According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 15-25% of the kids and teenagers in the United States are now overweight or obese and most of them stay this way even until adulthood. Because of this, parents are encouraged to guide their children to live a healthy lifestyle. However, living in this fast paced expensive world requires both parents to work leaving the kids to the care of the nanny. This article provides tips on what nannies can do to protect your children from obesity.
Tip #1 Cook Meals
Nannies should know how to cook. TV dinners are usually high in sodium, calories, and contain preservatives. Serving home-cooked meals are usually healthier because you get to control what you put in it. Though pizza for dinner is okay once in a while, making it a daily meal is a big No! No!
Tip #2 Serve healthy snacks
When kids ask for snacks, instruct your nanny to serve fruit slices like peach, kiwi, carrot sticks and blackberries because they contain lesser calories compared to commercial chips.
Tip#3 Allow kids to help out
Allow nannies to ask your kids to help out in some household chores. By doing so, not only they get to work on that muscles and burn some calories but they also get to learn how to do basic household chores.
Tip #4 Promote play
Kids love to play. No question on that. However, because of the advent of console games like Playstations, Xbox, and Wii, kids often stay at home instead of playing real games outside. Nannies should encourage children to play in the park with other kids or play sports like basketball and baseball.
Tip #5 Limit TV time
Studies show that kids who spend a lot of time in front of the TV gain weight. This is because watching TV triggers a person to munch on junk-foods and the lack of physical exertion causes the calories to be converted as fat deposit. Nannies should not forbid kids from watching their favorite show but limiting the viewing time would greatly help in protecting kids from obesity.
Tip #6 Give plenty of water
Aside from keeping the kids’ bodies hydrated, water also helps in the metabolism of the body. A good strategy to decrease the kids’ food intake is by giving them a glassful of water before each meal. This way, they easily gets full thus decreasing their food intake.
Tip #7 Promote adequate sleeps
Enough sleep increases Leptin levels which are hormones that tell the brain that the body is full and decreases Ghelin levels which are hormones that tell the brain to signal the body to keep eating.
Nannies play a vital role in keeping the young ones in shape as they are considered the second parents when the real parents are away. So, do coordinate with the nannies because not only they become your eyes and ears when you are away but they also help in protecting your child from obesity.
Chris Alex is a healthy weight loss blogger. His articles aim to help you learn how to lose weight naturally. If you find your self thinking “I want to lose weight” then his articles can guide you through the process.