Being Overweight is bad for children's health. It increases a child's risk of health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance in the blood. High levels of cholesterol may lead to heart disease. Being overweight may also lead to high blood pressure and heart problems later in life. Children who are overweight have a higher risk of being overweight adults.

Children in school may experience more stress and sadness (because of being overweight), resulting in low self-esteem. Sometimes, overweight children are teased, or treated differently by peers.

Causes

The most common reasons for obesity in children are:

Hereditary: A child's parents, relatives, brothers or sisters may also be overweight.

Inactivity: Children may not be getting enough physical activity, spending too much time watching television, playing video games, or on the computer.

Diet: Regular consumption of high-fat and high-sugar foods may cause children to consume too many calories. These include: hamburgers, French fries, potato chips, chocolate bars, soda and sweetened drinks.

How to manage their weight

Lifestyle changes: Increasing physical activity and eating healthy foods can help children reach a normal weight. Usually, a child will not need to be on a diet or lose weight. The first goal may be to maintain the current weight while growing normally in height. Talk to an expert about a weight management plan that is right for your child. These changes may improve the health of the entire family.

Role models: Children learn from the behaviour of adults and are more likely to make changes they see you make.

Healthy diet: Give children three meals and one or two snacks per day. Offer a variety of foods, such as whole grains, vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy foods, lean meats and beans. Do not force children to eat all the food on their plate.

Breakfast: Make sure your family eats breakfast, as skipping it often leads to overeating later in the day. Serve low-fat milk with a low-sugar cereal.

Lunch: For lunch, pack nuts instead of potato chips. You can also add fruit, low-fat pudding or low-fat yoghurt instead of cookies.

Dinner: Make it a habit to add vegetables to dinner. Serve low-fat protein foods such as skinless chicken, lean red meat or legumes. Some dessert ideas include fruit dishes, low-fat ice cream or angel food cake with fresh locally grown fruit.

Look out for The Gleaner's weekly feature on Positive Parenting to be launched this month.