It is said that America tops the obese adult population in the world, which is of course true. However, one seems to overlook the fact that America is also home to the highest population of obese children. If WHO (World Health Organization) is to be believed, our world contains more than twenty million obese kids, most of whom are in the age group of five-eight.

WHO also says that childhood obesity has reached the level of an epidemic in America, so much so that in the past three decades the number of obese American kids has more than tripled. Isn’t your child one of them too? It is time to take control of your kid’s life and help him lead the kind of comfortable and healthy life we would want him to lead. And this is only possible by helping him get rid of the extra pounds.

In fact, if America tops the number of obese kids, even third world countries are not far behind. You would think that an economically backward continent like Africa would have skinny kids because most of their parents are too poor to feed them properly, let alone overfeed them. However, very often our beliefs don’t coincide with reality. Just recently a special task force sent to Africa to gauge the health stats of the people living there encountered more obese kids than malnourished children.

You maybe thinking: why all this hullabaloo about childhood obesity? What is wrong if the belly of your kid if a tad fatter than his peers? The answer is: just like overweight adults, fat kids are also likely to suffer from harmful diseases such as high blood pressure, type 1 diabetes, hypertension, fatigue, heart diseases, and in some cases, even early death.

Believe it or not, the root cause of childhood obesity has little to do with genetics and more with poor lifestyle habits. Often people add two and two and jump to the conclusion that the kid is fat because of his parents. But that is not true at all. Kids emulate the unhealthy habits of their parents and naturally become fat like them. If you and your kids follow healthy lifestyle habits, both of you would be able to get rid of fat very quickly.

Truth to be told, the onus of the rising levels of childhood obesity lies on parents to a great extent. We parents prefer our kids to have junk foods since they can be easily procured from outside and help save the time we would have spent on cooking. A diet rich in fat and sugar could only make your child fatter and fatter. There is really nothing new to be said about it. Unless you are willing to spend a little time and energy in cooking healthy foods at home, don’t expect your kids to become any slimmer.

Apart from making them eat healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, it is also important that you try to reduce their intake of soda and fizzy drinks.

Controlling the food habits of your kids is only half the battle won, the other half being that of encouraging them to become more active. If you are concerned about your child’s future and wish to offer him a healthy life, you would need to take him away from Xbox and PSPs to outdoor sports such as cricket, basketball, tennis, etc. Encouraging them to indulge in cardiovascular activities such as swimming, dancing, rope jumping, etc., would also help them burn fat and lose weight.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Africa, America, basketball, cricket, diabetes, energy, fatigue, food habits, heart diseases, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, outdoor sports, Swimming, Tennis, World Health Organization

Most experts would tell you that there is no other way to lose weight except by starving for days! Now if you have ever starved you know only too well that it is easier said than done! Even if you are able to keep up with the hunger pangs, your body won’t tolerate it.

If your body notices that it is not getting enough nutrition, it will store existing fat (instead of burning it) for the purpose of energy production! This is the reason that you don’t lose much weight with starving, and you gain back whatever you have lost once you get back to your normal eating habits!

Fortunately however, you don’t need to starve at all in order to lose weight. There are five special foods out there that can help you lose weight easily and quickly! If you can lose weight by eating, then why starve? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: energy level, energy production, green tea, heart diseases, metabolic rate, metabolism booster, protein, speeding up your metabolism, Turkey, whole grains

Teenage obesity is slowly gaining the dimension of an epidemic. At least 14-15% of the word population suffers from teenage obesity. This of course, is just the official figure; I am sure the actual figure is much more than that. In America alone, you would get to see more fat than skinnier teenagers.

If you don’t already monitor the lifestyle habits of your teen kid, it is time to start doing so since unhealthy lifestyle habits would lead to obesity, which in turn could lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, and even early death. Now the big bold question is, how do you make sure that your teen kid is always fit and healthy? In this article I will tell you just that.

