Clinical Reference Systems: Pediatric Advisor 10.0
Overweight: A Weight Reduction Program (for Teenagers)
DESCRIPTION
- You appear overweight.
- You weigh more than 20 percent over the ideal weight for
your height.
- The skin fold thickness of your upper arm's fat layer is
more than 1 inch (25 millimeters) when measured with a
special instrument.
More than 25 percent of American teenagers are overweight.
CAUSES
The tendency to be overweight is usually inherited. If one
parent is overweight, probably half of the children will be
overweight. If both parents are overweight, most of their
children will be overweight. If neither parent is
overweight, the children have a 10 percent chance of being
overweight.
Heredity alone (without overeating) accounts for most mild
obesity, whereas moderate obesity is usually due to a
combination of heredity, overeating, and underexercising.
Some overeating is normal in our society, but only those who
have the inherited tendency to be overweight will gain
significant weight when they overeat.
Less than 1 percent of obesity has an underlying medical
cause. Your physician can easily determine whether your
obesity has a physical cause with a simple physical
examination.
EXPECTED COURSE
Losing weight is very difficult. Keeping the weight off is
also a chore. The best time for losing weight is when a
teenager becomes very concerned with personal appearance. A
self-motivated teenager can follow a diet and lose weight
regardless of what his or her family eats.
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT
- Motivation
You can increase your motivation by joining a
weight-loss club such as TOPS or Weight Watchers.
Sometimes schools have classes for helping teenagers
lose weight.
- Setting weight-loss goals
Pick a realistic target weight dependent on your bone
structure and degree of obesity. The loss of 1 pound a
week is an attainable goal. However, you will have to
work quite hard to lose this much weight every week for
several weeks. You should weigh yourself no more than
once each week; daily weighings generate too much false
hope or disappointment. When losing weight becomes a
strain, take a few weeks off from the weight-loss
program. During this time, try to stay at a constant
weight.
Once you have reached the target weight, the long-range
goal is to try to stay within 5 pounds of that weight.
Staying at a particular weight is possible only through
a permanent moderation in eating. You will probably
always have the tendency to gain weight easily and it's
important that you understand this.
- Diet: Decreasing calorie consumption
You should eat three well-balanced meals a day of
average-sized portions. There are no forbidden foods;
you can have a serving of anything family or friends are
eating. However, there are forbidden portions. While
you are reducing, you must leave the table a bit hungry.
You cannot lose weight if you eat until full (satiated).
Eat average portions instead of large portions and avoid
seconds. Shortcuts such as fasting, crash dieting, or
diet pills rarely work and may be dangerous. Liquid
diets are safe only if they are used according to
directions.
Calorie counting is helpful for some people, but it is
usually too time-consuming. Consider the following
guidelines on what to eat and drink:
- Fluids: Mainly drink low-calorie drinks such as skim
milk, fruit juice diluted in half with water, diet
drinks, or flavored mineral water. Because milk has
lots of calories, drink no more than 16 ounces of
skim, 1-percent, or 2-percent milk each day. Drink
no more than 8 ounces of fruit juice a day. All
other drinks should be either water or diet drinks.
Try to drink six glasses of water each day.
- Meals: Eat fewer fatty foods (for example, eggs,
bacon, sausage, and butter). A portion of fat has
twice as many calories as the same portion of protein
or carbohydrate. Trim the fat off meats. Eat more
baked, broiled, boiled, or steamed foods and fewer
fried foods. Eat more fruits, vegetables, salads,
and grains.
- Desserts: Try to eat smaller-than-average portions
of desserts. Try more Jell-O and fresh fruits as
desserts. Avoid rich desserts. Do not eat second
helpings.
- Snacks: Eat mainly low-calorie foods such as raw
vegetables (carrot sticks, celery sticks, raw potato
sticks, pickles, etc.), raw fruits (apples, oranges,
cantaloupe, etc.), popcorn, or diet soft drinks. You
should have no more than two snacks a day.
- Vitamins: Take one multivitamin tablet daily during
your weight-loss program.
- Eating habits
To counteract the tendency to gain weight, you must
learn eating habits that will last you for a lifetime.
- Don't skip any of the three basic meals.
- Drink a glass of water before meals.
- Eat smaller portions.
- Chew your food slowly.
- Avoid high-calorie snack foods such as potato chips,
candy, or regular soft drinks.
- Do keep available diet soft drinks, fresh fruits, and
vegetables.
- Leave only low-calorie snacks out on the
counter--fruit, for example. Put away the cookie
jar.
- Store food only in the kitchen. Keep it out of other
rooms.
- Eat no more than two snacks each day. Avoid
continual snacking ("grazing") throughout the day.
- Eat only at the kitchen or dining-room table. Don't
eat while watching TV, studying, riding in a car, or
shopping in a store. Once eating becomes associated
with these activities, the body learns to expect it.
- Don't eat alone.
- Reward yourself for hard work or studying with a
movie, TV, music, or a book instead of food.
- Post some reminder cards on the refrigerator and
bathroom mirror that state "EAT LESS" or "STICK TO
THE PROGRAM".
- Exercise: Increasing calorie expenditure
Daily exercise can increase the rate of weight loss as
well as the sense of physical well-being. The
combination of diet and exercise is the most effective
way to lose weight. Try the following forms of
exercise:
- Walking or riding a bicycle instead of riding in a
car.
- Using stairs instead of elevators.
- Learning new sports. Swimming and jogging are the
sports that burn the most calories. Your school may
have an aerobics class.
- Taking the dog for a long walk.
- Spending 30 minutes a day exercising or dancing to
records or music on TV.
- Using an exercise bike or Hula Hoop while watching
TV. (Limit your TV sitting time to 2 hours or less
each day.)
- Social activities: Keeping the mind off food
The more outside activities you participate in, the
easier it will be for you to lose weight. Spare time
fosters nibbling. Most snacking occurs between 3 and
6 PM. Fill after-school time with activities such as
music, drama, sports, or scouts. A part-time job after
school may help. If nothing else, call or visit
friends. An active social life almost always leads to
weight reduction.
CALL YOUR PHYSICIAN DURING OFFICE HOURS IF:
- You have not improved your eating and exercise habits
after trying this program for 2 months.
- You are a compulsive overeater.
- You are depressed.
- You feel you have no close friends.
- You have other questions or concerns.
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