Obesity and overweight issues among teenaged girls have been on the rise this turn of the century. Young girls are turning to food to cope with any problems that they face, especially during the time of adolescence where they are still finding their place in the society.
Most concerned parents would do their best to coax their child to lose weight, if they see it spinning out of control. Some parents and peers can be a bit cruel and succumb to name calling, which can significantly demoralize a young girls spirit.
In a recent study done involving weight loss control to 208 overweight teenaged girls aging from 12 to 17 years old living in Washington and Oregon area. Some of the girls received the typical advice on losing weight, such as online sources, books and enrollment at a gym. The other girls however underwent an intensive behavioral weight loss program, that focused on knowing what a nutritional diet is and tackled on habitual exercise habits. And instead of the parents being part of the program with the girls, the young girls spoke and had frequent discussion with peers instead with their own parents. The parents were still part of the program, but they had separate sessions away from their daughters.
Surprisingly, the teenaged girls who went with the behavioral weight loss program lost a bit more weight than the ones who were in the typical weight loss program. Both programs started at the same time and lasted for one year. Weight loss programs for teenagers can indeed work even in the absence of parents support. And working with peers, that are young girls themselves – made them more comfortable and made them more open to heeding their advice in the weight loss discussions that they went through.
In the behavioral modification weight loss group, aside from just living a healthy life with exercise and nutritional eating, they also cut down time in watching Television, talked about self-confidence and innate – and really focused on changing the lifestyle of the teenaged girls.
The girls that went through the more intensive and focused behavioral modification did not drastically lose weight as compared to the ones who went on with the typical route of weight loss. But they emerged more confident about themselves, and were more steady on the track of exercising 5 times in a week at 30 minutes at a time, tend to stay away from fast food, found more hobbies to do and even performed better in school too.
Perhaps, the young girls in the behavioral weight loss program also lost weight better, since they don’t feel disciplined or restricted with their emotions regarding their overweight issues. They were given more chance to speak and had more freedom on the kind of exercises to do and the healthy food that they need to eat. The feeling of independence evoked a feeling of responsibility for their own body’s well being.
However, we should not take the parents support for granted. Parents are after all the ones who make the usual decisions on the kind of food available in the house and the activities done at home.
How can Parents Help their Teenage Daughters Lose Weight Effectively?
Be an Example. If your child sees that you workout regularly, and do not spend so much time sitting down watching television or surfing the net. Subconsciously, a child would also follow suit and even ask you to enroll in a gym or seek advice from you regarding a sport in school or outside the school.
Shop Wisely. Having healthy and wholesome food around the house, will help them snack better without them knowing. Eating carrot sticks or an apple for a snack will become normal for them, and will snack that way all through out life.
Encourage and don’t Nag. Nagging can backlash to your teenaged girls ego. Causing them to more often than now, binge some more. Subtle encouragements and praises even work best for some. Exaggerated praises can be over the top for young girls, and there are times they actually cringe with parent’s well-meaning praises.
Go on Active Family Retreats. Going play Frisbee at the park, go hiking or do camping treats every now and then. Try to get your butt of the couch or seat from watching television all day over the weekend or endlessly surfing on the Internet.
