Due to me here at Total Nutrition having three children I do see a lot of young adults and children regarding their nutrition and weight. Irish children now have a 25% chance of being overweight or obese hence I thought it important to give a couple of pointers as how to best handle this very delicate issue.
Whether your loved one is too slim, carrying a little weight or overweight – the most important thing is to be objective about their weight and to take some action. Many parents put their head in the sand passing weight off as ‘puppy fat’, where for long term health outcomes it should be handled and approached in a delicate manner head on.
Good eating habits commence from early childhood and these habits should not only be important for the younger people in our lives but for grown-ups too. My first tip therefore is to lead by example. Children and teenagers learn so much from their home environment hence it is so important to teach good eating habits around the meal time table. If they see adults that they respect eating vegetables, salads, meats, fish and healthy carbohydrates – it will be deemed normal and will follow. Being aware that it can be tricky to eat all at the one time, endeavour to try achieve this as often as possible within the families timetable. This starts from the earliest of ages and it is never too late to begin.
Remove all sugary treats and drinks from the house – this can be a difficult one however if they are not in the house they cannot be eaten. Excess sugar eaten, if not utilised as energy, will be stored as fat – remember that sugar is not only contained within the obvious foods like cakes/chocolate/biscuits, it is also contained within carbohydrates like potatoes, white bread, white rice and white pasta. I would encourage you to not only remove ‘sweet’ temptations however turn all your carbohydrates to brown and slowly reduce their intake.
Education is the best starting point for a family and in seeing family units regularly for education sessions I deem it the best way to make changes in dietary lifestyles. It is much easier to make changes once you know the reason why. With education correct choices can be made or if a bad choice is made then appropriate action like exercise can be done to compensate. In the ideal world seek some expert advice or failing that the library/internet are good sources of information.
Encourage exercise even if it is walking the dog as a family after school or ten minutes on the trampoline – anything that increases the heart rate. All over the country there are council gyms or even boot camps who often do special teenage programmes – for younger children there are lots of options including the local field with a ball! Grown-ups to join in too, it’s great for all the family.
Act now as the levels of obesity in Ireland is growing which is leading to increased risks of diabetes, cholesterol problems, increased blood pressure and heart related diseases.
By Help My Style Nutritionist Andrea Murray
