Healthy Weight
for
Children
WRITTEN BY DIANE WHITTEN, MS, NUTRITION EDUCATOR, CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SARATOGA COUNTY
If you have a child who is, or is heading towards being overweight, you must be wondering – how do I handle this? According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at www.eatright.org, if your child is elementary age or younger, don’t talk about weight directly, just make lifestyle changes as a family. If you can deal with the situation as a family you won’t be singling out the child, putting him or her on the spot.
American portion sizes have increased significantly over the last few decades, both at home and at restaurants. Consider that a child-size burger at a fast food restaurant today is the size of an adult fast food burger served 40 years ago.
Girls as young as six start talking about their weight, so if your young child or older child says something about being fat, use it as an opportunity to talk about being healthy, rather than being thin or fat. It’s best not to talk about weight loss, but on weight maintenance over time. Girls reach mature height in early teen years, boys may not reach mature height until late teens or early 20s, so for children who haven’t reached their mature height it’s possible that they will grow into their weight as they grow in height. HEALTHY PORTIONS Healthy eating includes not just what is eaten, but how much is eaten. Consider the portion size you serve your child.
28 | SARATOGA FAMILY | SPRING 2021
saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
