Proactive Parents

Discussing weight, food and activity issues with your older child or teen

Below are some tips I’ve gathered from various experts and research studies regarding older kids and teens when it comes to activity, nutrition and weight. Hopefully some will help you out. Love your child: You know that you still love your child in spite of unhealthy habits, but make sure your child knows this too [...]

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Kids want to make healthy choices but parents aren’t helping

With news that kids across America are gaining more weight, I thought we should look at an interesting issue connected to the whole childhood obesity issue - the fact that kids don’t perceive that their parents are offering enough support surrounding weight, food and activity issues. How parents ignore weight: Current research shows that most parents underestimate the consequences of [...]

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How to be a proactive parent when it comes to nutrition and health issues

In my opinion, proactive parents, with regards to nutrition and health issues have three main traits in common: They’re aware – they get educated about food and activity issues. They’re involved – they discuss food and activity issues with their kids, know what their kids are eating and know if they’re exercising or not. They’re [...]

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How to beat childhood obesity denial

Lately, we’ve been talking about weight denial. If you missed a post, get caught up below… Majority of parents practice childhood obesity denial Why are parents in denial when it comes to childhood weight issues? Why Beat Denial? If you have an inkling that your child may be overweight or if a doctor has mentioned [...]

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Parent fails when trying to raise healthy kids

When it comes to planning healthy meals, encouraging exercise and promoting an overall healthy life for your child, there are many pitfalls you may fall into. I’m pretty sure all parents are guilty of one kid raising fail or another (yup, even me) but it’s best to try and limit said fails if you want [...]

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Excess toppings make it easy for kids to pack on calories and fat

If you’re trying to cook healthier and serve your kids the correct food portions, something to watch out for are toppings, sauces and other add-ons. In many cases, parents allow their kids to dish up their own sauces and toppings, without discussing health cons, thus, kids are getting way more calories in a day then they should. [...]

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Encourage healthy kid lifestyle habits with the bare minimum

As a parent, your child’s health is your responsibility. As such, it’s your job to encourage healthy eating and lifestyle habits. Of course, you can do a lot of good in this area, but at the very least try to make sure you do the following… Know your child’s weight If you don’t know your child’s [...]

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Portion control tips for at home and at restaurants

The other day we looked at how food portion sizes have spiraled out of control here in the U.S. To learn more, read the following post: Child food portions are excessive in the United States Below are some tips you can use at home or when your family eats at a resturant to combat super-sized food portions, excess calories [...]

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Why are parents in denial when it comes to childhood weight issues?

As I pointed out previously, research shows that most parents with overweight or obese kids are in extreme denial about the situation. Obviously weight, food and exercise issues are touchy subjects. However, where most parents wouldn’t dream of bringing up weight, they’re a-ok bringing up sex, drugs and alcohol, not to mention a slew of other health [...]

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Majority of parents practice childhood obesity denial

Parents influence their kids weight and lifestyle choices in all sorts of ways. However, the biggest way parents influence their kids when it comes to food, weight, exercise and other health choices is by acknowledging or NOT acknowledging that those issues exist and that they do indeed matter. Yes, most of us parents think our kids are [...]