Helping your child avoid the obesity epidemic

When you have a child, you want to do the best you can for your child. Being overweight is an epidemic these days for children, so you need to make sure that you consider physical health when you are raising your child. It is important that you keep an eye on his or her weight, and here are some ways you can do that.
1. Restrict children from fast food restaurants. You may think that it is okay to eat out, but for children, you must remember one thing. You are training your children on everything, including how to eat. If your children get used to eating a lot of fast food, you are setting them up for a lifetime of bad nutrition. They will never be able to go back to "regular food"; at the least, they will have a difficult time, as they will have a taste for fast food. 
2. Limit their portions. Make sure you know what a properly-sized portion is so that you can make sure you are giving out the adequate amounts. Make sure that you limit seconds so that your children know how much they should be eating at every sitting. Talk to them about what is enough for them to eat, and talk to them about why it is important to limit their portions when they sit down to eat.
3. Let them help prepare food. When they help prepare food, you can explain to them why you are eating, and what is healthy. You can let them help you choose healthy choices so they know that they can eat a lot of healthy food that tastes great. Tell them about which foods they should eat and which they should stay away from, and why. By preparing the food themselves, they will feel better about the food they are eating.
4. Limit sweets. Sugar is one of the worst things for anyone's health. Your kids may be worrying about their teeth, but you also need to worry about how sugar can impact their body and how it can contribute to weight gain. By all means, allow your child some Halloween candy or Easter candy, but make sure you set limits. Talk to them about why these limits are important, so they do not think you are just taking away their snacks.
5. Do not keep bad food in your house. This is critical. If it isn't healthy for your child, it is not healthy for you; why keep it around? You have to get really serious about how much health matters in your family's life, and make a commitment to getting all the bad food out of your house. Instead, stock your home with healthy, good food and snacks.
When you decide to focus on your child and their physical health, you are inevitably going to start keeping an eye on his or her weight. By using the tips in this article, you are sure to be able to help your child stay fit and trim.