Weight Loss, Diet and Fitness Program

With childhood obesity rates soaring, perhaps the greatest gift you can give your children is the “gift” of good health. It’s no mystery why children today are fatter than in years past – their consumption of fat and sugar has steadily increased while their physical activity has drastically decreased.

The implications of this steady weight gain are formidable. Overweight children are more vulnerable to high blood pleasure, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea, asthma and bone and joint problems. Researchers have found evidence of fatty streaks – the beginning of hardening of the arteries – in the blood vessels of overweight children as young as five. And a 1996 study at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio found that the percentage of overweight children with type II diabetes had increased tenfold in only two years. What’s more, without intervention, overweight children are likely to become overweight adults. The toll on our health care system could be devastating.

Judi Sheppard Missett, Jazzercise founder and CEO, suggests that your family can buck this disturbing trend, however, with a few well-chosen changes and a commitment to improving your lifestyle habits:

• Restock your refrigerator and pantry. Replace processed snack foods with fresh and dried fruits. Have cut-up vegetables and low-fat dips within easy reach. Quit the chips and offer small servings of nuts, pretzels and popcorn (without butter). Drink water and milk instead of soft drinks. (One can of soda contain 11 to 12 teaspoons of sugar!) Talk to your children about the food choices they have and why one snack may be better than another.

• Watch portions. Help your children to learn appropriate serving sizes. (You may be surprised yourself as to what the U.S. dietary guidelines define as a single serving.) Avoid “super-sizing” meals and snacks at home or when you eat out.

• Video games and computers may be all the rage, but paired with television they’re the biggest culprits behind inactivity. Give your children in-line skates, bicycles, snowshoes, sleds, snow boards, basketballs, and other sports equipment instead.

• Chances are you won’t escape the electronics altogether, so set time limits for video games, computers and television and enforce them!

• Invest in a family membership at a local health club, community center or swimming pool.

• Set a family goal to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Post a chart and let each member of the family chart his or her progress. Whenever possible, find fitness activities that you can do together.

Something as simple as a hula-hoop can provide hours of entertainment and exercise. The best thing about gifts like these is that they make exercise fun – no “work” in the work-out at all! And if children learn at an early age that staying active is fun and feels good, they are more likely to grow into healthy, active adults.
The basic “hula” move requires a bit of practice but is fairly easy to mater. It works your leg and trunk muscles and also gets your heart pumping for an aerobic workout. Just step into the hoop and hold it at waist level. Place your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly.

Swing the hoop around your waist and move your hips in a circle to try to keep it spinning. You’ll find yourself swinging your body back and forth, round and round to keep it going. Once you get it going, see how long you can keep it spinning!