Healthy kids - a parent's guide

TOLEDO, Ohio - For the first time in history, children could die before their parents do. It's a statement that makes you stop and think. But childhood obesity is considered an epidemic.

Diet and exercise, seems to be the cure for this epidemic, but it can seem overwhelming to a parent. Health professionals says it doesn't have to be that way, even one small change will make a huge difference in your child's waist line.

If eating out or at home, those family meals are important to your child's health. Mercy Children’s dietitian Michele Cleland says eating as a family is an easy first step into improving your child’s diet.

"Focus on family meals then one child's diet what can we do to make sure the family is eating healthy. Just by sitting down to dinner and you'll automatically eat a healthier meal then on the go or in the car."

Cleland goes on to say that nobody eats perfect every day. You should base your child’s diet on every couple days. If you can’t remember the last time they got in a serving of fruits or veggies, make sure to serve it as a snack the next day.

The food pyramid should only be used as a guideline, Cleland says parents should use common sense first. "Parents can target just one piece of fruit a day. Our fruit is getting really big that it's a couple servings itself so you can hit your needs in one swoop."

Introducing new foods is also key to creating a healthy diet for your child. Parents can create picky eaters by continuing to only offer the same foods. Kids will reject a food the first time they try it because they don’t understand the texture or taste. The food needs to be put in front of a child a couple times before they will learn to like it.

Both ProMedica Health System   and Mercy Health Partners are striving to reach out to families to educate them about this issue and prevent the problem in Lucas County.

ProMedica is doing it in the form of a board game. It's an adventure you can take with your family that acts as a conversation starter.

While Mercy St. Vincent is one of 155 hospitals that has received a portion of a $15.1 million grant from Kohls to make appearances at family events.

Bottom line, Cleland says to work with your child's pediatrician to know where your child’s weight is and if they are following their own growth curve. If your child has a small weight issue it is a pretty easy fix. In most cases maintaining your child's weight is all that needs to be done even if they are a little heavy because kids continue to get taller and can grow into their weight.

A big mistake parent's can make is to either be over restrictive on what their child eats or over relaxed. Hitting the middle ground is best for your sanity and your child's health.

Pat Altvater is a Weight loss coach and author who is currently writing a book called "Mamma's Don't Let Your Children Grow Up To Be Dieters," she says kids need to learn the art of patience in any situation including when they're hungry.

"Kids even more then our generation are growing up in a never having to wait society. So I think parents need to wait by creating a system of this is when we eat."

Keep your kids on an eating schedule of breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack. Rather then eating whenever they feel like it. She also recommends demonstrating patience in life situations like saving up for a family vacation and waiting in lines at the store. That could help your child's waistline.

"Teaching your child to delay gratification is one of the best things you can do."

There's a test you can give your child that could give you a look where your child is headed health-wise. It's pretty easy. All you need is two clear cups filled with your child's favorite food. The study's called Instant gratification versus delayed gratification. Your child's ability to be patient could have lasting effects throughout their life.

It was first performed on 4-year-olds by professors at the University of Michigan. The kids were put in front of two cups full of their favorite foods, one cup had significantly less then the other. The professors told the kids they could have the cup with the smaller amount now, but if they waited they could have the cup with the larger portion in it. What they found when they followed the kids was children that chose to wait for the larger portions, by the time they were 11 years old were much more successful at maintaining a healthy weight.

Twenty-four-year-old Jillian Gladieux was overweight her whole life and picked on as a child for being heavy. Even though she had a supportive family and friends, she always felt like an outsider. That feeling made her make an extreme decision to have bariatric surgery as a young adult, when she was 22. Now over a year later she is over a hundred pounds lighter and please she had the surgery.

But it's a surgery most surgeons including Jillian's surgeon Dr. Patrick White with Toledo Hospital will not perform on teens younger than 18.

"The studies that have been published have good results," Dr. White said. "The kids seem to do about as well as adults, but I feel reluctant to do a life altering operation, which bariatric surgery is, on someone that can't sign their own consent."

Before your child's weight gets to the point were surgery is needed the CDC has a tool you can use to track your child's waistline. It's a Body Mass Index calculator. These are readily available to adults online, but this equation figures in your child’s birth date, sex and height and weight to the fraction.

Related Links:
Out Smart Weight – receive a report on how to create a healthy foundations for your family.
Centers for Disease Control – BMI Calculator for adults and children