Weight Control for Children and Teenagers: Practical advice

Special height-weight charts that allow for wide variations in growth patterns are used to determine healthy weights for growing children and teenagers. They are more complex than height-weight charts for adults and are best used in assessment by a doctor or a dietitian or an expert at a child health center.

If a child is having difficulty accepting that he or she is overweight, a dietitian can also be useful as an outside “third party”. Children tend not to always heed their parents' opinions and advice!

It is not necessary, or even advisable, for overweight children and growing teenagers to lose all their excess weight in a short period of time. Simply keeping their weight steady will effectively produce a loss of fatty tissue as they “grow into” their weight.

Keep in mind that an adolescent gains about 5 lbs for every 1 inch of growth. If an overweight adolescent can maintain a stable weight, then every 1 inch of growth is equivalent to 5 lbs of weight loss.

The following guidelines for different degrees of overweight are recommended for healthy weight loss for children and growing teens.

• Moderately Overweight (5 lbs):
  Action: Keep weight stable for 6-12 months
  
  
• Overweight (12-20 lbs):
  Action: Lose 6lbs gradually (1 lb/week), then maintain weight for 6-12 months
  
  
• Obese (22-40 lbs):
  Action: Lose 14-20 lbs gradually (1 lb/week), then maintain weight for 6-12 months

Overweight children and teenagers can easily tolerate a moderate reduction in calories in order to help maintain or lose weight. This usually means having slightly smaller-sized meals and cutting out high-fat, high-sugar snacks and drinks between meals.

Children should avoid crash and fad diets at all costs. Such inadequate food intake, even for short periods, may compromise their growth and development. Crash diets also encourage unhealthy attitudes towards food and a create a poor self-image; both are problematic and could lead to eating disorders.

Children and teens have greater nutritional needs than adults, and this needs to be kept in mind when a young person is losing weight. For example, for each 2lbs of body weight a 5-year-old child (about 36 lbs) needs twice as much protein, thiamin, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and vitamin C as a 140 lb man.

The same 5-year-old child needs as much calcium and iron as a 25-year-old man. As the child's stomach capacity is much smaller than that of an adult, food eaten by children needs to be fairly dense in nutrients in order to obtain the full quota of required nutrients. Thus there is little room for “empty calories” or high-fat and high-sugar foods such as chocolate, soft drinks, candy, pies and cakes. Such foods fill the stomach and supply excessive calories without supplying the necessary nutrients.

Many overweight children and teenagers may not actually consume any more calories than their counterparts of a decade ago, but there is usually a dramatic difference in the amount of exercise these kids and teens get. The increasing popularity of computers, TV, and video games as daily pass-times means that many young people simply don't get enough physical activity to keep their body weight healthy.

Children and teenagers need to exercise for at least 30 minutes each day to maintain a healthy body. Exercise can take any form from organized activities such as cycling, walking, running, or training with a sports team, to casual play activity in the back yard, park, or playground.

The school cafeteria has an important role in reinforcing health messages from the classroom and home. Many school cafeterias are now providing healthier foods than in the past, but some are only getting worse, serving more high-sugar, high-fat foods than ever before. Contact your school cafeteria to see if they are following the dietary guidelines of low-fat, low-sugar and high-fiber foods. If not, contact the school parent group or school principal to encourage a healthy change.

Many children (and adults) watch more than 20 hours of TV per week. The more TV watched, the more likely a child is of becoming overweight. Watching TV reduces the amount of time a child can spend exercising and playing. Furthermore, the food advertisements on TV encourage the consumption of fatty snacks and fast-foods. Reading the TV guide and agreeing on a limited number of programs to be viewed that day or week is a good strategy for reducing TV time. Health experts recommend limiting viewing to one hour per day or just a few hours on the weekend.

Though they might often feel otherwise, parents who spend time with their children are their number one lifestyle educators. Even if children don’t always listen to their parents, they will follow their examples, knowingly and unknowingly. Remember how much influence you have over your children, and keep these pieces of advice in mind:

• Children are great imitators and so it makes sense that adults should always set a healthy example. You cannot expect a child to eat well and exercise if their parents are couch potatoes! Make healthy eating and weight control a family affair.
  
  
•  An overweight child or teenager needs all the support and encouragement that parents and grandparents can give. Constantly affirm your child and tell him or her that their efforts are worthwhile.
  
  
• Avoid the temptation of high-fat and sugar snack foods by not having them in the house. Keep the fruit bowl well stocked instead.
  
  
• Provide cool water to satisfy thirst. Regular soft drinks and flavored mineral waters provide “empty calories”. Low-calorie soft drinks are also a better choice, but still need to be limited.
  
  
• Encourage your kids to eat breakfast. A quick calorie-controlled cereal with low-fat milk and fruit will help morning concentration at school. Not eating breakfast usually results in high-calorie snacks at break-times and lunch.
  
  
• Set positive, realistic goals together. For example, instead of focusing on dropping a certain number of pounds, set the sights on riding a bike or swimming for 20 minutes a day.
  
  
• Don't prepare separate meals for an overweight child. This will only enhance the feeling of being different and might also be seen as a type of punishment. Healthy meals should be enjoyed by the entire family. It is only necessary to control the quantities eaten by the overweight child.
  
  
• Teenagers demand their independence and usually like to have some control over their food choices. Be careful that your advice and encouragement does not become “nagging” which will only encourage them in the opposite direction.