Focus on the Family.
Eat meals together, and participate in physical activity as a family.
If you're not inspired to fight obesity for yourself, do it for your
kids and you'll all reap the benefits.
Become a role model
for your children. Kids look up to their parents, if you place an emphasis
on living healthy, it will transcend to your children.
Get your kids involved
in organized sports. Find a physical activity that your child likes
and get them involved. Physical activity will drastically reduce the
likelihood of becoming obese.
Get active! Enough
emphasis cannot be placed on the importance of physical activity. Aim
to participate in some kind of physical activity 5 days a week for at
least 30 minutes a day. Aerobic and Cardiovascular activities are best,
but any activity is better than none.
Make an effort to
cook, and cook healthy. Home cooked meals are often more healthy than
restaurants, especially fast food. While fast food may be appealing
because it is cheap and easy, it is really unhealthy. So do your best
to avoid it! Making healthy meals will go a long way for yourself, and
Eat fruits and veggies.
Traditionally, Latinos eat a great deal of fruit, and a lot of veggies,
too. However, once becoming acculturated in the U.S. these foods slowly
see themselves out of the Latino diet. Make a conscious effort to keep
fruits and vegetables in your diet!
Latino foods are usually high in carbohydrates, and high in fat. Choose the
low-carb tortillas, and low fat or lean beans and meats. Substitute
high fat meats, like beef, with healthier choices like poultry. Latinos
already eat a lot of fiber, which is good, but they also eat too much
Turn off the TV!
This goes for parents, too. Limit your personal use of TV and monitor
the sedentary or screen watching activity of your children. No more
than two hours a day. Also, do not allow your child to have their own
television. Studies have shown that kids with TV's in their rooms
are much more likely to become obese.
No late night snacks.
Eating before bed deprives the body of any opportunity to burn off the
calories ingested. Do not allow your kids to eat within two hours of
Spread the word!
Inform your Latino friends and family members about the dangers of obesity,
and direct them to this site. It's a small step that could go a long
way in reducing obesity among the Latino community.
combination of these efforts will be a great help to leading a healthy
lifestyle. Focusing on these points will benefit not only your health,
but the health of your children. With the great risks obesity presents
to healthy living, you must do what you can to fight obesity and live