Child Wellness: Maintaining your child's weight
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. are climbing. It's more important now than ever to know not only what your child is eating, but why.
With fast food, processed meals, keeping a child’s weight under control requires effort, pre-planning healthy meals, providing low fat snacks, limiting junk food and encouraging exercise.
An overweight child is a target for bullying which can affect them their entire life.
"It can cause a child to feel very different from other children," psychiatrist Dr. James Kelleher said.
When limiting how much a child eats, there is that fine line of discipline. How does a parent do it without negatively impacting the child’s self esteem and setting up a power struggle with food?
"It's important for people to understand the limitations at an early age and develop a certain amount of discipline about that and I don't think it should impact a persons' self esteem to be told in an appropriate way, 'This is your limit in terms of food, this is as much exercise you need to do," Dr. Kelleher said.
For more information, click the video above.