There is a tremendous increase in the number of overweight children. About one quarter of children across the continent is overweight or obese. This can be challenging and requires patience, practice and time. Health problems are less common among children, but for overweight children not earlier recognized and dealt with it; pose a greater risk during adulthood. Various problems may arise such as high blood fats and heart diseases, high blood pressure, stroke, joint problems, breathing problems and some forms of cancer.
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An overweight child is rarely caused by medical conditions, but it is always wise to check with a doctor if concern arises. The cause of the children’s obesity is a combination of low physical activities and a diet with high energy.
A healthy life children’s style composes of passion. Through this, a parent has to understand that a child is an inside out of the process. A varying degree of passion exhibited in kids are often passionate about some things but in different perspectives. The parent has to understand that passion in a child is who she or he is. Some kids may be passionate about baseball or basketball and others about the rest of their lives. Creating a healthy lifestyle for children means that whatever kids are, they are infusing passion into that life they are living.
It is the responsibility of the parent to understand this and offer a support to the kid accordingly through counselling and offering life skills. Passion is not something taught at schools. Children should start identifying key points concerning the passion at an early age. Parents should influence their children on being passionate about people and life rather than being passionate about one thing in life.
Experience is another key thing in creating and living a healthy life for children. Experience of passion in a child no matter what he or she is doing creates a responsible and successful adult.
Curious conversations between parents and the child can start creating a healthy lifestyle for children.
The parent should ask a question regarding to the feeling like what makes them feel happy or like having fun, secondly the parent may ask for the things they like and what the child likes to do the most.
Children gain knowledge and skills in practicing healthy lifestyle through the use of dietary guidelines that reduce chronic diseases and unsafe habits. Health lifestyle and weight are critical for every child, and children should be taught issues concerning culture, family, community, economic implications of obesity, and the consequences if ignored.
High nutrition foods and drinks are essential for children’s health; therefore, school canteens should consider such commodities rather than selling soft drinks and drinks spiked with sugar. Hence, healthy eating for schoolchildren would ensure healthy eating, which promotes a healthy lifestyle. On issues concerning physical health, daily exercise is beneficial. Physical education should unsure child’s health; therefore, schools should implement physical education daily or at least twice a week. Students sometimes prefer concentrating on their studies as they consider physical activities as wastage of vital time. Regular exercise should be enforced daily and these students taught the importance of regular exercise to ensure a healthy lifestyle.
Allocation of physical activities is not a key issue to many parents, teachers and adults. Most of them work long hours only to forget the benefits of physical exercise. For children to be aware of the importance of a frequent exercise, parents must lead an exemplary life that can benefit their children by improving their health through exercising regularly. To achieve this goal, parents can introduce their children to morning and evening exercises for a good start. Joining clubs that have various games like gym facilities and swimming pools improves the child’s mentality on physical exercise.
In the weekend, family can strengthen their bond by visiting clubs for exercise. It is a conscious decision to lead a healthy lifestyle. Ignorance of physical exercise can expose children to many health hazards. Parents should know that healthy living ensures a life free of diseases and complications, hence having a longer life span.
A healthy lifestyle consists of several factors such as sleeping well, eating well as shown in figure 1 and frequent exercise among others. Following a healthful diet is crucial in maintaining proper health and body weight. For children maintaining normal weight, normal-eating patterns have to be ensured. Meeting nutritional needs involves meeting healthful diet through balanced consumption of fruit, grains, vegetables, proteins, vitamins and minerals. This boosts the body immune system creating a shield against common children diseases.
Healthy diet for children reduces children’s risk to serious diseases like obesity, diabetes and cancer during adulthood. We take sleeping for granted and parents consider sleeping as a good thing for children when it comes to time to go to bed without understanding benefits of it. While asleep, the body produces extra molecules that help to repair worn out tissues in the body during the day. Sleep also helps to improve memory in children and adults.
Children’s body type and shape is hereditary in that a child inherits various characteristics from its parents. These factors remain constant and cannot be changed.
Parental influence towards the child’s eating habits and activity patterns is crucial. It also affects their body weight, hence balancing both factors of body size and shape.
Childhood obesity affects one child among five children in the modern society. A vital role-play camps in turning back the existing national trend on obesity.
Parents and children interested should participate in camping activities. These activities facilitate positive change in a child’s life keeping the child healthy and active.
Children inherit body type from their parents. These factors cannot change, but the parent can only influence the child’s eating habits and activities, which will also affect the body weight.
Through healthy lifestyle, children acquire knowledge and skills on safe consumers of food; therefore, it facilitates a healthy lifestyle to the young children. They evaluate information induced to them by parents on nutrition and safety in children. Parents assist children in evaluating impact on consumer choice concerning the environment and the global community.
