SCARY facts: One third of Riverina residents are obese – the highest proportion in NSW. In 2015, the Murrumbidgee region had the highest number of hospitalisations due to obesity in Australia.
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Changing the profile of our region means starting with our children.
Our health directly influences our children’s health, and almost one in four children in the Murrumbidgee district are overweight or obese.
While these may seem like scary statistics, there are plenty of things we can do to positively influence our children’s weight and relationship with food.
Try to:
- Set a good example for your child by modelling healthy eating habits.
- Encourage your child to learn to recognise what it feels like to be hungry or full.
- Aim to keep weight stable until height catches up.
- Practise body positivity.
- Limit “screen time” (ie television, computer games) to less than an hour per day.
- Praise your child for healthy food choices and reward them with non-food items (eg stickers or books).
- Limit consumption and availability of high fat and high sugar snack foods. These foods contain lots of extra energy (calories / kilojoules) but minimal amounts of nutrition.
- Involve the whole family in diet and lifestyle changes.
Try NOT to:
- Place your child on a restrictive diet. This can result in poor nutrition, can affect your child’s growth and can lead to children sneaking food.
- Force your child to finish what’s on their plate.
- Aim for weight loss.
- Make negative comments about the weight or size of your child, yourself or others. This includes talking about diets, detoxes, or ‘shredding’ in front of your child.
- Refer to ‘good foods’, ‘bad foods’ or ‘treat foods’ - instead use words like ‘healthy food’ and ‘sometimes food’.
- Make a habit of “comforting” children with food.
If you have any concerns or questions about your child’s nutrition or weight, visit www.eatforhealth.gov.au for age and gender specific information or contact the Wagga Community Health Centre on 69386411.
