Is It Healthy For Kids To Diet?

Studies have shown that overweight children tend to grow into obese adults. Obesity, in turn, is known to be the number one link to many adult diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. Knowing this, as parents, we are tempted to put our children on diets. While it not healthy for kids to be drastically overweight, it is also not a great idea for kids to diet in the “traditional” sense.

There are diets, however, that are safe and effective for kids. Rather than focusing on a reduction in caloric intake or skipping meals, kids’ diets should emphasize nutritious foods and snacks. For example, instead of packing cookies, candy bars and chips for their school snacks send some fresh fruit or a yogurt granola bar. Don’t buy fruit juices that have added sugar. And please, by all means stay away from soda. It has yet to be determined whether or not sugar-free sodas are safe for children, but to be on the safe side, don’t buy them. It is always best to err on the side of caution. Carbonation is not good for them anyway.

It isn’t necessary to deny children foods that taste good because they are “on a diet!” Get creative and you will be amazed at just how much fun you will have creating nutritious snacks and how much your kids will enjoy eating them. Just be careful how you approach the issue with them. You don’t want to make them totally oversensitive and cause them to go anorexic. On the other hand you don’t want to create closet eaters either. Make eating healthy fun, and you’ll go a lot farther in the long run.

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