"Little Fat Boys" should be careful about chronic diseases. How to control children's diet

Obesity has become a major challenge facing all mankind, and the various diseases that come with obesity are increasingly becoming risk factors that threaten health. At the same time, obesity is not just "middle-aged weight gain", children are gradually becoming the main force of the obese group. Although "little fat kids" are cute, they pose a hidden danger to obesity and chronic diseases in adulthood.

A fat child does not mean he is healthy.

For a long time, because parents often lack knowledge about their children’s body shape during their growth period, they usually think that being a little fat is a blessing and good for health. In fact, this view is incorrect. Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to suffer from metabolic diseases, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, as well as diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Secondly, research results show that children with abdominal obesity are 1.6 times more likely to suffer from asthma than children with thin abdominal fat. In addition, compared with adult-onset obesity, adolescent obese individuals have a higher risk of diabetes. Currently, the incidence of type 2 diabetes among children is increasing at an alarming rate. Obesity is obviously prone to cause type 2 diabetes in children. The youngest child treated in Beijing was only one year old.

At the same time, the younger the child is who is overweight, if he or she is still obese in adolescence, the risk of developing high blood pressure is usually 2 to 3 times that of children of normal weight. According to a survey, the detection rate of hypertension among obese children in Beijing has reached 30%.

To judge whether children are obese, you can refer to the "waist-to-height ratio"

When it comes to judging obesity, people's first reaction is BMI (body mass index). In fact, waist circumference is also a criterion for judging obesity. Moreover, compared with BMI, waist circumference measurement is simpler and more practical.

However, only young women who are particularly concerned about their body shape will often measure their waist circumference. For young children, parents usually think that their children are growing and therefore do not pay special attention to their waist circumference.

Compared with the traditional BMI index for judging overweight or obesity, the "waist-to-height ratio" is more suitable as a method of body posture assessment and health management. The formula for calculating waist-to-height ratio is: waist circumference (cm) / height (cm). A waist-to-height ratio of less than 0.4 is considered too thin; a waist-to-height ratio of 0.4 to 0.5 is normal; a ratio of 0.5 to 0.6 is overweight; a ratio greater than 0.6 is obese.

Nutritionists remind us that obesity cannot be judged solely by the BMI index, and children’s lack of awareness of their own body shape requires education to cultivate the habit of regularly measuring their waist-to-height ratio and improve their health awareness.

To prevent childhood obesity, you need to “control your mouth and move your legs”

Without correct nutritional knowledge, children will often be in a state of overnutrition. The overnutrition status will cause children's weight to continue to increase, eventually leading to childhood obesity. At the same time, with the continuous advancement of technology, children's activities are increasingly concentrated indoors, with fewer outdoor activities. Insufficient exercise is also one of the important reasons for children's obesity. Therefore, the saying "control your mouth and move your legs" is still an effective way to overcome childhood obesity.

Keep your mouth shut:

1. Drink more juice and water, and less sweet drinks

Most obese children love to drink carbonated drinks such as cola and Sprite. These drinks are high in sugar and calories. Drinking too much can easily make you fat. Therefore, parents should control their children's drinking of carbonated drinks and try to replace them with sugar-free fruit juice and water.

2. Don’t overeat, eat small meals frequently

Parents should be careful not to let their children eat unlimited amounts of whatever they like, so as not to stretch their children's stomachs, which will make them eat more. Generally, children can eat some fruits between meals to prevent them from eating too much due to hunger during meals.

3. Eat a balanced diet, including both meat and vegetables

Most obese children like to eat meat but not vegetables, which makes them seriously lack certain nutrients. Therefore, parents should gradually cultivate their children's good habit of eating everything.

Step forward:

Cultivate interests and exercise more

Most children love to watch TV and are unwilling to go out for exercise. In this case, the children are mostly fat.

Therefore, in order to prevent children from becoming overweight, the whole family should mobilize the children's enthusiasm, accompany them for walks in the community or do other exercises, or take them to participate in outdoor parent-child activities. If your child doesn't like to do 40 minutes of exercise at a time, then doing it four or five times a day for 10 minutes each time can also achieve the fitness effect.

In addition, interest is the best teacher. Children who don’t like sports mostly have no interest in them. Parents should never force their children. Parents can try taking their children to watch some children's sports first to stimulate their curiosity, and then gradually encourage their children to participate in them and gradually cultivate their interest and habit in sports.