How to Lose Weight for Kids – 10 Easy Tips

Introduction- How to Lose Weight for Kids 

Childhood obesity is a growing global issue. Being overweight or obese can have a great impact on both the physical and psychological health of children. According to the New York Department of Health, childhood obesity has tripled among 6 to 11-year-old children since the late 1970s. 

One of the most difficult things that a parent has to do is to get their kids to stay active and control their weight. It’s even harder when their kids don’t exercise.

Obese children face many health issues and developmental dangers that can impact them through adulthood. In some cases, adult diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are linked to childhood obesity. 

This blog will look at some tips and how to lose weight for kids in an effective manner.

Here are Some Tips to Lose Weight For Kids

Childhood obesity is a major problem in the United States and also in many other parts of the world. In recent years, rates of childhood obesity have increased. The best way to tackle childhood obesity is to teach kids how to lose weight. So then, How to lose weight for kids? Here are some tips that can help you and your kids live a healthier life and lose weight for kids.

1. Eating Healthy

It is important to make kids eat a healthy diet during their weight loss journey. Healthy foods are not only good for a kid’s body, but they’re also good for their mind. A healthy diet will help kids stay on track, lose weight, and make them feel more energetic throughout the day. They will also feel better and will be in a better mood overall. 

When eating healthy, it is important to choose lean meats and fish, whole grains, and plenty of fruits and vegetables with limited prepackaged foods.

Evidence suggests that eating a healthy diet when combined with controlled exercising in obese children can help with weight loss [1].

Try to avoid eating fast food as much as possible, and make sure to drink plenty of water to avoid feeling sluggish. We’ll read more about this in the upcoming points.

2. Modify your Family’s Eating Habits

It’s ideal that you can sit down to a meal with your family, as you can all partake in a healthy meal together. Make your kid eat just when he/she is hungry and eager and not as an action. 

Serve family dinners just in the kitchen or dining area with practically no different interruptions like the TV. Assuming your kid eats while staring at the TV, he/she may not know about how much food he/she is eating and end up indulging.

Kids mostly develop some habits by seeing what their parents or family members are doing and they are most likely to do that. So, if parents and family members eat healthy together then the kid also is likely to eat healthily.

3. Avoid Junk Food

Junk foods are any food or drink that is calorically dense, nutrient-poor, and often high in saturated fat, added sugars, and salt. It is important to avoid eating junk food if you want to lose weight. Junk food contains too many calories and that can stop your kid from losing weight.

Junk food is not just unhealthy, it’s fattening too! It is often packaged in a way that makes it easy to take and eat on the go, such as in candy bars, drinks, or chips and they are often very good tasting, which makes it hard to resist for kids and even adults.

If you want your kid to lose weight, you’ll have to cut out junk food from their diet and replace it with healthier foods.

4. Eat More Vegetables and Fruits

It’s important to eat a balanced diet for kids. Fruits and Vegetables can help kids to lose weight and they are also healthy foods. Try to fill your kid’s diet with as many vegetables and fruits as possible. Fruits and vegetables are also good sources of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

These are great sources of fiber that fill you up faster leaving you feeling fuller longer. Some fruits and vegetables including apples, broccoli, carrots, oranges, pears, and strawberries are full of water and fiber to help you feel fuller. Thus, decreasing the craving to eat more than needed.

5. Drinking Enough Water

Water can be very useful for weight loss. When people don’t drink enough water, they’re more likely to overeat, which can lead to obesity and health problems. Replace soft drinks, and sugary drinks with water as water has no calories and it’s also a much healthier option.

Evidence suggests that increased water consumption can reduce the risk of obesity [2, 3].

6. Have More Protein

Eating more protein can help lose weight! Protein is vital in your diet, and everyone needs protein in their day-to-day life. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues, making it an essential part of healthy living. Protein stimulates growth hormones which are good for your kid’s growth.

Having a small amount of protein at each meal and snack is having many benefits. Everyone’s body needs a certain amount of protein to function properly. Research has shown that a high-protein diet in obese children can improve weight loss [4].

Here are some good protein sources for kids – Whole eggs, Chicken, Lentils, Rice, Tofu, Fish, Nuts, and seeds.

7. Make Sure Sufficient Sleep

The quality of sleep is imperative in losing weight. Kids need more sleep than adults. It’s proven that getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep daily is bad for your kid’s health. Lack of sleep will have a damaging effect on a kid’s mental and physical health.

