Take a quick look around and you’ll observe the costly obesity crisis that is slowly overtaking our nation. How bad has it become you may say? Consider the idea that we are now seeing individuals parking in handicap parking spots to avoid having to park just a few extra feet away from a building.

For some people, this is tied to genetics – there are several genetic triggers that, when we lived hand to mouth as a species, were survival traits. Being able to store fat in prosperous times was an insurance of survival in the winter. Also in that calculus lies the fact that we have, as a population, become more sedentary as technology has progressed.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in looking at childhood obesity and nutrition. Nutritionists estimate that for every point of body mass index a child is overweight by before puberty, the adult that child will grow into will be three points overweight by the time they’re thirty. Type II diabetes, where body stress from overeating builds up resistance to insulin, is becoming more prevalent in teenagers.

At the ages of 12 – 16 is when most young girls and boys are self conscious about their bodies. Even “normal looking” kids get teased. If we allow our children to continue down a slippery slope toward obesity, we are setting them up for a very difficult childhood. Parents must be told that healthy eating habits and not Slimfast diet shakes or Medifast meals are the key to weight loss and a nutritious lifestyle.

On the positive side of things, I want to let you know that there is hope. There is an easy way to solve this downward trend.

Think back to when you were a kid. If there were video game consoles, they were things like the Atari 2600. Your friends came over in person, and you ran around outside and played in the park, running around with the excess energy that all children have.

When you were thirsty, mostly you grabbed milk, sometimes orange juice, not sodas. Cookies were a treat, not a staple of your diet. Snacks were things like apple wedges or an orange, maybe some peeled carrots.

This same attitude can be instilled in your kids, but you have to be strict about it. Keep your kids on the smallest amount of soda you can. If you do give your kids soda, give them diet soda, or a mixture of diet and regular; the key here is that you don’t want to give them a sugar addiction early on. Humans are evolved to prefer sweet as a flavor, and the amount of sugar in a can of non diet soda has increased 30% since 1970.

When they have snacks, give them fruits and vegetables, or baked goods that are also low in sugar. Make sure that you have a dedicated family meal every evening, where everyone talks about what they did during the day – these reinforce that meal times are an important social occasion, not a pit stop between bouts with the Game Cube or Wii.

When it comes to leisure activities, encourage your kids to play sports – soccer, baseball, softball. Not all kids will have an aptitude for them, and some aren’t ready to socialize in large groups when the rest of their age cohort is. For those kids, make time out every week to go on a hike for a mile or two. If you get in the habit of walking for a mile as a family every day after dinner, everyone will be healthier, and you’ll be staving off the perils of the obesity epidemic.

The key to providing life long health for your kids is inculcating these habits early in life, so they become habits. Explain why you’re doing it when they ask, but don’t preach. Your kids will adopt the behaviors they see you doing – you’re their parent, their role model, and these are the habits they’ll stick with as they get older.

If your teen is overweight, what options do you have? Author Dorthy Weatherbush has taken the guess work out of determining if your teen would benefit from a physician recommended meal replacement diet. Learn more about her suggestions at http://www.StephensonandCompany.com