Pediatricians and parents are increasingly concerned over the current wave of childhood obesity. If you’re concerned about your child becoming obese, you might be tempted to offer only low-fat foods to help keep weight at normal levels, but fats are a very important component of any infant’s diet.
Fats are critical to the growth of your baby’s brain and body, as well as immune function and wound healing. Fats should not be restricted in the first two years of a baby’s life, so do not put your baby on a diet of skim milk. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with later addition of complementary foods, is the best way to give your infant a healthy diet and prevent childhood obesity.
After the age of 2 it is acceptable to reduce the number of fat calories in the diet. Many families can be transitioned from whole cow’s milk to skim or fat-free milk by gradually changing from whole milk to two percent, then to one percent, and then to skim milk. Some mothers even mix these together to make the changes imperceptible to their children.
As your child reaches the ages of 4 to 5, you should reach a level where your child is getting fewer fat calories and your entire family can now be eating the same diet. At this time, most of your family’s calories (about 55 to 60 percent) should come from carbohydrates, with more modest amounts of fat and protein. Consistently good nutrition, meal after meal, is a foundation for a healthy childhood.
You should focus on a wholesome lifestyle for everyone in your family, no matter what each member weighs.
Establish some structure to your family’s eating — three well-thought-out meals and two snacks a day. If you take steps to minimize the junk food in your family’s diet, eliminate sugared beverages like soft drinks, pay attention to portion sizes, and add some physical activity to the mix, your child will grow up to have a healthy weight.
What kind of fat-reducing changes can you be making?
• Switch your preschooler from whole milk to skim or two percent milk (which the rest of the family may already be consuming). She should be drinking two cups a day of fat-free or low-fat milk (or equivalent milk products).
• Select grilled or broiled fish or lean meats.
• Serve cheese only in modest portions.
• Give your child whole fruit to meet her recommended fruit intake, limiting fruit juice consumption to no more that four to six ounces per day (from ages one to six). Remember, this is 100 percent juice, not juice drinks.
• For snacks, rely on low-fat choices like pretzels, fresh fruit, air-popped popcorn, or fat-free yogurt.
• When preparing food, use cooking methods like steaming, broiling, and roasting that don’t require fat during cooking, or use only a small amount of olive oil or nonstick spray.
• Limit the amounts of fast foods your family eats. Make healthy choices with low fat salads and grilled, not fried foods.
Source: A Parent’s Guide to Childhood Obesity: A Road Map to Health
Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics
