Whether your child is overweight or not, exercise is one of the best activities your child can engage in to grow up healthily. Encourage your child to practice sports and better yet, have fun together practicing any sport as a family.

Exercise for everyone

Exercise is an effective way for your child to stay at a healthy weight during his development. Nevertheless, the enjoyment of any physical activity as with eating habits is something learned. If your family activities generally involve watching TV perhaps your child won't take to exercising as much as you'd like him to.

Exercising doesn't mean that your child has to go to the gym regularly or take swimming lessons (although if he likes it, that’s great!). Playing actively can help him burn calories too. If he joins a local team to practice a sport, the benefits will be even greater.

But where your child is mainly going to learn about physical activity is at home. Doing outdoor activities regularly with your children on weekends or just walking around the park or your neighborhood everyday with the whole family will show him that exercise is something fun. It's also a relaxing time with the family in which you can bond with your children.

Exercise and Video games

In the last decade, when video games were nonexistent, and women hadn't joined the workforce, children played outdoors more. Exercise was a natural part of a child's activities.

But nowadays children spend long hours at home, not only because they are attracted to video games but for safety reasons, since parents work long hours at the office and it isn't safe for the children to be outdoors on their own. For this reason, exercise is something you have to program.

Children must exercise at least an hour a day, besides playing outdoors as much as possible. A way to do this is to avoid having a TV in their room and limiting the time they spend playing video games or using any electronic devices.

When they play video games, choose those that require them to move when playing. These games make you move in order to control what is happening on the screen. But you don't have to spend a fortune on the latest video games. Dancing to upbeat music is just as good.

The key to success

Besides video games and family activities, the key to success is to find a physical activity he loves and have him practice it as much as possible.

Maybe what your child likes is to take family walks in the afternoons, but he may also love to become part of a soccer team, or better yet, a team where parents and children play together. Or your daughter might like modern dancing, salsa or even ballet.

Try all the activities your child may be interested in and participate as much as you can in them. Go together to buy the necessary equipment and attend all the games and practices you can. There's nothing like having his mom or dad watching.

If your child is overweight, avoid those sports that might be difficult for him to do. Running may be more difficult, but swimming or riding a bicycle may be easier for him because of the extra weight he is carrying.

Above all, don't force your child to practice any sport, because this tactic will only make him hate it more. Try to find natural ways to exercise with them (walking, swimming) so that little by little they come to accept physical activity.

But remember that these strategies require that you actively participate in them too for them to be effective. If you can't take part in them during the week, at least try to have weekends be a time to exercise together.

Obesity in children is a problem that affects the Hispanic community especially. But although it's a health issue which must be addressed as soon as possible, obesity in children cannot be treated in the same way as adult obesity since children are growing.

Special precautions with diets.

Obesity in children is something that is developed through time. When overweight children start school and are subjected to teasing by their school mates, that’s when many families decide to address the problem.

The worried parents´ first reaction is to make the child go on a diet or to restrict the amount of food he has access to. This method brings about other problems for several reasons. On the one hand children are growing and to continue their development they need to have a series of essential nutrients which certain foods provide. On the other hand, restricting your child’s food intake or having him eat different meals from those the rest of the family eats isn't usually very effective, because it causes anxiety in the child and it emphasizes the problem.

If you think that your child is overweight, the best thing to do is to see the doctor and have him evaluate your child's health and check whether he has started to develop any illness related to being overweight. If the pediatrician cannot offer detailed nutritional advice, as for example how to create a food plan to improve your child's nutrition, ask him to refer you to a nutritionist who can work with you directly to be able to meet your child's needs for better results.

Obesity in children is a family issue

It's difficult to change nutritional habits once they have been established for years, and it's even more difficult to change them for the child alone. This is why if you want the changes in your child's nutrition to be effective, this must be considered a family issue. After all, improving your child's diet will also benefit the whole family.

Ideally, the way to address obesity in children is not to have your child go on a diet, but to maintain his weight with a healthy diet hoping that in his next growth spurt his weight and height will balance out.

To effectively start your family out on a healthier diet, do it gradually. Eliminate problem foods first, such as sweets, sugared sodas, sugar-laden cereals and slowly substitute them for healthier foods. Start cooking foods differently, like steaming or grilling to eliminate fats, and introduce more fruits and vegetables little by little.

You will find this approach more effective than to suddenly eat differently altogether because this could make everyone reject the change. It's much more effective to introduce one healthy change a month, which once and for all becomes accepted and adopted as an eating habit, than to start with a dramatic "new way of eating" only to go back to the old eating habits in a month.

