DIETING parents should be careful when discussing weight loss around their children, experts have said.
They should talk about “healthy eating” instead and speak positively about exercise.
GettyDieting parents should talk about ‘healthy eating’ and speak positively about exercise[/caption]
Researchers claim the adjustments will stop it feeling like a shameful issue and avoid negativity being passed on to youngsters.
Prof Fiona Gillison, of Bath University, said: “Talk about doing exercise you enjoy, so your children see exercise as enjoyable, rather than seeing it as a chore.”
Instead of “dieting”, she suggested parents to use phrases such as: “I don’t feel healthy.
“I’d like to feel more healthy, more energetic, so I’m going to eat better — shall we do this together?”
The advice, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, linked family “weight talk” to poor wellbeing in children.
However, encouraging kids to be physically active and eat healthily had a positive impact.
Research by University College London suggested obese children as young as five should be helped by weight-loss schemes.
Experts said the rollout of “universal” programmes to help parents bring up their children across the UK could stop 7,000 children a year becoming overweight by the time they start school.
Researchers from University College London, said programmes which taught new parents about the importance of sleep and restricting screen time were particularly impressive.
Dr Simon Russell, of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: “The early years are an important period for healthy growth and development.
“Lifestyle behaviours adopted at this age have a good chance of being carried forward.”