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Is it healthy to make my child follow a diet to lose weight? or not?

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Question added by Maysa Ali
Date Posted: 2016/06/11
Maher amhaz
by Maher amhaz , Agriculture Specialist , free lance

better to encourage your child to be active and eat right . diets by themselves do not work by themselves. to get 100 % results you need both active life and healthy eating habits. in the world nutrition there is something called the 80, 20 rule. eat right 80% of the time and 20 % cheat. depriving anyone from food, any kind, makes things hard to stick to a nutrition protocols 

Health awareness and change the pattern of food and improve the quality of nutrition by eating healthy eating and reducing non-health food, exercise and increased physical activity.

* To improve the diet of the child:

1. When buying foods must choose fruits and vegetables instead of sugary and fat foods, and must provide a healthy snack available to the child permanently,

And prevents the use of food as a means of punishment

 Or bonus.

 2. Reduce sweetened beverages, including fruit juice, they offer little nutritional value compared to the elements of calories they contain, in addition, they feel the child of satiety not eat healthy and nutritious food and replace them with fresh juices.

3. Encouraging usually eating at the same table full as a family, and convert food into suitable for the exchange of talk, news and stories, and reduce the intake of food in front of the TV or computer or video games, because it leads to rapid eating and lack of awareness of the amount of food that dealt with the child.

4. reduce the frequency of eating outside the home, especially in the fast food that are high in fat and calories restaurants.

 

* To increase the level of physical activity of the child are advised to:

1. Reduce the time of the child watch television for less than two hours a day, Reducing television viewing will increase locomotor activity,

You should reduce the computer and video games and talking on the phone.

2. emphasis on activity, not exercise, it is not required to organize exercise program but needed to continue the movement, and the exercise of free games such as: game chase and search, jumped rope, which helps to burn calories and increase physical fitness.

3. knowledge of the activities that the child likes, for example, if the child has artistic leanings, you can embark on the nature of the collection of leaves and rocks that could be used for the manufacture of technical models stereoscopic, or if he likes climbing, or he likes reading offering an upstream for walking or riding a bike to get the book .

4. To encourage the child to practice physical activity is essential for the people of his practice is also finding enjoyable shared activities, and warns of converting exercise into a kind of punishment

 Or a chore.

5. diversity of activities, leaving each child's role in the selection of the type of activity for a day or a week, such as tennis or bowling or swimming

Or football.

* For the prevention of obesity:

1. Visit your doctor at least once a year, where the doctor measure the child's height, weight and the study of indicators that may indicate

 The risk of suffering from obesity.

2. Parents should be role model for children, making sure to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly to maintain weight.

3. Do not advisable to use food as a means to modify the child's behavior, either as a punishment or prevention presented as a reward.

4. promote positive behavior, encouraging healthy lifestyle, focusing on the positive side, such as fun to play abroad, or the diversity of fresh fruit all year round.

5. emphasize the benefits of sport apart from being a way to lose weight, for example: Sports strengthens the heart, lungs, muscles, and invest the child's natural to run and discovery tendencies, eating only when you feel hungry and not because of boredom. These practices will become a child's healthy habits over time.

6. Patience is the key to success. Many children grow and increase their weight when their height, and parents should be aware that excessive focus on the eating habits of the child gives backfire and Lead to a child leaning over to eat.

Derick Nyebiribi
by Derick Nyebiribi , Laboratory Technician , Nostra klinick

Adherence to a healthy eating habit is a contributing factor to help your child loose weight coupled with exercise. So I believe it a good idea to get your child on diet

Rasha Al Awar
by Rasha Al Awar , Nutrition Specialist , Arab Marketing and Finance Inc.

we should not give the child a low calorie diet.

we should give him/her a diet with the reqiured calories and give them time to get taller so the weight will stay the same but the BMI will decrease. 

Also, it is preferable to make them do some physical activity rather than a weight loss diet. 

Batool Fino
by Batool Fino , nutrition counselor , FitZad

if he was more than 5 years and overweight then i would recommend to follow a weight reducing diet to keep a healthy childhood.but, keep in mind that the child is having enogh amount of macro and micro nutrients for growing up and he is doing a physical activity

Nabil Hijazi
by Nabil Hijazi , Director , Biocell Lab

Losing weight as a child can be tough because you usually don’t get much say in choosing what to eat and you can’t leave your house whenever you want to go work out at a local gym. It’s also not a good idea to use a diet made for an adult, as your metabolism and body is not fully matured. Follow these steps for your child weight loss:

    1. Don’t Skip Breakfast

Eating breakfast will not only make you feel more energized, but fuller, and less likely to snack on sugary or salty foods later. Try eating a banana, peanut butter sandwich, yogurt or even hard boiled eggs. It is important to make smarter choices throughout the day including your school lunch.

