Obesity or overweight affects more than 170 million children and young people in the world. It is currently one of the most serious health problems of the 21st century, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). This situation alarms specialists because an obese young person will most likely become an obese adult and develop all the health problems that this entails.
With the mission to prevent and raise awareness among the population, Dr. Gil del Álamo considers it important to instill healthy lifestyle habits in our children with simple advice:
- Try as far as possible to ensure that our children do not eat alone or watch TV. Sit next to them, make mealtimes pleasant for the whole family and remember that your child will eat what you eat.
- Increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, introducing most of these foods in the day to day. Ideally, they should eat vegetables at lunch and dinner and at least three pieces of fruit daily.
- Avoid, as far as possible, foods with a lot of fat or sugar such as industrial pastries, snacks or precooked dishes. Get used to reading and analyzing the labels of the foods you buy, since fats and added sugars are mostly in them. Prioritize fresh foods such as meat and fish and avoid processed foods as much as possible.
- Our children should substitute soft drinks for water and sweets for snacks with non-fatty sausages such as turkey. Remember that the amount of sugar applied to this type of products is very high and can seriously affect your child’s health.
- Last but not least, force our children to exercise and not lead a sedentary life. Try to reduce as much as possible the time spent in front of the TV, with computer games or video games and instill any kind of physical activity and outdoor games. Enjoy a family weekend outdoors.