Childhood obesity is becoming more and more common in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over the past 30 years, the number of overweight children ages 6 to 11 years has more than doubled.

Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat. Obesity is present when total body weight is more than 25 percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat in girls (Lohman, 1987). I believe the most tragic part of this epidemic is that in most cases, it can be prevented.

Recently during a fitness and nutrition seminar at our church we went through an exercise that I call fast forward. You consider a bad habit that has been troubling you or even ruling your life. You look forward into the future to see what your life will look if you continue that bad habit in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc.

I had one woman that was visibly upset. Rather than seeing herself she saw her children. She realized that her habits of unhealthy eating, were being passed on to her children and therefore creating the same hell she was going through. Yes, she was considerably overweight.

Maybe you already know its a problem but you dont know what to do. Here are a few suggestions.

Eat meals as a family. I know that we are all so busy these days but sitting down as a family is so important. Slow down and share family time. Meals together arent just about eating. Its also a time to spend quality time and share your day.

Do not love your children with food. Give your child a hug, a story, anything that encourages a relationship. Your child will remember a hug and time together far longer than a candy bar.

Eat a balanced meal. No fad diets! Its really not that hard to put together a meal quickly. However, it does take some preparation. Its pretty fast to throw together a bag of salad, rice in a bag (90 seconds) and broil chicken breast. Thats 20 minutes tops. It takes longer to drive to a fast food restaurant, order, eat your food and come home than to prepare a meal at home.

Plan school lunches and snacks. You will probably have to plan lunches for school if you want your children to have something healthy to eat. Little modifications make a big difference. Try some of these ideas; baby carrots rather than chips, fruit cups, turkey sandwiches cut in fun shapes on whole grain bread.

Incorporate exercise into their day. Do we even have physical education in the schools anymore? Get moving and keep moving as a family.

I hear so many people say that they dont think its fair to deprive their children of candy, cookies and junk food. Really parents; the only thing you will be depriving them of is low self-esteem and Type II Diabetes.