It pays to know about the reasons behind teenage obesity. Part of it is caused because unlike in good old days, kids no longer take any interest in playing outdoor sports such as volleyball, cricket, baseball, tennis, etc. There are indeed very few teens who engage in swimming, dancing, yoga and such other healthy activities that would not only keep them physically sound but also mentally alert and healthy.

These days, teenagers prefer to stick to the idiot box, PSPs, video games, computers, etc. As such, their average daily activity level remains low, resulting in weight gain.

There is yet another and bigger reason behind teenage obesity – the changing face of our society. In times of our forefathers, joint families were the norm and nuclear families the exception. The system of nuclear family existed back then too, but it was not as widespread as today.

In a joint family, there used to be a lot of kids; they used to mingle and play with each other and thus, were able to maintain an active life. On top of that, they used to eat more healthy foods than fast foods.

Back then, there were no processed fruit juices to eat; you would have to extract the juice of the raw fruit itself to make it. The juice extracted from organic fruits is much more healthy, nutritious, and low on calorie, compared to the packaged fruit juices we buy. Compared to modern times, the level soda and alcohol intake was very low.

As joint families started breaking up into nuclear families, people became close-minded, selfish, and careless. Our society has degenerated in such a way that instead of befriending neighborhood kids, teenagers now prefer to sit at home and watch video games. Parents have become busier by the day and as such, couldn’t care less.

In fact, in most households, parents are too busy to even cook healthy meals for themselves and their teenage kids; as a result, the teenagers have to go with the fast food options available outside. The combination of all these factors has resulted in the rise of teenage obesity.

The solution to this problem is very simple. Your teen kid doesn’t need pop in diet pills or follow an extremely restrictive diet in order to lose weight. He just needs to do what he is not doing ought to. He needs to eat healthy, get rid of fast food, play actively, mingle with nature, etc.

Of course, parents are the ones who should guide their kids properly. Remember that obesity is the death knell for your teen kid; the faster you help him get rid of it, the better.

Tags: America, baseball, cricket, diabetes, food, food options, heart diseases, high blood pressure, obesity, outdoor sports, Swimming, Tennis, volleyball

People hate dieting because it deprives them of their favorite foods (read fatty and junk foods). When you start dieting, you will inevitably have tough times during the first few days when you reel under the pressure of hunger. Just think about it – you used to eat every now and then and now that you are dieting, you got to restrict your food intake. Obviously your body is quite surprised at the change of food habits but hey, there are ways you can make sure you can diet for a long time without troubling your body! In this article I will give you five tips to lose weight effectively!

1. Remove Sugary Foods from your kitchen. Do a search in your kitchen as well as the refrigerator and make sure there is no food left there that has high sugar content. Sugar or sucrose easily converts into carbohydrates once it enters into body. And as a matter of fact, unused carbohydrates are easily turned into fat by the body. You therefore, as a rule, should avoid sugar and sugar-rich foods. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: calorie count, carbohydrates, dairy products, energy, food, food cravings, food habits, food intake, glass of water, heart diseases, inflammation, junk foods, natural preservatives, stomach disorder, sugary foods, tips to lose weight

Article from Living Magazine on the power of Soy which as we all know is high in protein although it’s amino acid profile is a little weak:

When even doctors start singing paeans to soya, it is time to take this lesser-known legume seriously

Yes, this isn’t the sexiest-looking ingredient on your table. Your mouth hardly waters thinking of the yellow seed and its varied forms. Yet, it’s equally difficult to put this aside, especially if you’re a fitness and diet freak. Soya’s magical qualities may sound incredible, but you have got to believe it when doctors swear by it!

Veggie option
In the last few years, soya has become the vegetarian’s answer for protein-rich food, the nutritionist’s antidote for diabetes management and the oncologist’s prescribed diet for cancer patients. Benefits of eating soya vary from improved memory, height-weight of children, prevention of heart diseases, reduction in menopausal symptoms to stoppage of bone deterioration.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Beena Mathew, cancer, diabetes, diabetes management, fda, food, heart disease, heart diseases, India, less oil, nutritionist, prevention of heart diseases, protein-rich food, regular food