We asked you to share five tips to reduce obesity in kids. Doyel Trivedi sent this response.
- More parks, playgrounds and jogging and cycling tracks should be built in cities, so that children are able to find a place to engage in physical activities. Many a times, the lack of dedicated play-areas is what sets kids off from playing outside, especially in big cities. As a result, children spend their leisure time with electronics.
- Children are avid watchers of cartoon channels and that is why it is necessary to monitor the advertisements and commercials that run between cartoons on these channels. They advertise all sorts of packaged junk food items that are aimed at children. When kids see these strategically curated ads, they pester their parents to buy junk food for them.
- In today’s busy world, a lot of working parents don’t have time to cook healthy snacks for children when they are hungry. This causes kids to resort to packaged junk food to satisfy their hunger and cravings. I think parents should keep a supply of fruits and store homemade healthy snacks for kids so they don’t have to eat packaged food.
- Parents and schools should encourage physical activities. Sometimes, schools and parents discourage kids from playing outside as they think it will be detrimental to their studies. Schools sometimes reduce PT periods for the same reason. I think physical activities should be encouraged as they provide kids with a healthy way to burn off boredom and get fitter as well.
- I think families should do physical activities together as a means to spend family time on weekends and holidays. Nowadays, both kids and parents are so busy with work, school and activities. So, families should go outside and play games such as badminton, tennis and cricket instead of usual family-time activities like watching movies and visiting malls. Cycling and swimming are also good choices to get healthier while spending time with your near and dear ones!
