Brilio.net - Ideal body weight is a form of healthy life. But with the presence of technology and innovations such as fast food, people are more lazy about doing physical activity.
Reporting from the Director of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Dr. Eva Susanti stated that one of the challenges in preventing and controlling obesity is access to technology and online food ordering facilities and online motorbike taxis so that people do less physical activity.
This results in obesity. Reporting from the World Health Organization, obesity or overweight can be defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat which poses a risk to health.
Obesity does not only occur in older people. Obesity can also occur in children. This is in line with research from basic health research from kemkes.go.id which states that 1 in 3 Indonesians are obese and 1 in 5 children in Indonesia are overweight.
Apart from that, data from Riskesdas by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (2013), the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children aged 5-12 years reached 18.8 percent. With a fat percentage of 10 percent and obesity of 8.8 percent, an increase from 2012 which was found to be 9.2 percent.
The causes of obesity in children are not yet fully known. It is suspected that obesity in children is caused by genetic and non-genetic factors. The genetic factor is that the parents are obese so that the child is at risk of becoming obese.
Meanwhile, non-genetic factors are lack of physical activity, frequently watching television, frequently playing games, excessive nutritional intake, as well as social and economic factors. Socioeconomic factors such as lifestyle, eating patterns, parental income, parental education level influence the occurrence of obesity in children.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that food and lifestyle are the main factors causing children to become obese. Therefore, you must know how to prevent childhood obesity from an early age.
Strategies to prevent obesity in children from an early age
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There are several bad habits that must be changed in order to prevent obesity in children from an early age, as reported by brilio.net from various sources as follows:
1. Eat regularly
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Make sure your child eats regularly 3 times a day with snacks 1-2 times per day. This helps regulate nutritional intake and avoid overeating.
2. Serve healthy drinks
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Reporting from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health said that serving healthy drinks such as water could be an option for fizzy drinks or sweet drinks. Make sure children ages 1 to 6 are limited to 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day, including at home. Serve 100 percent pure juice without added sweeteners and only at meal times. Then give skim milk or 1 percent pasteurized milk to all children over the age of 2 years, or whole pasteurized milk to children aged 1 to 2 years.
3. Give a balanced diet
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A balanced diet such as a mixture of vegetables with different colors every day, especially dark green, red and orange vegetables, could be an option for your child. It should be noted that serving fruit in whole form, not processed like juice. Choose heart-healthy lean proteins like nuts, chicken, legumes, and low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese.
Apart from that, you can give foods that contain healthy monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats such as olive oil or safflower oil rather than foods high in trans fats or saturated fats, such as packaged snacks, fried foods.
4. Arrange time for playing games and watching television
Children's habit of playing games all the time or watching television is a trigger for children being lazy about physical activity. It's best to set the duration of watching or playing games every day, such as a maximum of only 2 hours a day.
5. Arrange an interesting sports schedule
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Regular exercise can burn calories and body fat, thereby preventing children from becoming obese. Encourage children to exercise regularly by setting a specific duration such as 20 minutes per day. So that it doesn't get boring, give your child the option of whatever sport is their favorite.
6. Make sure your child gets enough sleep
Children who don't get enough sleep are more at risk of becoming obese. Therefore, make sure your child has a healthy sleep pattern and sufficient sleep duration according to his age.
7. Be a role model for children
Make your life habits a role model for your child. Parents' habits have a big influence on children. Try to introspect yourself whether as a parent you have implemented a balanced and healthy life. If you have adopted a healthy life, then indirectly train your children through daily activities so that they get used to doing them. Like liking vegetables, liking exercise, and always being active are the keys to success in being healthy.