Obese Like Me

Isn’t it cute when you give a baby his first taste of ice cream? Oh, the exclamations of joy and laughter as the baby begins to act frantic for the next bite. Congratulations. You’ve just set that child up for a lifelong struggle with overly sweet, processed foods.

Infants need regular feedings to grow and develop (flourish), yet trouble begins when month-old babies are given their first taste of ice cream, pieces of candy, cookies, or even hamburger meat before they’ve even gotten their first tooth. Store bought jars of baby food also often contain sugar, an absolutely unnecessary ingredient for an infant, but cheap filler for the manufacturer. Check the label of that infant formula too. Any dextrose or other sweetener?

Vegetables are sweet by nature such as carrots, so why add sugar to vegetables and for that matter why buy special little jars of mashed up vegetables anyway? Mash some from your own dinner. Teach good eating habits by example.

The early introduction to overly sweet and nutrient devoid foodstuffs sets you and your baby up for a lifetime struggle of refusing healthful foods in favor of treats. First you struggle to get them to eat, “Come on honey, just one more bite for mommy,” and soon you struggle to get them to stop, “No, you can’t have another cookie! You’ll ruin your dinner.”

Children that are not given sugar during infancy have a greater resistance to disease and are less likely to become sugar addicts in later life as well. Wait as long as possible to introduce your children to processed foods, especially “fast foods,” ideally until they are at least two years old, and you’ve taken a giant step toward leading them on a healthy path, rather than down the sugar driven path to obesity so many kids take.

Overweight Kids: Don’t Restrict Calories Instead Increase Activity

Kids learn to overeat at an early age especially when cookies and candy are offered instead of hugs when the child falls, or gets his feelings hurt. Food, especially gooey, sweet treats are offered as a reward for good behavior, instead of a small toy, trip to the zoo, park or special favors. Give your kids smiles and hugs as rewards, not food based treats.

Once a fondness for sweets sets in, it’s difficult to change. Many kids are much less active than in previous generations. TV watching, the Internet, Nintendo and PlayStation have all contributed to the “couch potato” lifestyle. This lack of exercise and excess food consumption equals overweight and even obesity for generations of our children.

So what do most parents do when they realize their kids are getting too fat? They put them on the same dangerous fad diets they’ve tried themselves. Popular diets (“fad diets”) are proven ineffective — they simply don’t work. Restrictive dieting for children can be outright dangerous and should be avoided in nearly all circumstances.

Kathryn Martyn Smith, Master NLP & EFT, Weight Loss Coach, Author of the free weight loss E-book “Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss.” Learn to use EFT & NLP for weight loss with The Daily Bites http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/getnews.html