Healthy weight in children and youth

As a parent, you want your children to be the healthiest they can be. Helping your children be physically active and eat nutritious food are foremost in your mind. But in recent years, you may have become concerned about reports of children being overweight and obese.

In Canada, rates of obesity among children and youth ages 2 to 17 are increasing. In 1979, 3% of children and youth were obese. By 2004, 8% or an estimated 500,000 were obese. An additional 18% of Canadian children and youth are overweight. These statistics taken together result in one more than one quarter – or 26% – of Canadian children and youth being either overweight or obese.

Even though overweight children may seem well-fed, they could be undernourished. One Canadian study found that even though obese children were eating a high-calorie diet, they weren’t getting enough calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and E.

Studies show that children who are obese over a period of time, or who become obese in later childhood or adolescence, are more likely to remain obese as adults. Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

If your child is eating too many unhealthy foods, which are low in nutrients and high in calories such as doughnuts, potato chips, French fries, pop and candy, and getting too little physical activity, and you are concerned about his or her weight, you may want to speak to your healthcare provider for medical advice.

Inactivity also adds to weight problems. Children and youth need to be physically active 60 to 90 minutes a day, most days of the week, to stay healthy.

What you can do

Healthy habits, including regular physical activity and healthy eating that begin at home at a young age and continue throughout life, are important to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Between the ages of 6 and 12, children learn to make decisions and begin to make more choices of their own. They are developing eating habits and attitudes they may carry with them for the rest of their lives. Peer pressure influences children and youth of all ages and is particularly strong in the early teen years.

In the meantime, you, as a parent, play an important role in helping your children stay healthy. You may want to:

• Encourage your children to eat three well-balanced meals a day at regular times. Choose one food from each of the four food groups: 1)vegetables and fruit; 2)grains; 3)meat and alternatives; 4)milk products – according to Health Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
• Provide them with at least five servings of vegetables and fruit a day. Five servings might look like this: a small apple, half of a banana, a handful of baby carrots, a small bowl of peas and a stalk of broccoli.
• Offer them water, lower-fat milk (1% or 2%) and 100% fruit juices instead of pop and other sugary drinks
• Serve fresh fruit, veggie sticks and low-fat yogurt after school and on the weekends instead of high-fat, high-calorie snack foods such as potato chips and doughnuts
• Encourage free outdoor play (A pick-up game of baseball? Tobogganing?) while limiting their screen time in front of computers, video games and TV
• Help children get pleasure out of being active by encouraging them to choose activities they love – is it dancing, basketball, hockey, soccer, swimming, rollerblading, biking, or jumping rope? Read about children’s physical activity needs.
• Schedule family outings that are active such as hiking a provincial park trail or swimming at the local community centre pool
• Get your kids cooking – they usually like to eat what they have fun making
• Set a good example yourself by eating healthfully and being physically active on a regular basis.

For heart-healthy recipes for your children, go to Kid-Friendly Meals.

For more tips on getting your kids active and eating heart-healthy foods, subscribe to our free e-newsletter, Healthline for Parents.

For information on encouraging physical activity, visit Health Canada’s Guides to Physical Activity for Children and Youth 

Read the Heart and Stroke Foundation position statements on:

Schools and Physical Activity

Schools and Nutrition

Last reviewed November 2008.