Weight Loss Programs For Children

According to the National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey, (NHANES) 17 percent of children and adolescents between the age group of 2 and 19 were overweight in 2003-2004 in the USA. That was in 2003 -2004. One can imagine what the situation would be now. The condition is quite complicated. In some classes and age groups, in the past couple of years, the rate has declined. On the other hand, it has increased in some groups and communities. But all said and done, one thing is clear, children are getting more and more prone to gaining weight and obesity, because of bad eating practices and lack of any exercise regimen. A solution is parents inculcating good eating habits in children and encouraging them to involve in as much as physical activity as possible. The following is for all those parents who want their kids to lose weight.

Weight Loss Programs for Kids
Here are some weight loss programs for kids. These are the foundation of weight loss program for children.

Motivation
For losing weight and adhering to a strict weight loss diet and exercises for losing weight, you need a lot of motivation. It could be really difficult for the children to conquer their cravings. So they require a lot of pushing and positive energy around them. Motivation is important. The parents getting actively involved in the weight loss program by eating healthy and exercising will help.

No to TV
Discourage kids from watching TV in their free time. Get going and indulge in some sports. If not sports, you can do any other activity, which does not involve sitting in one place. Make them do physical activity as much as possible.

Being Positive
Do not be dogmatic about your child's weight. Be supportive and foster a confidence in your kid that he or she can lose weight. Make the kids know that its for their own good health, as being overweight can lead to a few health complications. And it is not for getting the approval of others.

Now we come to the practical part. What should the children ideally do to lose weight.

Healthy Eating Habits
Healthy eating comprises healthy meals - low calorie and low fat food. Avoid fatty foods as far as possible. Eating more of vegetables in your meals is the best bet. Also avoid double serving of a dessert or the main course. If the dessert is a fruit salad, then its fine. The kids can have as much salads or vegetables if they are not full. Another important thing is no eating in front of the TV and AVOID fast food. And yes, do not forget to drink lots of water during the day. Water is a natural appetite suppressant. And children, do not be hooked on to your playstation!

Physical Exercise
The following is in allusion to kids. So for the kids keen to lose weight, here is what you can do.
The easiest way to get some physical exercise is walking. So take a walk around the block. Start with shorter distances and then increase as you get used to it. If you are lucky enough that your parents are health conscious and have exercise machine, use it, provided that you are old enough to do so. But do it under the supervision of your parents. Join a sport which interests you. ( If you think you can lose weight by joining chess or carom, think twice!). So join something like baseball, basketball, soccer, athletics and so on. If that is not possible, join a gym, of course, if you fit in that age group.

Amongst other things, which falls in weight loss program for children is practicing Yoga. This ancient Asian system of strengthening your mind and body is fantastic for ensuring great health. Here is a daily lowdown on how you can go about Yoga.

Day 1: Start of with a light warm up and stretch your muscles just enough to get you in the groove. Do not over exert your muscles. There are hard exercises which are on the anvil. Go for jumping, spot jogging, stretching, which are good warm up exercises.

Day 2:Get set for the yoga postures. Try doing 12 'Suryanamaskaras'. If you can finish 12, good, otherwise do as many as you can. Then get hold of a yoga book or hunt for yoga postures corresponding to your purpose and practice different yoga poses.

Day 3: Now that you have got the hang of the yoga poses, retain each of them for five minutes. Slowly increase the number of postures you do. Keep the 'Suryanamaskaras' going and increase the number gradually. Suryanamaskaras exercise almost all the muscles of your body.

Day 4: This could be a bit too much, but if you can do 50 suryanamaskaras a day, believe me that is the best thing to do for losing weight, you need nothing else.

Day 5: Continue the yoga postures and the suryanamaskaras. Push yourself without getting bored and work towards a healthier you.

This was just a brief outline of one of such programs. You can modify these weight loss programs for children, so that they suit your kids better. Different permutations and combination of various things can lead to a healthy weight loss process, without crash dieting and the likes

So what are you waiting for? Go and have a good life! Happy healthy living!