Make your child participate actively in the process of adjustment.

If your child is made part of the decision-making so that his meals and way of life are healthier, it will be easier for him to accept them because he will not feel pressured.

Take him with you to the supermarket, cook together, set the table together, and talk about the foods and the benefits of healthy eating. Don't refer to foods as fattening or non-fattening because this might trigger an eating disorder. Talk to him about healthy foods and healthy habits, or not so healthy ones.

Also work together with your child to introduce exercise in his life, to do on his own or as a family. The results you achieve from these changes will encourage you to keep going, since teaching your child to live a healthy lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for him.

Healthy nutrition for children is a diet containing a variety of foods with all the nutrients they need to grow and develop. This is usually easier said than done because children, especially the youngest, often don't want to eat the healthy foods we want them to. But following are some tips that may help.

The foundation of a healthy diet

Establishing a healthy diet for your family is one  of the best things you can do for the future of your children. If you manage to get them to like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean meats and fish, dairy products, you will have won 80% of the battle.

These foods must be the foundation of all your meals. They can have precooked meals, sweets, sodas with sugar and so on, but it is important that your children understand that these are an exception and only reserved for special occasions, celebrations, holidays or when the family eats out. If your child sees that you eat healthy foods regularly, sooner or later your child will try to do the same.

A strategy for every age

Offer your baby in his first months of life creamed or mashed foods and gradually introduce solid foods in little pieces so your baby can chew them without choking. But even if he rejects the food multiple times, keep offering it to him. Some studies show that a child rejects a food up to eight times before trying it (as in Dr. Seuss's story "Green Eggs and Ham”).

Have older children participate in the process of preparing family meals. Take your child along to the supermarket and choose fruits and vegetables that he might like to eat, and cook some dishes together. Allow him to be creative and invent some. This will make him more likely to want to try certain foods.

For all ages

It doesn't matter what age your child is, don't keep sodas at home. Reserve sodas for very special occasions. Every sugared soda has from 10 to 12 spoonfuls of sugar and every additional soda multiplies the amount of sugar he eats.  Try to also avoid drinking boxed juices, especially those loaded with sugar. Instead, drink natural juices.

One of the meals you must insist upon is breakfast. Your child will benefit from having a nutritious breakfast and it will improve his performance greatly at school. Also by packing him a nutritious mid morning snack, like a fruit or a whole-wheat sandwich, you will be providing him with all the beneficial nutrients he needs and energy to enable him to perform better at school.

And above all, be patient and of good cheer. Think that teaching them to eat healthily is another educational task like potty-training or letter-writing. Don't turn meals into a battlefield and make them as fun as possible so that family meals are something children will look forward to. 

The first step to prevent obesity in children is to become aware of the fact that it is a very serious problem which is affecting Hispanic children.  It's important to know the consequences of obesity on your child's future and to act on it before it becomes a problem because once your child is overweight it is very difficult to treat.

Prevention starts in pregnancy

Although it may seem surprising, some studies show that a mother's nutrition and weight during pregnancy may affect the child's development of obesity in the future. This is especially true in mothers who suffer from diabetes and pregnancy diabetes and Hispanic women are at a higher risk of developing this illness.

Starting out your pregnancy at the appropriate weight and following a healthy diet during this time will prevent your child being from being born overweight. The myth about eating for two during pregnancy has long been dismissed.

Breastfeeding and cereals

A mother's milk is the best source of nourishment for her child when he is born. Besides studies that show that it may prevent obesity, breastfeeding has many more benefits for your child's health, such as protecting it from infections, diarrhea and other problems.

Nevertheless, due to the fact that breast milk cannot be measured as you can measure formula in a bottle, some mothers become anxious thinking they don't have enough milk or that their baby isn't eating enough.

Before you start giving your baby formula or adding cereal to his milk (which isn't advisable until they are 4 to 6 months) you should ask your pediatrician. If your baby is developing as it should, there is no reason to worry.

Remember that adding cereals to the milk bottle, besides the possibility of your child developing allergies in the future, is a source of extra calories for the baby. If you can, keep breastfeeding your baby for a year, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and longer if possible.

Nutrition at home.

A healthy diet for a child must include five daily small servings of fruits, vegetables, grains, cereals, lean meats, fish and dairy products.

Nevertheless, trying to have your children follow such a diet makes little sense if you eat different meals. To prevent obesity it's important to have a family awareness of what eating healthy and being fit entail.

You must focus on healthy habits and not on looks. This means that things are healthy or unhealthy but not referred to as fattening or not. The latter type of thinking may develop into an eating disorder.

