The American Dietetic Association (ADA)

Upping your child's physical activity helps develop coordination and self-confidence. Diet and exercise habits that start now are more likely to follow your child into adulthood. Get the whole family involved in physical activity. Some activities may be difficult if your child is larger. Their size may make movement difficult, which, in turn can make them feel embarrassed, despite your best efforts.

A diet can be successful or disastrous, depending on your dieting approach. Start by finding your healthy weight range to establish a goal for your diet. Study some facts about calories and fat, and follow a few simple tips to make your eating habits healthier and your diet will become a lifestyle — which will lead to weight loss.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the standard used to measure a child’s weight-related health risk. However, you must use charts specifically designed for children. Children’s BMI charts, unlike those for adults, are based on age and gender. Ask the staff at the pediatrician’s office to show you your child’s charts. Or you can use the formulas and charts that follow to do the calculations yourself.

In childhood, as in adulthood, the more fat that people in your diet, the more calories. That’s because, bite for bite, a gram of fat delivers more than twice the number of calories than a gram of protein or carbohydrate does. Research performed at Brigham Young University measured the amount of fat consumed by 262 children aged 9 and 10.

Just like adults, children should aim for five servings of nutritious fruits or vegetables a day. They’re good sources of fiber, they’re packed with vitamins and minerals, they’re low in fat, and they’re important for good health and development. Even if your child isn’t crazy about vegetables, you can get her to eat them — and happily — by using these tips: Offer to cut raw veggies as snacks.

Many parents allow their children to skip breakfast. Parents may reason that the children aren’t hungry in the morning, and by skipping breakfast they avoid a bunch of calories. However, eating breakfast is important because it shifts the body out of starvation mode and into action. When a body thinks that it’s starving, it hoards energy by slowing down the burning of calories.

The Food Guide Pyramid is a good place to start planning a nutritious diet for your family. When you plan a snack or meal, make sure that it includes protein, carbohydrate, and a little bit of fat. A carbohydrate-only meal or snack — such as noodles or an apple — satisfies quickly, but it doesn’t have the staying power that protein and fat do.

Children become overweight due to genetic tendencies, lack of physical activity, unhealthy dietary habits, or a combination of these factors. In some rare cases, an endocrine disorder is to blame. Your pediatrician can perform an exam and blood test to rule out this possibility or to design a treatment program if needed.

Children pick up behaviors by watching grown-ups. If you show your children nutritious eating habits, they’re more likely to follow your example. If you’re constantly dieting and criticizing your body, they’ll begin to disrespect theirs, too. A study conducted by Glamour magazine on 4,000 young women examined the effects that their mothers’ dieting had on their eating habits.