People learn only from their peers, and this holds true for adults as well as kids. It is no secret that the level of childhood obesity in the world is rising alarmingly with every passing year. Even though parents tend to blame their kids’ unhealthy lifestyle habits as the root cause of obesity, the fact remains that if parents are willing, they can change those habits during the growing years of their children.
Remember that a stitch in time saves nine; if you nip these bad habits of your kids in the bud then they would always remain fit and healthy. If you are clueless about what to do in this direction, I will tell offer you two tips on that.
Make no mistake, even though now I am a fitness professional, I too was a big, fat ugly kid hated by my class mates and neighbors alike. Just like your kids I too loved all the tasty and yummy junk foods my parents used to feed me.
My parents believed that I would cry less if they feed me delicious foods all the time; however this didn’t help at all as I cried even after all that ‘pampering’; if anything, I fell prey to unhealthy eating habits for which I had to pay dearly later on.
When I grew up a little, Mac Donalds became my regular destination and their burgers my all-time favorites. To top it all, my parents even took me to a doctor for they thought I was grossly underweight and malnourished, and oddly enough, that doctor only gave reassurance to my parents’ fears.
I don’t even need to tell you the end result of it all; soon I had a fatty belly and a pair of flabby arms which I hated very much (even though my parents seem to have no issues with them).
After keeping up with the taunts of my schoolmates for a while, I thought that enough was enough, and one day decided that I would lose weight no matter what.
1. Encourage your kids to idolize professional athletes and bodybuilders: These days, kids usually idolize movie stars and prefer to sit on the couch the entire day and watch movies of their favorite idols. There is nothing wrong with hero worship at all, as long as it helps your kids stay fit and avoid weight gain. Idolizing movie heroes and heroines won’t be of any use to them; on the other hand, idolizing professional sportspersons, body builders and athletes would really help them stay active all the time.
While it is true that I indulged in hula hopping because it was a very popular sport among our neighborhood kids, I played tennis mainly because famous tennis players such as Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick were my idols (they still are).
When kids consider athletes to be their heroes, they like to emulate their active lifestyle and have a have a healthy body like them, which in turn means that your kids would start eating healthy and indulging regularly in outdoor games.
2. Don’t stop your kids from participating in sports: So when I decided to lose weight, I started spending much more time in my favorite sports than I used to.. Thankfully, unlike the parents of some of my peers, my parents never prohibited me from indulging in outdoor sports.
Take a cue from this: if you are a parent and wish to keep your kids fit and healthy then keeping them from indulging in sports is just stupid. Far from making your kids sit at home and forcing them to stick their eyes on books throughout the entire day, you should actually encourage them to become active in life, since only active kids are able to keep the fat away for the rest of their lives.
Really, that is the only thing I did, apart from changing my unhealthy eating habits, in order to acquire the fit body that I still maintain. And you thought it was too difficult to help your kids lose weight.
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Tags: Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, favorite sports, obesity, outdoor sports, Tennis
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