Watch out for any weight changes and in your child's eating habits to be able to get help from a nutritionist or your pediatrician if it were necessary.

Child obesity is a very serious problem which affects Hispanic children especially. The consequences of obesity in children go beyond "looks". There are certain diseases adults suffer, some of which are irreversible that children are already suffering from as a consequence of obesity.

Health risks for children
Due to the epidemic of obesity which is affecting the United States, you might have heard about the dangerous consequences adults face: from diabetes to the risk of suffering a heart attack or problems with their joints.

Nevertheless, what has surprised researchers in the child obesity field is that many children are also suffering these types of health problems. There are children with diabetes, problems with their joints and with very high levels of cholesterol.

These are some of the most common problems among Hispanic children:

• Insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that the pancreas secretes and which acts as the key which allows the opening of a door in cells so that they can absorb the glucose that comes from food. Since it cannot enter, it remains in the blood, causing diabetes. When there is resistance to insulin cells don't respond to it. The pancreas secretes more and more in an attempt to make the process work. In a few years the pancreas starts to deteriorate due to this exertion.
• Metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a combination of symptoms such as abdominal obesity, low HDL cholesterol and hypertension, which puts children who suffer from these more at risk of developing heart disease. Nine out of ten Hispanic children with parents or grandparents with diabetes have at least one of the symptoms of metabolic syndrome.
• Type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes develops as a result of obesity. Hispanic children are disproportionately affected by this disease due to the genetic tendency for diabetes and the high incidence of obesity in this population group.

Other physical symptoms are sleep apnea, irregular periods in girls or orthopedic problems due to the excess weight on the joints.

Psychological consequences on a child
Obesity is not socially accepted, but if it's suffered by a child who is just starting to develop his or her self-esteem, the psychological consequences are serious.

Studies show that overweight children have low self-esteem or a poor concept of themselves. In general, Hispanic girls have lower self-esteem and adolescents with this problem may isolate themselves, smoke, drink alcohol or engage in other negative behaviors. Sadness and feelings of loneliness are brought on by the lack of acceptance from their peers and this may drive them to depression, with the added health risks this entails.

If your child is having problems fitting in at school, take it seriously, and don't say: "It will go away". Get professional help from a psychologist if necessary because the development of his or her self-esteem now will affect the rest of his or her life.

Obesity in children is not a problem that happens overnight, it's something that is developed throughout the years. Observe your child closely and watch out for any physical changes he or she is experiencing and step in taking him or her to the pediatrician or nutritionist before he or she becomes overweight.

It's not the same to suffer from this disease in adulthood than when a child is getting started out in life.

One out of four Hispanic children is overweight in the United States. In fact, Hispanic children between the ages of 6 and 9 are the ones who are most overweight in the whole country. It's an alarming situation and we must address the issue at once, since the consequences of child obesity can threaten the development of the child.

Causes of child obesity among Hispanic children

The fact that our children are overweight is due to several factors. Some can be changed and others can't, but it's important to be aware of the causes so we can better address the problem.

• Cultural factors. Our traditions and culture have a lot to do with how we deal with our children and it's common to believe our grandma over the pediatrician, since grandma has raised five kids. One of the most ingrained beliefs is that chubby babies are healthy babies. Although it's true that in situations of famine overweight children are better off than children who are underweight, in a household where food is readily available this does not hold true. In fact, some studies show that overweight children have problems with their immune system.

• Genetic factors. What children eat isn't completely to blame. There seems to be a tendency to be overweight among children whose parents are overweight and, unfortunately, the number of overweight Hispanic adults is also very high. If both parents are overweight, the chances of their child being overweight are doubled. Besides, among the Hispanic community there is more of a tendency to suffer from diabetes, as well as pregnancy diabetes.

• Social factors. Added to the two other facts mentioned above there is a very significant factor that affects almost half of the Hispanic population in the United States: Many of us don't have medical coverage. This means that children don't have regular follow-ups and therefore child obesity can't be prevented, detected on time or treated.

Hispanic parents´ perception on obesity

For a great number of parents the fact that their child is overweight as a baby and in her early years isn't a cause of worry, on the contrary: it's a cause of pride because the child looks well fed and taken care of.

In fact there is this curious study by researchers in Miami which showed that the perception of obesity among Hispanic parents was different to that of other ethnic groups. Most of the participants thought that their children up to 3 years old, weren't overweight, when the truth was that they in fact were.

The problem of not perceiving a child as overweight or obese is that no steps are taken to correct the problem. Once the problem of obesity has been diagnosed it's very difficult to control. The best treatment is undoubtedly prevention.