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Obesity is a major health concern in America today. It is especially painful in teens, when self-image can be shaky. Often, teens that are obese have come to hate exercise because they see it as a competition thing where their physical awkwardness dooms them to failure. Parents want to help, and yet many times good intentions actually lead to greater weight gain. How can parents help their obese teens?
Sometimes teens will try to deal with their weight through drastic dieting, appetite suppressants and vomiting. One study by psychologist Eric Stice and researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that such drastic measures undertaken to reduce weight can actually backfire resulting in greater future weight gains. The best way to lose weight, in teens or adults, is gradual changes in diet and exercise, resulting in a slow but steady weight reduction.
Because parents usually become concerned about obesity in their children when they become teens, sometimes their concern can result in conflict between parents and teen. The result is physical fitness becomes a point of contention and the teen actually eats more and exercises less.
According to Mary Jean Taylor, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Daemen College, conflict is inevitable when the issue of weight control becomes parent vs. child. "It takes an emotional toll on the child and the parent, and frequently the result is no participation in any exercise at all."
One answer is family participation in an exercise program. Often obese teens come from obese parents. When parents pressure teens to exercise, while themselves indulging in an unhealthy lifestyle, resistance is normal. Family participation can make lifestyle change more fun, and therefore less odious. For best success, change should be gradual - sudden dives into any exercise program rarely lasts - and the focus should be on fun, and not weight control or fitness.
Parents should pick exercise that does not include a competitive element - such as swimming, walking, hiking or biking - since obese teens tend to shy away from competitive sports. Diet changes such as fewer empty-calorie snacks and less fast food, should be undertaken gradually and by the whole family as a key to better health - not only by the obese teen. Too often when diet changes are applied only to the child with the "problem," they can seem like deprivation or even punishment.
When the whole family is involved, and attention is moved away from weight-control, and onto fitness, health choices can be fun and empowering.
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