Role Models

The comment on yesterday's subject matter was basically how, as parents, can we pull back the high-caloric food sources we raised our children with. Moreover, as all of their friends were getting the state of the art video games, we succumbed to that pressure only to find our children in front of these games snacking on chips, drinking sodas, and NOT being outside exercising.

This is a very difficult issue because children do not feel the potential health ramifications of their weight problems. As adults, we do feel threatened physically by weight issues and that is a strong motivation for us to forego high-caloric sources.

First and foremost, being a good role model for your children is important. If your children see you making healthier choices and avoiding the high-caloric snack foods perhaps they will feel compelled to follow suit. Also, perhaps they are unaware of all of the health ramifications of weight problems so a family meeting to have this as part of the discussion may be helpful. Lastly, incentivizing them with non-caloric rewards for successsful weight loss efforts is unfortunately the most powerful motivator for children.