Word: childrened
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...argument that the language of weight gain had to change. A decade ago, kids whose body mass index (BMI) tracked at or above the 85th percentile for their age were dubbed "at risk of overweight." The new recommendations urge doctors to cut to the chase and simply call such children overweight. Similarly, a child with a BMI above the 95th percentile--who would previously have been labeled overweight--would now officially be called obese...
...take more than a vocabulary lesson. But the time is now. According to the HHS, 7 out of 10 overweight adolescents will become overweight adults. If the adolescent has an overweight parent, that figure rises to 8 out of 10. Parents have heard the recommendations a million times: Children should be eating five or more servings of fruits and veggies daily. They should be eating breakfast. They should be getting at least one hour of moderate physical activity each day. They should be spending fewer than two hours in front of a TV, video or computer screen each...
Does dieting even work for kids? Many clinicians say no. "We actually find that children who diet gain more weight than their peers," says pediatrician Dr. Alison Field from Children's Hospital Boston, who has been following the weight-control behaviors of almost 17,000 kids. It's not just that kids who diet tend to gain back the weight later; it's that dieting brings up all sorts of unbidden psychological responses that sabotage the process. After all, self-deprivation is one thing; being told by someone else that you can't eat--even when you feel hungry...
There's evidence to suggest that she's right. One study of preschoolers, for instance, found a link between overeating and overweight children--and an even stronger link between overeating and kids whose parents regularly control their portions. And so, Satter says, we need to start making the process of eating less fraught by letting kids decide whether they are hungry and how much to eat of the foods we provide at the times and in the places we provide...
Carnell, who has also looked at the eating behaviors of children whose food choices are restricted, says the key is the way in which you seek to limit a child's food intake. "If you have a house full of goodies and say, 'Johnny, you can't have this,' then that could be damaging," she says. "But if the way you restrict your child is just to provide a healthy home environment where you allow them a little bit of choice--apples or grapes for dessert, for instance--then you're giving children a chance to decide for themselves while...