Table of contents:
- Why shouldn't children be on a diet?
- At what age should a child start the diet?
- Tips to prevent children from gaining excess weight
Generally, girls dream of having a slim and ideal body shape, such as models in advertisements, television, magazines, and others. Especially if the environment around the girl or her friends has a thin body and she herself is overweight. To achieve a thin body like her peers, some girls go on a diet.
However, keep in mind that children are still experiencing a variety of important growth and development. So, doing a diet or limiting food intake is not a good thing to do at this time. So, when can children be on a diet?
Why shouldn't children be on a diet?
Having the right weight is important for overall health. However, if the child is overweight, lose weight to gain normal weight by dieting or limiting food intake not is the right way. Doing a strict diet during the growing period is not recommended.
Having a strict diet will only limit the intake of essential nutrients that your child needs during his growth and development. A strict diet can also increase the risk of certain nutrient deficiencies and eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Actually, girls don't need to diet. Experiencing weight gain while growing is normal. This is because girls' body fat increases during growth and peaks during adolescence.
You should know that 50% of the ideal adult body weight is obtained during adolescence. The percentage of fat in girls' bodies increases from 16% to 27% in adolescence. Teenage girls gain at least 1.14 kg of body fat mass each year during puberty.
At what age should a child start the diet?
Can children be on a diet? Not a diet, but rather a change in diet. For girls who are overweight, losing a little weight may help improve their overall health. However, achieving this normal weight should not be done by means of a strict diet or limiting food intake.
This is because children or young girls still need a lot of nutrition to support their growth and development. Take it easy, the child's body fat which increases during this growth period will be used to support the growth and development of the child. So, later the child's weight will decrease by itself and adjust to the child's height growth.
If the child is not satisfied with his body shape and wants to go on a diet, you should wait until his growth and development is complete. Generally, child growth is completed at around 16-19 years of age. However, this can happen differently between children, some are slower and some are faster. Remember, even though at the age that has reached adulthood, children can diet, but you should apply a healthy diet, not to lack nutrition.
Tips to prevent children from gaining excess weight
Instead of a diet, what needs to be done is to control the child's weight so as not to gain too much. Some of the things that children need to do are:
- Fulfill the needs of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals by consuming various types of food
- Choose good fats for consumption and avoid bad types of fats (for example from fried or fried foods fast food)
- Limit consumption of sugary foods / drinks and snacks
- Get enough fiber per day
- Get active and do regular exercise, and don't spend too long in front of the television or computer
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep
By doing the things above, the energy that goes into the child's body is the same as the energy that goes out, so that the child's weight does not increase much.
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