A couple of days ago we found the news that the ALADINO study has indicated that half of Spanish children over six years of age are overweight and, of these, 20% are obese. This situation seems really serious, worrisome and deserving of real measures that effectively protect the health of children. It is a very dangerous health problem, a true epidemic. Do youWhat are the reasons for child overweight and what real measures would cause it to decrease?
The effects on childhood health of overweight are very negative and remain in the medium and long term, shortening their life and causing the highest prevalence of many diseases in adult life.
The overweight found has been indicated after six years, but precisely because of this, the measures must be taken before that age, educating in healthy eating habits, promoting the natural physical activity of children and, in my opinion, changing the mentality of parents and health care providers about what a healthy child is.
Avoid overweight from breastfeeding
The effect of breastfeeding as a protector against obesity is very clear. That would be the first step, increasing breastfeeding rates according to WHO recommendations, which indicates that children should breastfeed until six months without receiving any other food and continue breastfeeding at least, and reiterate at least until two years, not decreasing the perfect nutritional quality of human milk.
The second step is in pediatric consultations and in the perception of the baby's image in society. It seems that the children continue to insist on a percentile rise, when a healthy child can be perfectly low percentiles, as long as he grows up, he is healthy and energetic.
Do not fatten babies like piglets. They are not healthier because they are fatter. And you should not put artificial milk or porridge ahead of time for fattening, or change breast milk for continuation milk if it is not really necessary. It is very worrying that childhood obesity already affects babies.
The baby starts with complementary feeding
When the child begins with the supplementary feeding We are in the same. There is enormous pressure for children to drink huge bowls of porridge, especially those made with artificial milk and industrial cereals, with the excuse that they are "reinforced." Neither do the potitos and yogurts lack them, since their nutritional quality is clearly inferior to that of natural foods prepared simply at home.
And do not have to prime them, or force them to eat, or obsess if the child is of thin constitution or eats less than they mark some tables that give us in the ambulatory, because we know that these tables are purely indicative and vary from one place to other.
The supplementary feeding It's that, complementary. Add to the breast milk, after six months, nutrients, but it does not replace it nor should it be the main food of the baby. A child can be very well nourished by eating several times a day and small amounts of things that the rest of the family eat after one year, always taking care of the preparation and not introducing allergenic foods. Nothing else.
The fat boy is not a healthy child
I reiterate, a child of one or two years with a 20 percentile of weight and 20 height, who grows steadily and is healthy and eager to play is a normal child. Rather thin and short, but as are many other people in the rest of his life. By eating more obliged you do not grow more, just get fat. Let's keep in mind that obesity is also increasing among children aged 3 to 5 years.
If the child goes to the nursery or the nursery school, it is necessary to closely monitor what is offered, the quality of these foods and that they are not forced to eat. If you can, it would always be preferable to eat at home, accompanied by the family, at the table, enjoying the emotional aspects of a quiet, cheerful and restful meal, trying everything but without forcing you to eat anything you do not like much least insisting that he flock the plate.
A separate matter are the goodies and buns, with which, from a very early age, many parents reward the children or let them take them daily. Caloric pumps of very little nutritional value that, as happened when I was a child, nothing happens if they take a special day, but they should not be included in the daily children's diet, but rather delay and reduce them to a minimum.
The best exercise is the game
For a correct development of the child, both intellectual and physical, and also, of course, to prevent obesity, you need to exercise. And I don't mean sport, but free movement and play, especially indispensable at the earliest ages.
Using the crib, stroller, hammock or park can be a solution for some moments, but they are not what children need to develop healthily, especially if we strive to have them put in a lot of time without letting them move. That is, they are objects that we can go to on time, but they are not the natural and normal habitat of a baby or a small child.
First in arms, moving in the body of his mother and on the floor, in a blanket and safe, is where the child will begin to move and make strong his musculoskeletal system. Then, when you start crawling and walking, always, of course, taking care of your safety, you have to provide them with wide spaces where they can move freely.
An obese baby will have impediments from an early age to exercise, because his own excessive weight hinders his advances. You will have to stimulate it and let it move, so you use excess calories and get your body ready.
When the child has the ability to walk and run, you should avoid the car as much as possible, letting them walk with us as much as they can but not denying them to rest or go in arms if they are tired, but always promoting their ability to exercise and get strong . And of course, they can play a lot, outdoors or at home when you can not go out, alone, with other children and especially with their parents, who are the best of companies.
Overweight and childhood obesity can be prevented from the earliest childhood, with a healthy, adequate diet and with a lot of freedom to play. But if this is not enough, in the next topic we will see other measures that can be really effective against childhood overweight.
