Healthy Silicon Valley - parents place - supersize your kid

Eight community grant makers have joined together in support of Healthy Silicon Valley.

1.		Believe that your child’s SuperSize status is normal. When parents do not recognize overweight and obesity in our children we are missing critical partners in our effort to help our kids lead healthy lives.

2.		Let your child skip breakfast most days. Start their day off healthy. It both controls hunger, which can result in over eating. Research says kids who eat a good breakfast do better in school.

3.		Fail to teach your kids good eating habits, especially when they are young. Young children learn good habits much more readily than do older kids or teens.

4.		Rarely eat together as a family. Two reasons. First, the quality and quantity of food are easier to control when the family eats together. Second, eating together has positive effects of human emotions while strengthening your family

5.		Let your children or teens sleep less than nine hours per night. Despite the strong trend toward fewer sleeping hours, evidence is accumulating that nine hours is the optimum amount of sleep for children and teens. Research demonstrated that kids who watch less TV are less likely to be overweight or obese

6.		Allow your kids to watch TV all they want. Kids who watch too much television burn fewer calories than if they were sitting at the kitchen table doing homework.

7.		Encourage your kids to drink anything but water. Nonfat milk and water are your best choices. Even 100% Fruit Juices should be used in moderation.

8.		Support all moves to cut recess and physical education from your child’s school. Academic achievement improves even when time for academics gets shortened due to physical education activities

9.		Don’t bother with family meals; let everyone eat when they want. Children who eat with their families make better food choices when they don’t eat at home

10.		Join the “Clean Plate Club” Children can tell when they are full. If they are forced to eat more, it can become a habit and they will learn to overeat. Serve small portions and give them seconds if they are still hungry

* from Super Sized Kids: How to rescue your child from the obesity threat,
by Walt Larimore, MD; Sherri Flynt, MPH, RD, LD; and Steve Halliday.