Banten Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Task Force Team Leader Dr. Novitria Dwinanda, Sp.A. Subsp. N.P.M said the management of obese children was by changing snacks from sweets to fruit slices.
“Children are still growing and developing, so don’t let us thin them out but their brains don’t develop. The management of obesity in children who cut it is snacks, not the main meal,” he said in Jakarta, Tuesday.
Novitria advises parents not to replace cut fruit with juice because it usually contains higher sugar.
Apart from snacks, parents also need to eliminate intake of sugary drinks and replace them with water.
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Then, for the main meal, you should give it in portions as usual and three times a day or in other words, don’t skip breakfast.
“You can’t miss breakfast, the more you miss it, the more revenge you get at noon. Regular portions, not reduced,” said Novitria who had studied at the University of Indonesia.
Furthermore, parents help children carry out activities that are adapted to the child’s age, and should divide them into three major activities, starting with light activities that can be done every day, for example cleaning the bed, putting cutlery where it should be and getting your own drink.
Second, activities that can be done three to five times a day and are slightly aerobic in nature, for example playing a bicycle, walking in the afternoon. Third, activities that are carried out once to twice a week but are targeted, such as swimming, karate and basketball training.
In addition to improving diet and physical activity, obesity management also includes sleep or rest patterns. According to the Ministry of Health, lack of sleep can disrupt the hormone leptin, causing uncontrollable hunger. If the quantity and quality of a person’s sleep is not appropriate, it will affect the balance of various hormones which in turn triggers obesity.
Sleep disorders can cause an increase in energy intake in a number of ways, namely increasing hunger through increasing the hormone ghrelin (controlling hunger) and decreasing the hormone leptin (controlling satiety), more time remaining to eat and tending to choose unhealthy foods.
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