Daily routines to prevent obesity recommended by science
The obesity It has become one of the great threats of the new generations. The increase in junk food and sedentary lifestyle is causing more and more children to be affected by these weight problems and the consequences derived from them, such as diabetes and a greater chance of heart disease.
Currently, two out of ten children in Spain are overweight according to the data offered by the Spanish Society of Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Diseases, DRY. That is, 23% of young people between 6 and 18 have some problem of this type. To avoid the negative effects, you have to establish a plan with which to stay in shape. Now, a new study from Ohio State University proposes three daily routines with which to avoid obesity.
Routines from small
This work, published in the journal International Journal of Obesity, has focused on the routines that children follow at home and how they affect the subsequent development of obesity as they grew up. Specifically, the researchers focused on three points: time they went to bed, regularity at the time they sat at the table and the time that parents allowed their children to use electronic devices.
In total, they were analyzed 10,955 cases of minors that were followed from 3 to 11 years and in it was taken into account the way in which these three points were made at home. That is, if it was the parents who regulated these schedules or allowed their children to drive these times. The researchers found that the more the parents influenced these points, the fewer overweight problems they encountered.
A good sleep, a regular time to sit at the table and little time in front of the computer, television and smartphone, together with a greater presence of exercise in children's daily lives are three routines that help prevent obesity. Of all the points, Sarah Anderson, one of the authors of this research especially highlights the rest.
"Rest is very important and fundamental for children, there is still much that is not yet known about the influence of sleep on the metabolism", concludes the researcher who recommends parents to maintain a regular sleep schedule in their children to ensure both their good rest and the prevention of problems such as obesity in this case.
Prevention of obesity
Along with these routines, at home you can bet on other instruments with which to prevent obesity in children and adults. These are some of the recommendations of the Ministry of Health so that overweight is avoided at home:
- Variety feeding. Eating everything and in a balanced way is always better than eliminating a food group or focusing a diet on a single product.
- Never skip breakfast and make this the most important meal of the day, so you will avoid chopping between hours during the day.
- In the diet should never be missing pasta, bread or rice, as well as legumes.
- Moderate the consumption of fats, monitor the amount of fried foods that are included in the menu of the little ones.
- Monitor the amount of added sugar that children eat and avoid practices such as adding this ingredient to products that already have it, such as yogurt.
- Get involved fully, do not make these points an exclusive mission of children. Fathers and mothers must also accept these norms and lead by example.
Damián Montero
