Good Answer : Plan Your Dinner Menus Ahead Help ?

 Children of any age do not feed themselves; they don't go to the supermarket and buy their food. They do not decide on the weekly menu. They do not buy sodas or artificial snacks; they eat what you, as a parent, give them to eat. We all know that school meals lack a lot in nutrition and are abundant on grease and carbohydrates. As parents we also know that many times it has been easier to buy fast food on the way home after a tough day than it is to cook something nutritious and healthy. We are responsible for our children's wellbeing; it is our hands to prevent our child from becoming a diabetic at an early age.

There are things you can do before it is too late, now is the time to do them. There isn't much you can do about the school menu, but you can speak with the person in charge of the cafeteria to keep your child away from the mashed potatoes and fried food. Ask this person to help you by giving your kid salad, fruit and food which has little or no fat and carbohydrates. If this does not work, pack him a lunch to take to school. A little sacrifice on your part will go a long way for your child's health.

Plan your dinner menus ahead of time. Keep the carbohydrates down and add more fresh products like salad and less pasta and fatty foods. We know you are tired after a long day at work so program to do part of the week's cooking on Saturday or Sunday, put it in the fridge so all you have to do is warm it up and serve. This will save you preparation time and will be easier on your tired feet and brain. Avoid second servings for the children and taking their dinner to their rooms. Dinner at the table allows for family time and it also permits you to control food intake.

If your kids do not like sports, it is fine too. Take them for a walk in the park, or cruise the mal with them for half an hour to one hour. Believe it or not, walking is a great exercise and calorie burner. Keep a tight control over games, computers and television sets, assign your children shores in the garden and pay them a little something when these shores are done. The exercise, the sun, the job and payment will do wonders for their spirits and bodies too. You have to be creative to keep them on the move, hibernating or hanging out on a cushion or bed is bad for them. Plan trips to the local museum or amusement park, or community swimming pool; make them walk, make them move around, exercise is the key to health.

Sweets, junk food and sodas are your greatest enemies. Do not keep them at home, this does not mean you will never eat or drink them; sure you can, but do it occasionally and not as a routine. Kids do not need dessert every night, leave it for special occasions. They do not need sodas, sodas do not even quench your thirst, help them to get used to drinking water, lots of water every day. The same thing goes for junk food; leave it for the times you are out of the house, at the mall, or the movies anywhere but inside your house. Teach your kids to eat well and they will live well.

Go the extra mile today and your children will get used to good food and drink. They will grow stronger and feel better when they exercise and spend time outdoors. They will learn to manage their time better and will become better students and will communicate better with you and between themselves when they lose that horrible addiction to video games and television. Restraining their gaming and television watching time will help them to learn communication and interaction skills they do not need now because they communicate with machines, not people.

It is not easy and we know that the younger generations have fallen into a lethal trap. They have lost their ability to express feelings and to communicate thoughts. If this goes on for too long it is possible that they will not speak or think anymore. They themselves will become machines. Some of horrible episodes we see today on the news have started with a lonely kid who is locked within himself and his mind; a kid who hates himself because he is fat or different from his peers. This is the age of communication, it is true, but we should be communicating between us not with machines. We should use all these contraptions to improve human communication not loneliness.

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A study out of the Medical University of South Carolina found a link between adolescent obesity and decreased learning. And because adolescents are still in the developing stage, losing weight may be able to at least stop the trend and even possibly reverse it to some extent.

One decrease in learning, as evidenced by IQ test scores, is due to a condition known as adolescent sleep apnea. Just like in adults, obese children with this condition actually stop breathing while sleeping. While each episode may only last up to 10 seconds, it can occur hundreds of times each night in a child with this condition.

Studies have found the decrease in learning is due to two results from breathing cessation: lack of oxygen to the brain and lack of quality sleep. When the child is not breathing, oxygen is not getting in the lungs, entering the blood stream and being distributed to the brain. With a lack of oxygen over time, injury to existing brain tissue can occur along with affecting further development of the brain. The cause of sleep apnea may be from excess fat in the throat or enlarged tonsils that cuts off the airway.

With a child waking up hundreds of times each night, they are not getting quality sleep even though they may be getting the correct number of hours of sleep. This further effects their learning performance because they go to school tired the next day and can't focus on learning.

And then there is the emotional side of learning. Social distress also affects learning in obese adolescents. Because obese children "don't fit in", normal weight children tend to tease, make fun of or even bully them. This constant taunting causes immeasurable emotional issues of which decreased learning is just one. With low self-esteem and self-worth constantly haunting them, concentrating on learning in school is the farthest thing on their mind. Many can't take the peer ostracizing anymore and end up taking their own life.

Researchers found the decrease in learning can start as early as kindergarten and seems to be more prevalent in girls than boys. They also found that obese adolescents are less likely to attend any type of post-secondary education. And it all starts with being an obese child.

If you have an obese adolescent, help them get back to learning again by seeking an approved diet and exercise program from your child's healthcare professional. Be a part of ending the emotional strain and bad grades caused by your child's obesity. Get them back to actively learning again.

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In addition to these outwardly visible health problems, obese children are also more likely to be socially marginalized as other children often make fun of them and leave them out of their activities. This can then lead to various psychological problems such as low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

A young child who is unsuccessful in shedding the excess weight will eventually grow up to be an overweight adolescent and/or adult. As obese adults, they will be at higher risk for several different adult health problems, from osteoarthritis and Type 2 Diabetes to stroke and heart disease. They are also at higher risk for various types of cancers, ranging from ovary, kidneys and pancreas to cervix, ovary and breast cancer.

The social stigmatization and associated psychological problems too often continue well into adulthood. All of this goes to show that obesity in children is not something to be shrugged off so casually. Parents need to be more alert to the many physical and psychological issues associated with children being overweight and need to take measure to ensure that their kids are at a healthy weight.

What Causes Childhood Obesity And What Can Be Done To Prevent It

One of the most common reasons why children today are more overweight is because of their increasingly sedentary lifestyles and eating too much fat-laden junk food. The solution to ensuring that children are healthy and within the recommended weight range for their age is by helping them make the right food choices and encouraging them to live a more active lifestyle.