To prevent obesity, follow the Baby curve!
The key to preventing obesity is act early to benefit from the dynamics of the organism during the period of growth! At your fingertips, a useful indicator: the build curve or body mass index (BMI), the best guarantee of the evolution of your child’s height / weight ratio (see box)! This curve indicates if your little one is in the “norm” (approximately one meter to three years for 15 kg) or not.
Obesity threatens as soon as Baby’s weight, relative to his height, exceeds the average by 20%. For example, 16 kg for a two year old child measuring 90 cm is too big! To prevent obesity, it is essential to ensure regular monitoring of the curve (but not daily either, beware of obsession!) And to take the necessary measures. But, more importantly, this curve highlights two strategic moments that must be especially watched for Baby.
The first course : it occurs around one year … During his first year, Baby fills up with “fuel” and energy, and it takes some to gain the 25 cm that he will gain in twelve months! Result, before a year, he is a little plump and the body curve soars. The important thing is the peak, around one year, where the curve “falls”. From this point on, Baby gets “restless” and his needs decrease considerably. With his first steps, he begins to spend the accumulated energy and to refine. Little by little, all round, Baby becomes all long… Above all, this is not a reason to add an additional ration!
The second cape : it is around 5-6 years old. Your child is growing and the body curve goes up. It’s normal. Corn be careful if this second “peak” of the curve occurs early, ie around three years old. There, we immediately talk about overweight and we must act!
Read the article on overweight for children aged 3 to 12
What about the 10 a.m. snack?
Gone, the legendary glass of milk served in the morning with a small snack in all schools since 1954? Possible… Afssa (French Food Safety Agency) questions its composition (products too fatty or too sweet), its schedule (too close to lunch) while affirming that it is not the solution either. to the absence of breakfast and that it would encourage snacking… According to the head of the nutrition department of the Hôtel-Dieu (Paris), the message to be conveyed is the importance of a breakfast solid and diversified composed of a hot drink, a fruit and starchy foods, and this at 8 am and not at 10 …