A good night’s sleep helps reduce stress, stabilize mood, and helps regulate metabolism. Sleeping helps reduce pain, and can even help fight infections. Sleep quality is extremely important for a kid’s health and poor sleep duration can increase the risk of weight gain [5].

Less or short sleep can increase the risk of becoming overweight or obese in children [6].

You should also make sure your child gets to bed early so that they can get an optimal amount of sleep that can help in losing weight. 

Also Read: How can Teens Lose Weight!!

8. Regular Exercising

If anyone wants to lose weight or get fit, there is no better way than through exercising. You see, when you exercise, you burn more calories and it helps in losing weight. That’s why people who exercise regularly are usually slimmer than those who don’t. 

For kids, moderate-intensity exercises or sports like football for 1 hour a day is enough and a good way to stay active.

Regular exercising is important for children to maintain a healthy weight and in the treatment of obesity [7].

The best solution is to exercise a little every day and progress slowly and steadily and your kid will start seeing results within a month. 

9. Keep an Eye on Calories

We know that to lose weight we need to follow a calorie deficit, but you shouldn’t reduce calories from the child’s eating regimen irregularly since they give energy and have other fundamental health advantages.

Creating a very small calorie deficit and following it regularly will help your child to lose weight without compromising any health benefits. Research has shown that calorie deficit is the independent method for weight loss [8].

You need to know precisely how many calories your child needs for genuine development. Anything over that will upset weight loss. How many calories a kid need differs as indicated by his age, orientation, BMI, and more. 

10. Set Realistic Expectations and Be supportive as Parents

Be supportive of them as parents, you can’t just put your kid on a dieting and exercising routine with no motivation. Reward your kid for each weight loss achievement and the progress they make with anything they like that does not affect their weight loss.

Not setting realistic expectations for weight loss is a typical issue. A kid cannot lose a lot of weight in just a few weeks. Instead of getting to lose weight, a decent first objective might be to just quit gaining more weight.

Final Thoughts- How to Lose Weight for Kids 

We hope our post on how to lose weight for kids has helped your kid to lose weight in some way. If your child is obese or overweight it is important for them to lose weight, otherwise, it can affect their growth and in the long-term cause some health issues. 

We know that losing weight can be hard and it can be discouraging to try so many things that don’t work but if your kid follows these tips consistently it will help them to lose weight. Although, if your kid still struggles to lose weight we suggest talking to a health professional.

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References

1. Epstein LH, Wing RR, Penner BC, Kress MJ. Effect of diet and controlled exercise on weight loss in obese children. J Pediatr. 1985 Sep;107(3):358-61. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(85)80506-0. PMID: 4032130.
2. Muckelbauer R, Barbosa CL, Mittag T, Burkhardt K, Mikelaishvili N, Müller-Nordhorn J. Association between water consumption and body weight outcomes in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Dec;22(12):2462-75. doi: 10.1002/oby.20911. PMID: 25401930.
3. Muckelbauer R, Gortmaker SL, Libuda L, Kersting M, Clausen K, Adelberger B, Müller-Nordhorn J. Changes in water and sugar-containing beverage consumption and body weight outcomes in children. Br J Nutr. 2016 Jun;115(11):2057-66. doi: 10.1017/S0007114516001136. Epub 2016 Apr 4. PMID: 27040694.
4. Gately PJ, King NA, Greatwood HC, Humphrey LC, Radley D, Cooke CB, Hill AJ. Does a high-protein diet improve weight loss in overweight and obese children? Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jun;15(6):1527-34. doi: 10.1038/oby.2007.181. PMID: 17557990.
5. Miller AL, Lumeng JC, LeBourgeois MK. Sleep patterns and obesity in childhood. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2015 Feb;22(1):41-7. doi: 10.1097/MED.0000000000000125. PMID: 25517022; PMCID: PMC4437224.
6. Hart CN, Cairns A, Jelalian E. Sleep and obesity in children and adolescents. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011 Jun;58(3):715-33. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2011.03.007. Epub 2011 Apr 13. PMID: 21600351; PMCID: PMC3107702.
7. Bülbül S. Exercise in the treatment of childhood obesity. Turk Pediatri Ars. 2020 Mar 9;55(1):2-10. doi: 10.14744/TurkPediatriArs.2019.60430. PMID: 32231444; PMCID: PMC7096559.
8. Strasser B, Spreitzer A, Haber P. Fat loss depends on energy deficit only, independently of the method for weight loss. Ann Nutr Metab. 2007;51(5):428-32. doi: 10.1159/000111162. Epub 2007 Nov 20. PMID: 18025815.

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