Helping your child slim down without destroying their self esteem

According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999, 15% of kids from the ages six to nine years old were overweight, whereas in 1998 only 11% of kids in that age range were considered overweight. What these numbers are showing us is that the rates of obesity in children are on the rise. In addition, with the rise in obesity this means that health problems that are related to obesity are increasing, such as high cholesterol and Type II diabetes, which both use to be considered as adult problems.

With children, you need to be careful about getting them to lose weight because you can inadvertently destroy their self-esteem. If you are not careful, you can make your child think that you do not love them for who they are, you are comparing them to other kids, or any other thing that they can think of. You as their parent have the tough job of helping them slim down without destroying their self-esteem.

Before you decide on helping your child slim down you must first decide if your child's weight is considered unhealthy. In order to do this you will need to ask yourself if your child is having a hard time keeping up with other kids in sports, and if they are outgrowing normal clothing sizes. Most importantly, you will need to look at their growth charts so you can see how their BMI compares to other kids. If their BMI is showing that, they are overweight or obese you need to begin taking action right away, never think that your child is going to grow out of it.

Here are some things that you can do to help your child lose weight without hurting their self-esteem.

Number one: Goals
Set realistic goals for your child; do not expect them to lose all of that extra weight in just two weeks. Healthy weight loss cannot be accomplished at a rapid pace. You also need to think about the fact that most kids are still growing, so in some cases losing weight is not a good idea. In those cases, you should help your child try to maintain their weight rather than lose the extra weight. This is a good plan because as your child grows taller they are naturally going to become thinner because the weight is redistributed over the body. If your child is considered obese or is on the heavier side of overweight, you can set a weight loss goal of one pound a week. By making the goal attainable the higher the chance that your child will achieve the goal, it will also make it easier for your child to live with the modifications that you have made.

Number two: Exercise
Too many children are kept coped up indoors, not very many kids are being encouraged to go outside and play. Outdoor activities or any kind of activity that requires your child to move around can be considered exercise. Your child does not need to have a formal exercise plan or go to the gym to exercise; all that they need to do is get active so that they can burn calories. Everyday playing outside can be turned into aerobic exercise, such as riding a bike or skateboard, even rollerblading. You can also encourage your child to use the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to their friend's house, walk to school, or even walk to the store. To help your child get motivated to exercise you need to set the example, exercise with your kids, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and walk rather than drive places.

Number three: Foods
One problem that many kids have when it comes to eating is binging, which is usually a result of going for a long period without eating. Doing this causes people to feel hungry, so they overeat to accommodate going without food. To manage this, the best thing that you can do is to have your child eat three meals a day and two small snacks between meals. Not only does eating at regular times help your child eat healthy, but so does choosing the right foods to eat. Provide your child with a lot of fruits and vegetables, these are filled with fiber and do not have very many calories. Eating foods that are high in fiber helps your children feel full and satisfied, so they resist the urge to continue eating. Offering your children low fat foods can also help them to lose or maintain their weight. Teach your child about smarter snack choices, such as pretzels or popcorn instead of foods like chips and cookies.

Number four: Eating habits
When eating and watching television many children do not realize how much food they are consuming, which leads to overeating. The same thing holds true for eating out of the bag of chips rather than portioning out a serving. Not to mention that children who eat while watching television or snack while playing video games tend to view eating as an activity. You want to teach them that eating is not an activity and that you should only eat when you are hungry. To do this you will need to change how your family eats. Rather than serving dinner in front of the television, serve a sit down dinner at the kitchen table or in the dining room, you want to aim for no distractions. Do not answer the phone when eating dinner or turn on the radio, spend this time together as a family. Do not forbidden them to eat certain foods, making a certain food off limits can cause problems because children will sneak to get that food, if they cannot have it they want it more than ever. Instead, teach your child that junk food is fine as long as it is done in moderation.

Number five: Behavior modifications
Some children can have a hard time staying motivated, some just cannot resist the temptation of those sugary snacks. If you find that your child is having a hard time, reaching the realistic goals that you have set you can try some kind of reward system to help keep them motivated. By offering some kind of a reward for good behavior, you will be able to help them stay on task. The one thing you want to avoid doing is rewarding your child with food; you want to reward them for changing how they are doing with food. In fact when doing any kind of reward system you never want to reward with food. For example, if your child eats carrot sticks instead of candy for snack for a week you can reward them for this behavior. You can offer them a small toy or take them to the park. Choose a reward system that works well for your family, but includes things that your child enjoys so that they are more inclined to stay on task.

Number six: Talk to your doctor
You should never start a weight loss program with talking to your doctor; this is also true for your children. Talk to their pediatrician about what you plan on doing, how much weight you think your child needs to lose, and what are some good ways of going about doing this. Their pediatrician can point you in the right direction so that you can help your child lose weight in a healthy manner. Once you have started the weight loss program you should bring your child in every two weeks for a weight check. If they have Type II diabetes or some other health problem, they might also need blood tests. You want to avoid weighing your child at home on a daily basis because of small weight fluctuations. The reason you want to avoid this is that these small changes in weight because it can cause added stress in your child, which can damage their self-esteem.

Number seven: Support
 Support your children by giving them encouragement and praise. You can also make sure that they are not going through these dietary changes on their own. Start having the whole family involved in changing eating habits. Even if you like to snack on junk food try not to keep too much of it in the house, this is a strong temptation for anybody who is trying to change their eating habits. One way to get the whole family involved in changing their eating habits is to keep healthy snacks on hand, such as cut up carrot and celery sticks. You also need to get active along with your kids, take a family bike ride, or in good weather go for a hike. Just doing things together can help keep everyone motivated.


No matter what you decide to try to help, your child slim down there is not going to be a fast and easy path for you to take. Helping your child lose weight is going to take hard work and dedication. It is going to require you to change your eating habits and even your lifestyle, for the entire family, not just the child. While this might sound impossible, it can actually be done, if you are dedicated enough.