Quick Tip: If you don’t want to wake up earlier, you can prepare your breakfast and lunch the night before.

 

    1. Drink Water!

It can be hard to drink water if you think it has a boring taste, especially when sodas and juices sound better. Don’t drink them! They both have a lot of bad sugar that will only make you fatter! If you drink water instead of sodas and juices, you will lose body fat, feel better, AND have more energy.

    1. Get Enough Sleep

Kids should be getting around 10 hours of sleep every night while teenagers should get 9. Getting enough sleep makes you feel more energized and active during the day. It’s also important to avoid sugar late at night because it can make it harder to fall asleep.

    1. Too Much Salt is Bad

Love extra salt on your french fries? Bad news – salt is a big fat promoter. The sodium found in salt makes our body hold onto water which makes us appear fatter. Canned foods and frozen meals from the grocery store usually have a lot of sodium – don’t eat them. Don’t use the salt shaker, and if you do, don’t put much. A small sprinkle is good enough.

 

    1. Watch Your Snacks

Stay away from packaged snacks and junk food. If you need a snack, grab some fruit, yogurt or vegetables. It’s very easy to eat too much junk food but if you limit yourself to a small portions, you’ll notice a difference.  Try bringing a small bag of carrots, apples, or almonds to school if you get hungry before lunch.

    1. Watch Out for Sugar

Do you think it’s okay if you only have a little bit of candy sweets everyday? It’s NOT. All of those are filled with sugar, and sugar is the main reason for getting fat. If you know something has a lot of sugar in it, don’t eat it! You will notice you’ll feel better and skinnier.

Hajar Kriauciunaite
by Hajar Kriauciunaite , Physiotherapist, , SC Energetikas www.energetikas.lt

My answer is yes. Cause overweigt is more dangerous then diet. But the diet for a child must be different, it have tobe nutritious, lots of healthy snacks, and most important graduate physical activity and sunshine

mahmod elhelw
by mahmod elhelw , طبيب عام، طب اسرة , المصرية‎ وزارة الصحة و السكان

It depends on alot of factors as His weight , health , age , BMI , the diet , etc .. On conclusion if you want your child to lose weight , you should follow up with a pediateric nutrition doctor ..

Deleted user
by Deleted user

I don't think that a diet is a suitable solution for a young child presenting an overweight, but rather a modification of her/ his eating habits in addition of an  introduction of regular physical activity. 

 

We must keep in mind that rich, balanced et various alimentation, in addition of  regular practise of a physical activity are the keys of a healthy lifestyle.  A diet, may impose difficult choices and deprivation for a child to manage. This difficulty is increased when the motivation in not on the cards. It may even lead to frustration and a feeling of culpability. The young child can interpret the diet as a punishment. 

 

So, it's, better to focus energies in a better food education, that could bring more long term benefits. 

Among the new habits to adopt: 

-An alimentation very poor in added sugar. If the child likes the sweet taste, ripe fruits contains sufficient quantities in natural sugar. 

-Avoid snacking.

-Avoid fat ailments ( fries, mayonnaise…etc.) 

-Try to make healthy food more attractive. 

-Be careful of bad influences: adds, and grandparents. 

-Show off and educate on the  benefits of healthy food. 

 

 

 

Damian Muncaster
by Damian Muncaster , Manager , HCA Healthcare

Clearly the answer is No. Diets to lose weight do not work full stop. To put a child onto a calorie controlled diet is wrong on so many levels and will leave the child with severe psychological issues. The answer is totally in education. The child needs to understand which foods are good, which foods aren't so good and why exercise and movement is so important. Sweet treats and ice cream should t be excluded in a child diet as it will lead to the child feeling he is different and there is something wrong with him. He will have such a negative self impression it could be wholly destructive. The parents need huge education on a varied and balanced diet and need to become role models. In fact education of the parents is far more important than the Childs. The parents should now if they continue with unhealthy eating habits it's going to cause lifelong sickness and poor quality of life. There is no reason for a child not to eat as much as he wants of the right foods, he should not go hungry and in moderation eat sweet treats but this must go alongside exercise and drinking plenty of water. A positive approach with the child and harsh wake up call for the parents. Diets do not work.

Huma Zia
by Huma Zia , Medical Officer , Al Mustafa Trust

Yes its healthy but as long as the diet covers all the basic nutrients and only if the child has put on more weight according to BMI.. Othervize no need, because only in childhood u can avail the luxury of eating everything without being conscious about weight.. Afterwards there's a whole life left in which one stays conscious about weight n health.ð

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