In 2023 you would hope that we would have started to solve this issue that i see as a personal trainer and nutrient specialist every year, since i started in 1997.
Now when i started out in the late 90s the video games and computers started to come around much more and the games got much more developed during that time period from the late 90s to 2010.
And it became much more difficult for parent when the internet came to get the kids out from their rooms to go play sports in the backyard but also in the most organized forms.
There are a few factors in why the childhoods obesity and overweight have 20X itself since the late 70s.
The fast-food joints where around back then also, but fast-food was a pure luxury only eaten 1-2 a month at the most.
And it was not normal that the parents did not cook normal high quality food at home in the evening.
So we did not have the fast-food frenzy that we have in todays world and that really took of in the 90s.
The second big issue is all the soda that kids drink these days, if you have ever watched a 10-15 year old kid play call of duty for 6-10h straight and the amount of carbs, sugar and fat they are consuming during that time frame sitting on a chair playing the game.
It is scary to see, but many parents have given up over the years and they let the kids run their own lives.
We can see early on already at 4-5 years of age with kids who do not get the proper nutrition at home and not enough exercise either.
Then when they start school they get picked on for being fat!, and then they eat even more because they get depressed in the process!.
We usually at the LWC get contacted by a friend of the family or a relative of the family who are worried for the kid/kids well being.
And then the first few conversations with the parent/parents are a bit difficult when we are talking about a fat child!.
We usually show them this picture here below to the parents.
This is what their kid have to look forward too if they stay the course.
The first things we do is to bring the parents to the store and we show them what foods to buy and what food types not to buy.
Then we make an exercise plan for the whole family but we make sure that the child gets enrolled in to at least two organized sports.
The first is kickboxing and that gives the child an opportunity to learn how to defend themselves and it builds confidence in the child going forward.
The second sport is either soccer or Ice-hockey, depending on the parents bankroll.
So the child gets to feel as part of a team.
At home there will only be high quality foods and no candy ,soda or chips any-longer.
The meals will be high in fat and protein and a bit lower in carbs.
Prices of these meals are usually cheaper than eating out like with fast-food or buying pizzas.
Pizza and burgers are now a pure luxury that the child/youth needs to work for.
Screen time is another thing that the child need to earn, every day.
Usually there is a brutal period of a 6-8 weeks when the child is acting out and the parents are really having to stand firm, for the best result going forward.
Once we pass the 8 week mark, usually the family has gotten used to the new routines.
Homework is done when the child gets home from school, and then the organized sport comes after that.
Monday to Friday is a good schedule, 3 times a week kickboxing and soccer or ice-hockey 2-3 times a week.
If the family has a dog, the child should walk it 3 times a day at least 30 minutes each time.
If the child follows these rules they will be allowed 2 h of screen time in the evening at that is it!.
On the weekends there can be games in the organized sport or not?, then screen time can be as much as 4 h divided up to two 2 h sessions.
But the child needs to be active also on the weekends.
The first thing you do as a parent is that you go over the amount of calories the child consumes and then you count what they need on a daily basis.
Then we do a reduction of -500 calories per day for as long as the child/youth is over-weight.
Could in some cases be as much as 1-2 years time.
Usually we can fix kids weight in around 8-10 months time.
These few things are so important to remember, and that is that screen time is bad for children when it is more than 4h a day and we would strongly suggest that you cap it at 2h a day.
Exercise is a must and preferably one martial arts and one group sport.
And you are the parent in the household and they are the children/youth.
So what you say goes”, as simple as that!.
If you want to allow some more screen time, you could agree that the child needs to read 50 pages a day of a physical book to get another 30-45 min.
So use the screen time as your leverage with your child/youth.
Then make sure you have a password on the computer that you lock up for the child or a timer when the computer is open.
Because otherwise there is a risk that the child will play in their room during night time.
So if you have the possibility, put the computer into the living room so you have some oversight into what your kid is doing and how much.
Most of the things in our program you can find in our blueprint book at Amazon, see the link here below.
https://www.amazon.com/Loseweightcheap-Scandinavian-weight-formula-actually-ebook/dp/B07TP3LKHB
And we also have in our shop a consulting service for you if you need more hands on support.
You find it in the link here below.
https://lose-weightcheap.com/shop/
Take care guys,
Rick and the LWC family.
