How to get a kid lose weight fast?

‘How to get a kid lose weight fast?’ is maybe one of the questions concerning parents of extremely overweight or obese children. Of course, children need a proper diet and their bodies should be kept healthy, however, a minority of these kids suffer from obesity which if not treated early on in life, can cause severe complications later in their futures. In this article, we will go through what obesity is, why overweight children need to lose weight, and how to get a kid to lose weight fast? Let’s get started!

What is obesity?

Obesity is the term used to define a condition where a person's weight (body mass) is higher than average. In other words, when the body mass index (BMI) is of a value exceeding 30 units. It is essential to know what obesity is before asking ‘How to get a kid lose weight?’ Body mass index is calculated using your age, height, gender, and other factors that give a proper comparison. BMI can be calculated using online websites and applications. If you want very accurate measurements, you could get an appointment with your child’s pediatrician or dietician.

Below, we have listed some of the common symptoms of obesity for you to identify if your child is obese or not. Check them out: 

1. Difficulty in falling asleep:

When your body weight is too high, you often feel drowsy and exhausted or just too heavy to move. This causes sleep apnoea where drowsiness during the day disrupts sleep at night. As a result, your child might not be sleeping well if they are overweight.

2. Back pains:

Even though most common in adults, excess body fat can accumulate between joints causing distress during movements. These result in aches in the backs or shoulders as the excess weight pulls on top of it.

3. Too much sweating:

Fats are great thermal insulators and without them, we would be freezing in autumn and not surviving winter. However, with too much insulation, your body heats up rapidly and temperatures rise by a couple of degrees. Too thick bodies, therefore, feel very hot and uncomfortable even with a little warmth in the environment.

4. Infections or darkened areas between skin folds:

The inner parts of the skin fold can act as a breeding ground for bacteria as the heat provided is of a reasonable amount.

Shortness of breath after little movement:

Obese kids find it difficult to exercise regularly as few muscle contractions make them feel exhausted and sometimes out of breath. Dyspnoea is such a condition where you feel that your body isn’t being able to intake enough oxygen. Many people ask ‘How to get a kid lose weight?’, so to answer that, you need to be aware of dyspnoea.

Why do overweight children need to lose weight?

In simple terms, overweight children need to lose weight to lead a more healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. No one likes to sit inside a room and not be able to go out and walk amidst the fresh air. Sometimes, people lose weight for looks but when it comes to children, their future depends on it. Unpleasant symptoms can cause a child to feel depressed and give up hopes for their upcoming days. They might not feel great, be able to talk to peers, or be bullied. Below, we have listed some points that should convince you to help your child lose weight. Check it here:

1. Healthier knees and elbows:

Osteoarthritis is a condition where your bones are eventually destroyed due to a lack of cartilage and fluidity between joints and ligaments. Extreme amounts of body fats are responsible for this phenomenon and what’s worse is that this disease leads to a loop of unpleasant symptoms and sufferings. As a result, if your child keeps building weight, there’s a chance their bones won’t grow as well as they could. This results in further complications as they age.

2. Good sleep:

Sleep is important in everybody’s lives but when it comes to children, it just cannot be taken lightly. Children, especially infants and adolescents develop a lot during their age range and muscle tissues build up during sleep. Certain chemicals are responsible for joint repairs and other bodily functions. Without proper sleep, these processes are slowed down and possibly stopped. Therefore, keep your child fit to help them grow and develop as efficiently as possible.

3. Improved immune system:

Fats in our bodies are stored safely under skin tissues and cells. It helps secret certain chemicals that we term as hormones which affect how our bodies run. Cytokines, another kind of molecule that relates to the works hormones do, are also produced due to the presence of fats. When you have too many fats, the signaling issues mess up and you often end up with gum infections, nose irritation, stomach troubles, and many more. How does that happen? Well, fats release chemicals that act as immune chemicals. When there’s a lot of fat, the normal production of immune hormones stops or slows down which gradually makes your body very vulnerable to certain pathogens.

4. Helps with surgeries:

Most kids do not need surgeries but if they grow up to be fatter and fatter, it gets difficult for them to have operations if needed. Many people are refused treatment every year due to being overweight. If your child needs a certain surgery at a young age, his or her obesity can delay it and we all know what delays in treatments can lead to. So being fat can disturb other health conditions.

5. Better taste experiences:

Fat People are less likely to enjoy the various flavors of food available. Enough research hasn’t been done yet to provide chimerical evidence for this claim but taste depends on more than just your taste buds. Another way to think this is that as obese people cannot get the taste they are meant to, they overeat to compensate for the loss of taste. Overfeeding your child changes their taste buds structure and they get more reliant on the food they had continuously for the past couple of weeks. So losing weight can help get your child’s taste back and they will probably eat healthier than before.

How to get a kid lose weight fast?

Everyone wants to lose fat. Unfortunately, there is no cheat code or overnight tactic that helps do such but with proper maintenance and practice, losing weight can be done within a couple of months. Below, we have listed the top 3 ways your child can get fitter and lose all the excess, unwanted and nasty fat out of their bodies. Start reading from here:

1. Exercise

Even though the word is pretty short, exercising is perhaps the activity your child will spend the most time at. Not every child likes to go out for walks; let alone kids who are game addicts. Social media is another big issue that contributes to children's health. Over the past few years, researchers have suggested that children born between the recent years are likely to be more obese than children born in the past. Why? That is because of the lack of exercise and reliability on devices.

If your child doesn’t play any outdoor sports, you can try Backyard Marketplace's play equipment — everything starting from trampolines, swing sets, bounce houses, etc. In terms of cost, Backyard Marketplace is really affordable and we also support financing.

So how does exercise help lose weight? For instance, Jumping on super bouncy trampoline is a great way for your kids to get some exercise and the bouncing motion of trampolines creates a g-force that aids in fat burning and muscle strengthening. These types of exercises increase metabolism rates which means your body will be working on cutting down fat at a faster rate.

2. Eating healthy:

Nothing can beat a nice, fresh bowl of salad. Of course, kids don’t like it but if you show some inspiration, then they’ll surely try it out. Do not make salads that are filled with mayonnaise and other condiments to increase the taste as these will just add calories to your child’s diet. Kids like protein-rich foods such as chicken nuggets and all that sort of food so if you can increase their protein and fat content while reducing the number of carbs significantly from their eating habits, you can see progress in their weight loss. Also, there are ways to make nutritious foods tasty and with the online platform being so easily accessible, you can search out any recipe and find it with just a click. This is the most effective among all answers of ‘How to get a kid lose weight?’

3. Lessen screen time and encourage more sleep:

Now procures you cannot scratch out the device from your child’S hands but you can always set timers and other advanced options that limit the time your child spends on his or her screen. Reducing screen time will not only benefit their eyes but will also make them sit less and move more.

Now that you know all about child obesity, and how to reduce it, your child will be fit in no time! We have hopefully answered your original question ‘how to get a kid lose weight fast?’ and distributed other valuable information. Don’t forget that children learn everything from parents and guardians so you should try to be healthy as well!