should. Fiber prevents constipation and carbohydrates give you energy, just to name a few.

Now that you understand more about diets, you can tell people you're on a very special one — a balanced, healthy diet just right for a kid!

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Diet and nutrition for kids is a challenge. Most children are bombarded with persuasive and attractive advertising from a very young age. Most foods advertised tend to be high in sugar or salt and are often sponsored by colorful cartoon characters.

Children need to be given a choice and must be allowed to eat little and often.

Major Food Groups

Fats

There is no need for children to eat low-fat products. Fats are a necessary component of anyone’s diet. The issue with fat is that of moderation due to the higher calorie content of fats. Some of the more important fats required in childhood development are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats.

Sources of omega-3 are tuna, salmon, sesame seeds, nuts, sardines. (Note that nuts are not suitable for very young children due to a choking risk.

Sources of omega-6 are Avocado, sunflower seeds, corn, almonds.

Protein

Protein is essential but needs to be moderated in children so as not to overload the kidneys. Good protein sources include; Eggs, milk, cheese, unflavored yogurts, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, fish, and even some grains such as oats and millet.

Carbohydrates

There is never any need to reduce carbohydrates in children and it should make up the biggest portion of their diets. Many children receive their carbohydrates from sugary juices, candies, processed breakfast foods, and many other snack foods.

Good carbohydrate choices include; Fruits, vegetables, bread, crackers, whole grain cereals, unsweetened muesli.

Weight Loss for Kids and Teenagers

Children who are overweight should never go on restrictive diets or even have foods restricted. Any approach should include the entire family and result in improving the diet of the parents as well as the children.

The program must address behavioral issues as well as nutritional issues.
PariPlan A healthy program that addresses parenting skills, busy families, and money other aspects that encompass weight management.
Trim Kids (book) A 12 week program suitable for children, pre-teens, and teenagers.

Slim Kids A smaller program aimed specifically at children.

Meal Plan Ideas for Kids

Breakfasts

* Low-sugar granola. Can be served with milk, chopped banana, or diluted fruit juice.
* Cup of cornflakes with chopped apple and/or chopped nuts.
* Scrambled eggs on toast, perhaps with plain yogurt and berries.
* Oatmeal with raisins.
* Baked beans on toast with a small glass of whole milk.

Lunches

* Baked potato with tuna.
* Shepherd’s pie and green vegetables.
* Macaroni cheese and green vegetables.
* Chicken and lentil soup.
* Pasta with ham and peas.
* Tuna sandwich

Dinners

* Omelet with green beans.
* Lamb with small new potatoes lightly roasted (not fried) in olive oil.
* Tuna with pasta bows and vegetables.
* Pita bread with chicken slices and sliced sweet red peppers.
* Salmon fillet with mashed potato and ratatouille.
* Chicken and mixed vegetable casserole.

Snacks

* Cup of plain popcorn (home-made).
* Fruit and unsalted mixed nuts.
* Cream cheese on oatcakes and grapes.
* Smoothie made of milk and red berries.
* Unsweetened nut butter (almond is popular with children) on toast.
* Sliced carrots and celery with avocado dip.
* Fresh fruit salad with oat pancake.

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