A letter to the editor of the Irish Examiner newspaper was published recently about the importance of building healthy habits for our children and their future. Our head dietitian, Michelle Loughlin, has written a response to it by highlighting the importance of the issue and how best to tackle it.
Overweight and obesity are on the rise globally, and Ireland is not getting off lightly either. Research by the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2025, 241,000 school children in Ireland will be overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity, developed during childhood, usually continues into adulthood.
Although most people are aware that overweight and obesity put a child at risk of health complications in later life, what we find in our clinics is that parents are, more often than not, unsure of how to approach the situation despite their best efforts. As a result, we developed our Healthy Life Programme for kids and teens. Awareness is great, but change will not occur without action; and it can be a tricky topic to tackle.
Our Healthy Life Programme doesn’t focus solely on a young person’s weight, as this can be counterproductive long-term and lead to a preoccupation with weight. Instead, the programme focuses on specific lifestyle habits which can negatively affect a child’s weight and health. Examples include poor nutrition, lack of fruit and veg in the diet, inactivity, junk food consumption and an unhealthy relationship with food. Through focused education sessions and goal setting, we aim to establish healthy habits that the young person can maintain for life.
During the initial consultation we meet the young person along with a parent. We aim to establish the main areas for change in the family unit. A key element of success is including the entire family. We provide a template for a nutrition plan which illustrates to both child and parent what types of foods they should aim to include in their daily diet to meet their nutritional requirements for growth.
It is important to remember that weight loss is not always suitable for children. In many cases, the goal will be to maintain the child’s current weight as they grow. Putting a child on a low-calorie diet may mean they do not meet their nutritional requirements and may experience stunted growth or nutritional deficiency if they restrict their calories long term.
So, what do we focus on?
Here is a breakdown of some of the topics we tackle in an effort to develop healthy habits for life:
What should I be eating?
Often parents and children are confused about what constitutes a healthy diet. In session 1 we educate young people and their parents about food and nutrition and the role that different foods play in their body. In this session, young people learn the importance of food and are more likely to make changes when they feel involved in the process.
It is extremely important to establish a healthy relationship with food. Food is not the enemy. Unhealthy habits, such as eating when stressed, bored, tired or as a treat, are usually where the issues lie with food. Learning to fuel the body is key to long-term change.
Fruit and veg - are you getting yours?
Fruit and vegetables are often lacking in both adult and young people’s diets. Fruit and vegetables play an important role in the maintenance of a healthy weight through life. They are full of fibre and water and help to keep tummies feeling full. They are also packed with important vitamins and minerals that children need to fuel their growth. However, most parents might find that getting their children to eat fruit and veg has become something of a daily war.
In our programme we help children and teens to understand the important role that fruit and veg play in the maintenance of their health. We explain this in terms that are relatable to them. Through challenges and goal setting we can help children and teens to find fruit and veg that they are willing to try and help them to make fruit and veg tasty and appealing. Implementing the consumption of fruit and veg daily is a vital component of maintaining a healthy weight long term.
Your body is made to move
More and more children are sedentary. Less young people are walking or biking to school. Recreational time is more sedentary than ever with the rise of video games, arcades, cinemas, Netflix, etc. This means that more and more young people are failing to meet the recommended activity time daily which is 60 mins a day for most ages.
It is important to establish the habit of moving in the early years otherwise it is even harder to begin as an adult. Aside from weight management, physical activity is so important for mental health development, bone development, energy, mood, sleep and more. In this session we help young people to understand the role that physical activity plays in keeping them healthy. We help them to find exercise that they enjoy and can sustain.
Junk food reduction
Junk food is a major contributor to the increase in overweight and obesity amongst young people. However, just cutting it out is not the answer. Telling a child to stop eating junk food is rarely effective and can often make it even more desirable.
So how can you as a parent combat this issue? In our sessions we educate young people about how junk food reacts in their body. From affecting blood sugar and energy levels to displacing nutrients in the diet, we illustrate how detrimental junk food can be to their health. We help them to find a balance of consuming nutritious foods whilst keeping their favourite foods in their diet in ways that don’t negatively affect their health.
Healthy habits for life
In the final session we look at some of the barriers which might be affecting the young person and their family from making healthy changes. Change can seem impossible because old habits die hard, but with a helping hand anything is possible. In this session we trouble shoot what is going well and what needs to be improved. We help you to find realistic solutions that suit the entire family and will lead to lifelong changes.
In a nutshell, we all know that overweight and obesity is on the rise but finding a way to tackle it can be difficult as it is a complex issue.
If you are concerned about your child’s weight, we hope that you find these areas to focus on helpful, otherwise please feel free to set up a free phone consultation to see how we can help you 01 6111 740.
You can read the original letter to the newspaper here.