Excerpted from Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food / Fake Food World by David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., with Suzanne Rostler, M.S., R.D., published by Houghton Mifflin Company. Copyright © 2007 by David Ludwig. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.
The following excerpt is from David Ludwig’s important new book designed to guide your child to a healthy weight in a fast-food/fake-food world.
Never before has a generation of children been so sedentary. What are the physical and emotional consequences of this dramatic drop in physical activity? How will it affect our children’s risks for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis? What about their self-esteem and mental health? Importantly, what can parents do to help their children become more physically active?
Let’s get moving with a six-point game plan designed to take weight-control into high gear.
Deprogram Your Child.
Limit TV viewing to two hours a day.
Take the TV out of your child’s bedroom and avoid watching during meals.
Encourage your child to watch public TV stations instead of commercial stations…these stations tend not to run food advertisements.
Keep a written log of viewing habits.
Make TV dependent on physical activity, such as walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike placed in front of the set.
Betsy Whalen 10/08/07
I know that David Ludwig is right about food advertising getting kids to eat badly. A recent test of food wrapped in a fast-food container and the same food in a generic container showed that tiny children always pick the brand name. Imagine what our teens have been programmed to do! I don’t think, however, that it’s practical to suggest our kids have to do a physical exercise in front of the TV in order to watch it. And also, what should they be doing in front of the computer, which is just as sedentary?
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