Should you put a young child on a weight-loss diet plan?

Over the past few years, I have had many parents ask me if they can safely put their children on a weight loss programme. Initially, I thought nothing much of it until mothers with babies as young as six months started asking for diet solutions for their chubby infants.

Clearly, we are slowly getting a change in mind frame and some parents believe they need to intervene in their child’s weight issues as early as possible. However, the important question is, ‘Is it healthy to put your child on a weight loss diet?’

Babies under two years

This is the period of breastfeeding and weaning. Breastfeeding babies need to be fed on demand. If your baby is bigger than the expected but is simply feeding on breast milk alone, there is no active intervention needed.

I have seen mothers struggle with creating a strict breastfeeding schedule for their babies in an effort to control their intake but this is usually a frustrating process both for the mother and the baby. Just let the baby breastfeed when they are hungry.

Weaning, ideally, should be done at 6 months. Babies who are weaned earlier have been found to be overweight when compared to those who are weaned when they are 6 months. Weaning should be done progressively and patiently.

Avoid the temptation to add sugar and fat to your baby’s meals. Remember, the child’s palate at that age is like a blank canvas – it is you who determines what to offer it. If you get your baby used to milk with added sugar, he will always want it served that way.

The same applies to heaping spoons of margarine into their meal to flavour it. Try and keep your foods as natural and free of preservatives as possible. You do not need to add salt to their food either.

Avoid adding sugar to beverages/fruits where possible and try and keep sweets/chocolates/sodas out of their daily lives. Babies under two years need to have about 5-6 small meals a day (of which you must have include lots of fruits and vegetables).

Be careful with commercially-prepared baby foods as some of them contain very large amounts of calories per servings. Read the labels carefully before making your choice.

Find out the truth behind the excess weight

Each child has their own special growth curve which takes several things into consideration including their height and birth weight. If you have an obese child whose weight the doctor is raising the red flag about, take them to a paediatric endocrinologist (hormone specialist) for a check up. He/she will assess your child and find out if there is any hormonal imbalance that may be responsible for the excess weight.

Comfort eating (the act of eating just to feel better despite not necessarily being hungry) has also been known to start in childhood (mothers with babies often breastfeed them when they are agitated – whether or not they are hungry – as a way of soothing them). This can carry on in different ways as the child grows older and the breastfeeding is replaced by other food forms.

Genetics may also play a role so have a look around at members of your family and that of your spouse before you decide that the sole reason for your child’s chubby frame is simply due to love of food.

Do not put the child on a special diet, change how the entire family eats

Even if your child is morbidly obese, you should never put them on a weight loss diet by themselves. You need to change the entire feeding plan for the whole family. The child doesn’t need to know that the dietary changes are due to their excess weight (neither should their siblings).

Where possible, cook food from scratch so that you have control over the amount of sugar, fat and salt that goes into each meal. You are also able to make healthy substitutions such as using whole grain instead of the highly processed forms.

Food is not a reward

Having food on the table daily is a blessing – there is no denying that but using food as a reward for good behaviour should generally be discouraged (especially if it is a constant thing). Children who are brought up to think that food is a form of gratification tend to carry that mind-set into their teenage and adult years and often end up overweight.

Simply don’t buy it

Do not stock your cupboards with biscuits, cookies, cake, crisps and other junk food. Avoid stocking ice cream in the fridge if you know your child has a sweet tooth. Instead, keep lots of fresh fruit, low fat yoghurt and cereal as healthy options for the child.

Remember, having cookies in the cupboard but refusing to share them with the child when they ask (yet you are eating them) only breeds negative feelings towards you.

Physical activity

Recent studies done among Kenyan children have found that urban children are far more sedentary than their rural counterparts (and by extension, have higher levels of obesity. Our urban children have obesity patterns similar to their counterparts in North America).

Children are a bundle of energy and the best way to keep them at healthy weights is to keep them as physically active as possible.

Remember self-esteem

I once attended a party where a mother of a particularly overweight girl kept reprimanding her for eating more than she considered adequate. Although she may have meant well (her paediatrician had told her the child needed to lose weight), putting down the child in public was not the way to do it.

Children are particularly vulnerable to being put down and teased and often carry these wounds into their teenage years (even adulthood). Even if you are concerned about your child’s weight, you should always make sure you do not hurt their feelings or humiliate them in the process of getting them to a healthy weight.

Speak in one voice

It is not unusual for one parent to struggle to ensure that the child eats healthy meals daily only for the other one to buy the child chocolates or ice cream daily after school. This negates any positive effect the healthy eating has on the child.

Look at the school

Most school canteens tend to have lots of high-calorie favourites for children such as chips, sausages, burgers, samosas, pizza etc. This can negate any healthy feeding plan you may have instituted at home for your child.

You can either choose to have the child carry a well-balanced meal from home or get them enrolled in the school’s feeding programme (which often tends to provide healthier balanced meals for the children).

‘But, daktari, she will outgrow it!’

Thinking it’s okay for a child to be overweight because they will outgrow it as they grow older is something a lot of parents believe.

Research has shown that a lot of overweight children become overweight adults. This is because we carry with us our eating habits from childhood. Only a few shoot up in their teens and ‘lose the baby fat’ for good.

Risks of childhood obesity in the long-term

Overweight children are at a higher chance of developing heart (cardiovascular) problems, joint problems, high cholesterol levels and even diabetes if they do not shed the excess weight.

Question of the week: Would you put your child on a diet? Send your response to: [email protected]