Saipan : a change of scenery

A study from the University of Minnesota has shown that the common parental approach to addressing teen’s weight leaves much to be desired - and that’s IF they are even aware there is a problem in the first place!

An all-too-common approach parent’s use for their overweight teens is to suggest they diet. But 5 months later, those kids were far more likely to still be too heavy than were overweight kids whose parents had no idea they were fat and did nothing.

Here are some other insights into the study and some more productive ways to help overweight teens. Read the story here

They found that 46 percent of girls’ parents and 60 percent of boys’ parents incorrectly thought their kids’ weights were about right.

• Of the parents who knew their kids were too heavy, about 60 percent encouraged them to diet.
• In 2003, about 200 of the kids were re-surveyed. Those who had been encouraged to diet were much more likely to still be overweight — about 74 percent of boys compared with 52 percent of those boys not encouraged to diet.
• For girls, the difference was 66 and 44 percent, respectively. Both groups reported about the same eating patterns, including the frequency of fast-food meals, and the quantity of fruits and vegetables at home.

A Better Approach

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and the lead author of the study offers up this advice:

“The best thing parents can do to be role models, is to provide and eat healthful food, have regular family meals, and do physically active things with their kids - Do more. Talk less,” she said.

Great advice indeed. The problem is that it takes actual work. It means that parents actually may have to change their own eating habits and take a good look at what kind of environment they are setting up for their children.

Now far be it from me to comment on what parents of teens ought to do when mine are not even out of diapers. What I have been slowly able to recognize in myself however, is when I’m being a lazy parent. Yelling instead of explaining, doing for them instead of having the patience to show them how to and let them do it themselves, harping on them instead of role modeling - it’s an easy trap to fall into and my heart goes out to those who are parents of teenagers in this day and age.

The task of keeping teens healthy is more difficult than ever with the accessibility of junk food. My instinct is that you can do the best you can to educate your teens and role-model healthy habits. This could mean that parents will need to educate themselves first - learn about how to create a healthy environment. By tackling the problem together as a family, there is an much better chance for success.

Other Ideas

• Join a class together: A martial arts class, a group fitness class, a boot camp - anything that will get the family active.
• Plan at least 1 active outing on the weekend: A hike, bike ride, soccer game can all make for a healthy few hours.
• Learn to cook together: Give your teen’s some transferable skills in healthy cooking - take a class if necessary.
• Set family goals: If your family loses a certain amount of inches or attains a certain amount of activity - go on a family trip.

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