3 Ways to Keep Your Teens Slim

Obesity has been there for decades, and teenage obesity is more of a recent phenomenon. It started since the 1990’s with all the junk foods and video games over healthy eating and exercises. And today, it has reached the levels of an epidemic, which means almost nine million teens (most of them under the age of 15) being obese.

If we don’t stop this trend, the number of obese teens would increase by at least 40% within the next decade. So how could we prevent teenage obesity? As a parent, we play important role to keep our child being healthy, teach them a healthy lifestyle habits. A child’s mind, being influential, would easily emulate the lifestyle of the parents, whether or not they are healthy. And this is why it is so important to teach healthy habits to your child right from the start:

1. Start from yourself
If you are following unhealthy eating habits, you are not only harming yourself but also your child. You can never force your kids to follow a healthy lifestyle if you don’t follow it yourself. So, this is right time for you to remove your junk food eating habits and focus on eating organic foods instead. It is time that you stop buying processed fruit juices and start making the fruit juice at home by extracting it from organic fruits. It is time that you get rid of your ‘couch-sitting’ habit and take a walk or run outside.

2. Cook meals at home
However, health starts at home. With home-cooked meals, you can control the ingredients which go into cooking. With home cooked meals, you could exercise lot of flexibility and control over what goes into your mouth. In contrast, with restaurant foods, you have no option but to eat whatever you are served. Even if you order only ‘low-calorie’ foods, they would harm you as well. Think about it: you know how much calorie you need per day, but the restaurant doesn’t.

3. Monitor your teen’s health
After following all the above steps, if your teen kid still struggles with weight loss, you should directly put him on a healthy diet plan. If in doubt, you may want to consult with your doctor or dietitian about it.