Nutrition

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

Sometimes, if you look closely, you will notice that your child or teen constantly eats something. He seems to be eating a lot of main snacks and is always overeating. So how do we know if his behavior is typical, or should we be worried about it? Or if he is overeating, how should we maintain a healthy weight and prevent overeating?

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

Symptoms of overheating in children:

  • Intense craving for food
  • Eat plenty of food regularly
  • Inability to control appetite
  • Abnormal weight gain
  • Dissatisfaction with meals
  • Inability to control hunger
  • Feeling stressed or tense Feeling disgusted, upset, or guilty after overeating.
  • Inability to control body weight
  • Dissatisfaction after food

Reasons for overeating in children and adolescents:

Some of the problems that cause overeating in children are:

Emotional overeating

In this type of overeating, the child eats to relax or relieve fatigue. Emotional eating usually causes the child to overeat and overeat through calories, fat accumulation, and weight gain. If you see signs of emotional overeating in your child, find the cause.

Severe overeating disorder

Overeating disorder, which often occurs in adolescence and adulthood, causes your teen to lose control of their hunger and overeating.

child growth

Children are more likely to starve as they grow older because they need nutrients and vitamins to complete their growth. Overeating is regular at this age but should be controlled unnecessarily.

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

Excessive physical activity

Some children have high energy and are consistently physically active. Their metabolism is relatively high, and in this condition, the child consumes more food, and even after reduced physical activity, overeating continues, and the child becomes overweight and obese.

Child modeling

Friends, family, and acquaintances can inadvertently create children’s eating patterns, sometimes overeating in children due to imitation of others. Due to the wrong pattern of the child, the desire to eat fatty and sweet foods increased.

Heavy stress

Some children overeat due to stress or emotional trauma, in which case parents should take the child to a psychologist.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors also cause overeating because these factors upset the balance of calories received by the body. For example, children who watch many TVs and are not active eat high-calorie snacks and consume less energy.

Fetal and neonatal conditions

The early feeding of infants is an essential factor in childhood obesity. Intrauterine feeding of the fetus causes physiological changes. Breastfeeding prevents the baby from becoming obese in the future.

What is emotional or nervous overeating?

Emotional overeating means eating when upset to avoid confusion or responding to intense emotions that increase a person’s need for nutrients. Emotional overeating causes you to overeat, and you usually do not need the same amount of calories and nutrients at that time. Over time, the extra calories accumulate and cause the child to gain weight and obesity. You should know that such overeating will cause guilt or shame in the child.

If you see signs of emotional overeating in your child, be sure to talk to him or her about your concerns. When he is focused on solving the problem, help him to have a better answer.

What is Binge Eating Disorder?

Eating disorders usually occur during adolescence or early adolescence, one of which is Bing eating disorder. A person eats large amounts of food regularly and for a short period.

People with this disorder are often ashamed of overeating. They may also hide some food to eat on their own.

These people usually try diets but fail. They often promise to stop overeating but will not succeed. They feel that they can never control their desire to eat, and as a result, they become overweight and obese.

If you are worried about this disorder in your child, be sure to monitor his behavior and talk to his doctor. The doctor can evaluate the child and suggest the best ways to help the child.

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

What are the health effects of overeating?

Overeating can lead to overweight, and children who are overweight and obese are exposed to more serious risks and problems, including:

  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Asthma
  • Sleep apnea
  • Some types of cancer
  • Overeating disorder can also cause stomach problems and depressive symptoms.

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

Parents’ work to combat overeating in children and adolescents:

A child’s eating habits begin at an early age and may develop between 1 and 2 years. This is why parents need to teach their children healthy eating habits and encourage them to follow these habits.

Examples of these healthy habits should start at an early age and continue through adolescence.

  • Be a good role model for your child.
  • Choose healthy foods and snacks for yourself.
  • Always have enough protein, vegetables, and legumes in your main meals and snacks.
  • Even if the child does not welcome, offer healthy and varied foods.
  • Children are not always receptive to new foods, but if you try to choose from various healthy options, your child will probably accept them and may quickly become accustomed to a healthy eating habit.
  • Teach your child how to choose healthy options for school lunch.
  • Avoid fast food as much as you can. If you have to take her to a restaurant, be sure to choose the healthiest food.
  • Avoid sugary drinks such as soft drinks or sugary teas.
  • Do not force him to clean his plate thoroughly.
  • Teach him that he can stop eating whenever he feels complete.
  • Do not use food as a reward; for example, instead of promising ice cream after doing a good deed, you can promise him that you will play a new game with him.
  • Always have healthy snacks at home. For example, eat fruits such as apples and bananas, raw vegetables such as carrots and cabbage, celery, and low-fat yogurt.

Benefits of physical activity to deal with the side effects of overeating:

Encourage your child to be physically active. Physical activity has many benefits, including:

  • Instead of storing fat, it burns a lot more calories.
  • Keep your baby’s blood sugar levels balanced, especially when he is exposed to problems such as diabetes.
  • Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels
  • Strengthens the bones and muscles of the baby
  • Increases the child’s strength and endurance
  • Reduces his stress
  • Improve her sleep and mood
  • This boosts her confidence because it makes her feel good about her body and appearance.
  • It prevents serious problems such as for overweight and obesity
  • Studies show that regular physical activity is essential for a child’s healthy development. So encourage him to do at least 60 minutes of aerobic activity during the day and make exercise a fun activity for him.

Investigating the causes of overeating in children and its solution

Ways to help you with your baby’s physical activity:

  1. Do not spend more than two hours a day using mobile phones, computers, and home appliances, because video and computer games, surfing the Internet, texting, and watching too much TV will make your child less active.
  2. Please help your child find his or her favorite physical activity. For example, your child may love to participate in group sports, play outdoors, or volunteer.
  3. Make physical activity a part of your family lifestyle. Ride a bike and do your homework together, and always have an active lifestyle.

Should we consider a slimming diet for our child?

It would help if you never forced your child to lose weight unless your doctor tells you to. Children need a certain number of calories and nutrients to grow and increase their level of learning during the day.

When is it normal for children and adolescents to overeat?

Sometimes overeating is perfectly normal in children and adolescents, and they may also be a little overweight, which usually happens before they get taller. This type of overweight usually goes away quickly and allows the baby to return to normal.

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