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The good news …
Being healthy is about much more than ‘looking good’ (as defined by advertisers or magazines). It also helps children:
- Build strong bones
- Grow and develop healthily
- Improve their concentration at school
- Improve their coordination, balance and strength
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Be bright and active.
… and the bad news
Being unhealthy can lead in later life to:
- Type II diabetes
- High blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Some types of cancers
- Heart disease
- Overweight and obesity.
What’s a healthy weight?
Not everyone is the same, but there are some basic guidelines for children’s weight. With nutritious meals and daily activity your child will usually find their ideal weight, rather than having to aim for a particular weight goal. But it does require some effort, as ‘puppy fat’ usually does not go away by itself, and may well be carried into adulthood.
Healthy weight growth charts
A rather technical site, but you can find growth charts for children and young people up to 20 years of age (US Dept of Health and Human Services).
Children and body weight
Good information (pdf 141kb) about underweight and overweight children and body image, with useful tips on how to keep kids healthy (National Heart Foundation).
20 steps for healthy weight
How to promote healthy eating and increased physical activity for kids – with the focus on healthy eating, not restrictive diets (Australian Society for the Study of Obesity).
Don’t believe the hype
The only way to get beyond all the hype about weight and health – on TV, in magazines and on billboards – is to get informed. Here are some useful places to start.
Seesaw Project
A good site with lots of healthy eating, weight and activity information presented pictorially and in simple steps (Seesaw Project is a not-for-profit health organisation in Victoria).
Food allergies
A list of links to information about peanut allergies, milk allergies, food additives, etc (Health Insite, an Australian Government initiative).
