Most teens today are overly conscious about their weight. Some teens tend to not eat and compromise health for the sake of losing weight and maintaining their figure. That's why experts say that this issue should be solved.
Fortunately, a new set of guidelines says parents can help their teens in taking their focus off on how much they weigh and turning to get encouraged to have good eating habits. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new evidence-based guidance for parents and doctors to fight teen obesity and eating disorders, as per Cleveland Clinic.
The recommendations stressed that parents have an important role in promoting healthy eating habits and exercise among their children. This should be prioritized over monitoring the youngsters' weight.
AAP has previously issued the guidelines on childhood obesity and eating disorders. This new report has actually a connection from the previous one.
The recommendations, published in the journal Pediatrics, urge parents to focus on modeling healthy behaviors by eating nutritious foods themselves and by exercising along with their kids. It is also important not to talk about fad diets in the presence of their kids.
"Don't focus on your child's weight at mealtime," head pediatrician Dr. Vaishali Flask said. He added the entire family needs to eat healthy portions of nutritious food and that no one is exempted, even the ones who are not overweight.
Teens should not get involved with dangerous activities like excessive exercise, fasting, using diet pills or laxatives, as per AAP. Doing these things will just result in becoming overweight and developing eating disorders over time.
In more serious cases, teens and adults who are too concerned about their weight should talk to their doctors about it. This is better than having the parents try measures on their own first, as per Dr. Flask.
Ultimately, good health habits should not remain to be a personal thing for a teen. Ideally, the parents and the whole family should accomplish it together.
