CAIRO – 16 June 2017: More than 2 billion children and adults suffer from obesity and its resulting health issues around the world. Egypt is one of those countries.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, Egypt is one of the fattest countries in the world. Among the 20 most populous countries, the highest level of age-standardized adult obesity was observed in Egypt, the journal said. Egypt’s obesity rate reached 26.8 percent, landing in second place right after Saudi Arabia, and higher than the U.S.
Parents and families in Egypt can still raise healthy children and help prevent them from becoming obese by encouraging them to eat healthy and play sports.
Here are five tips to get your children to eat healthy:
Never use food as a reward or punishment:
This could create weight problems, so instead reward your children with something physical and fun, as suggested by the
.
Give healthy choices:
Send healthy food such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, or low fat-dairy in your child’s lunch box to avoid disease in the future, as recommended by
.
Make schedule:
Organize the time your children eat their meals. Children need to eat every 3 to 4 hours; three meals and two snacks and lots of water and juice, as Julia Burns writes in
.
Introduce new food slowly:
Children, by nature, are new-food-phobic. Thus, you can introduce new food in a story or even link it to something they like, which is another example suggested by Burns. For example, Popeye the Sailor eats spinach to become stronger.
Be a role model:
If you are on a diet and have good eating habits, your child will grow up doing what you’re doing. So being on healthy diet and eating healthy is a lifestyle for you as well as your children. Your child’s impulse is to mimic you; don’t try to force him or her to eat vegetables when you’re eating potato chips.
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