Children in Utah are less fit than they were a generation ago.
That concerns doctors, who say kids are at risk of becoming obese.
Primary Children's Medical Center has a new program to help parents raise fit
kids.
It's called Family Food Fitness-- and it's the focus of today's family Now
report.
Parents often set the example for kids.
Studies say that if both parents are overweight, the child has a 90 percent
chance of being overweight.
But if parents eat and exercise properly, their children has less than a
10 percent chance of becoming obese.
But the problem may not be completely hereditary.
Experts say today's sedentary lifestyle is making for more overweight
children.
Dr. Robert Dowse is a pediatrician. He says, "The time the kids eat the most
and get the overweight snacks and stuff is between 3:00 and 6:00 in the
afternoon."
Doctors say parents should start training their children young to eat
properly-- and get away from t.v. and video games.
"No, it's never too early," according to Dr. Dowse. "And the reason being
because even toddlers and infants, as cute and chubby as they are, can be on
the road towards becoming overweight and actually becoming obese."
Dieticians say parents need to take charge of their kids' diets, but remember
they learn best by example.
Primary Children's Dietician, Kelly Keller, says, "What I would do is never
recommend a diet for a child, or anything different than what the rest of the
family is doing. It's basically just learning how to live healthy, make
balanced eating choices, eat a variety of foods and be active."
But for parents who don't know where to turn, there is help available.
Primary Children's Medical Center offers a program called Family Food
Fitness.
It encourages families to participate together so parents can set an example
for children.
Wanda Parker is a program participant. "I feel it's given us better ideas of
ways to have fun with exercise instead of just exercise."
Kids just think it's fun.
Cameron Shaw says, "I like the people and when we come to exercise they always
choose fun stuff to do."
The program offers several suggestions for behavior changes surrounding food.
They include:
- Changing the act of eating
- Eating slowly
- Not doing anything else while eating
- Putting down utensils between bites
- Chewing food slowly
- Pausing in the middle of the meal
- Eating smaller portions
But most importantly-- the program teaches families how to make permanent
lifestyle changes.
Clinical Nutrition Manager, Julie Metos, says, "A lot of times we want to do
something but we don't have the tools so this gives them things to practice
every single day."
For more information on the Family Food Fitness program, call our Family Now
information line at
1-800-575-5751.
