Work as a team to tackle obesity
8/29/2024 by Michaeleen Burroughs, MS, RDN, LD
When parents and their children hear the news from their care team that they may be overweight or obese, it's essential for their current and future health to make changes in the family's lifestyle. This includes becoming more active and making healthier food choices. You can do it! Family teamwork is the best path to success in developing healthy habits.
A healthy lifestyle is important for people of all shapes and sizes. And it starts with parents. Children form their ideas about a healthy lifestyle by watching their parents' behavior rather than listening to "advice" from them or others.
So how can your family work as a team to tackle obesity? Here are some tips to make this happen:
The same rules apply to everyone. That means adopting the same eating and exercise habits for everyone in your family. Allowing one family member (child or parent) to eat whatever they want while putting restrictions on another is not modeling “team effort.” Be available to discuss how the same rules apply to everyone in sports or games. Similarly, the same principles apply to making healthy choices for activities and food. Healthy living is about adopting a routine with lifelong benefits.
If it's not healthy for everyone in the house, don't buy it. It's easier to say "no" once to juice, soda, unhealthy snacks and sugary cereals when you are at the grocery store than to say "no" all the time at home. Not buying — and removing — unhealthy foods from your home puts the responsibility on parents to make good choices for their kids. Packing lunches for school or work can help everyone learn what makes up a healthy midday meal. Turn it into a family ritual after dinner. It's a natural time to talk about healthy food choices so kids adopt them when they're on their own.
Eat as a family. Eating together can be so beneficial, allowing families to bond and take kids (and parents) away from the distractions of cell phones, tablets and TVs. Eating as a family supplies time for plenty of conversation that slows the pace of eating and allows brains to register fullness and signal when one is full. Family meals don't always need to be dinner. Your time together could be breakfast before everyone rushes off for their day. Set aside at least three meals per week to eat — and even prepare — together. Remember to consider weekends as an opportunity for family mealtimes too.
Exercise together. Many families think they need to go to the gym to lose weight, but this doesn't have to be the case. Think about playing an active game such as kickball, tag, or touch football, shooting baskets, going roller skating, an after-supper “dance party,” entering a 5K walk and training together. Kids should have one hour of vigorous exercise (something that makes you sweat) each day.
Sometimes, this isn't possible, and if you haven't been active, it may mean working your way up to that one-hour goal. Even small steps toward a more active lifestyle, such as after-supper family walks or riding your bike for a few minutes a day, can get you and your team on track to tackle obesity.
For more information, visit these websites:
- MyPlate | U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- The Family Dinner Project - The Family Dinner Project.
- Welcome to We Can!, NHLBI, NIH.
Go Team Family!
Michaeleen Burroughs, MS, RDN, LD, has worked in Primary Care in Rochester and Kasson for 28 years. She helps patients at Mayo Family Clinics - Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Kasson. Her areas of interest are diabetes and child and adult weight management.