Obesity in Children Linked to Meal and Snack Schedule

“The obesity epidemic in children today is linked, I think, to not only what kids are eating, but how they’re eating. It’s not simply a matter of calories in plus calories out equals the weight you have. The kind of calorie really matters.

“Touching on things like the glycemic index (understanding how our blood sugar is affected) is very important for families to understand in helping their children who have problems with obesity – knowing what to eat, how to eat, and how often to eat. “For many kids with obesity, they’re not actually eating too much. They’re just eating the wrong things in the wrong combinations at the wrong times.

“Alternative therapies, nutritional therapies, can help with that blood sugar control and also in understanding how to help parents give that nutritional guidance to their kids.”

Naturalpath Health Expert Elisa Song, MD is the founder and director of Whole Child Wellness in Redwood City, CA, a clinic that integrates traditional pediatrics with holistic nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Comments

January 20, 2008 - 8:45pm — PaulineD

So True

It is so true that its not about how much you eat but what you eat. For example, kids could be having a slight allergy to something or have difficulty digesting something in their diet correctly and be gaining weight as a result of that. Also, cutting down on simple carbs and processed food is essential. It is important to instill good eating habits at a young age because kids are developing their taste preferences!

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