It’s no secret that children today face a ton of health obstacles, but of primary concern today is the level of childhood obesity we’re seeing among our youth. At present, as many as one in five US children are obese and face health complications as a result of their inability to maintain optimum weight levels. Given the state of childhood obesity in our country today, we may just be looking at an epidemic. Armed with this information, the question we must ask ourselves is this: Is there a single “fix” we as adults and parents can make to positively impact and reduce the rate of childhood obesity in the US?As you might guess, there are many such solutions we can implement. However, a recent studyin the journalPediatricshas a really simple approach we can all follow:give kids smaller plates.Smaller Plate Size Impacts Children’s Food Quantity ChoicesThe study referenced above is quite simple – children were split into two groups with half of them given adult sized plates and the other, half kid sized plates. When allowed to serve themselves from a selection of foods, the kids with the bigger plates took more food than those with smaller plates. Though this seems like a bit of a no-brainer exercise, the study also proved that the kids with smaller plates reported feeling satisfied with their initial serving, despite it being smaller than those kids who selected larger portions.So what can we take away from this food portion size study?Well, for one thing there may be a bit of portion distortion going on here in the US where serving sizes are concerned. This isn’t really news, but many of us go about our daily lives paying little attention to the amount of food we select or are served for an initial meal during the day. Value meals at fast food restaurants are given “upsize” suggestions by servers or order takers while at home many dinner plates are the size of large competition sized Frisbees.This begs the question, have our portion sizes or plate sizes grown over the years?The short answer is yes.A study of thehistory of food portion sizesperformed back in 2002 by the American Journal of Public Health shows marked increases of US food portion sizes over the years. Researchers collected information about what were current portions in 2002 from manufacturers or from direct weighing, as well as information about past portions from manufacturers or contemporary publications.The results of the study show that marketplace food portions have increased in size and exceeded federal standards. Portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s, and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights.Interestingly, the study also shows that food portion sizes in the US compared to European countries were larger. So What Can We Do To Help Kids Understand The Importance of Portion Control?The easiest way is to do as the initial study suggests and decrease the size of plates kids use at mealtime. This will directly reduce the amounts they consume at a sitting. However, keep in mind that when consuming less food at mealtime, you will want to encourage your children to eat healthy snacks during other times of the day (like a few hours after breakfast and after lunch) so that they maintain healthy metabolisms.Once you have food plate size under control, consider helping your kids make healthier selections at mealtime. One way to help kids visually manage portion sizes is to use the handy food plate graphic fromKidsHealth.org. As you can see, the colorful divided plate shows you sections for vegetables, fruits, grains, and foods high in protein.Don’t expect the changes you make with reducing your child’s food plate size to take effect immediately. You’re likely going to have to engage in more than one conversation about why you’re making the change, and it’ll help if you serve as an example by reducing your own plate size as well. Contact me for other family oriented ideas. http://www.mentorwithlynn.com/ Please take advantage of saving money in all areas and get a free 3 day vacation for checking it out: http://www.paid2saveblog.com/control-your-childs-plate-size-to-reduce-obesity-risk.html?sitename=pastorlynn
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