Changes in diet and adding exercise into daily activities are common ways to treat and prevent childhood obesity. Even modest weight loss and a modest increase in daily activity can reap dramatic results. However, because children are still developing, some experts do not recommend extensive weight loss for them unless obesity is severe or involves complications.

Parents can play a major role in helping to reduce the risk of their child becoming obese. Parents are urged to speak with a physician or dietitian about how to plan healthy meals. This will include lessons about how to read food labels. Generally diets should be rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains with no more than 30 percent of daily calories from fat. Parents are advised to avoid buying foods that are prepackaged, sugary or high in fat.

Other steps that can help reduce a child’s risk of obesity include:

• Serve as a role model. Parents who exercise regularly and eat healthy foods create a powerful role model for children to follow.
  
  
• Encourage children to eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast reduces a child’s energy levels, and often leads to hunger and snacking throughout the day.
  
  
• Serve vitamin-rich foods, such as salmon, lean top sirloin beef, fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, eggs and low-fat milk. This will help prevent vitamin deficiencies and promote a feeling of fullness that may curb a child's urge to snack.
  
  
• Do not insist that children eat when they are not hungry, or that they finish every meal.
  
  
• Do not reward or comfort a child with food. This includes not offering dessert as a reward for finishing a meal or another task. Doing so promotes sweets.
  
  
• Allow children to occasionally eat sweets. Forbidding sweets altogether may make children rebel and sneak sweets behind a parent's back.
  
  
• Encourage children to snack on fresh and canned fruit, vegetables, low-fat yogurt and low-fat graham crackers, animal crackers or vanilla wafers.
  
  
• Do not eat fast food more than once a week.
  
  
• Limit a child's TV and computer time.
  
  
• Spend time being active with children. This may include family walks or outdoor games.
  
  
• Teach children good eating and exercise habits.
  
  
• Promote good sleep habits. Keep regular bedtimes and allow for adequate rest. For example, children ages 6 to 9 need about 10 hours of sleep a night, and those 10 to 12 need a little more than nine hours of sleep nightly, according to the Nemours Foundation. Seek treatment for sleep disorders.

Some states are also trying to reduce childhood obesity by:

• Reviving physical education in schools
• Promoting opportunities for sports and exercise
• Improving foods offered by school cafeterias
• Restricting vending machines

The National Institutes of Health and other government agencies released a report in 2005 that provided updated guidelines to prevent obesity. Many of the recommendations centered around a sensible diet and being active most days of the week (30 minutes a day to reduce the risk of chronic disease, 60 minutes or more to maintain or lose weight).

The report also recommended that:

• The United States government makes prevention of childhood obesity a national priority.
  
  
• Industries promote healthful eating and physical activity.
  
  
• Nutrition labeling is clear so parents and youths can make informed choices.
  
  
• Marketing and advertising to children minimize risk of obesity.
  
  
• A long-term federal public relations campaign focuses on obesity prevention in children.
  
  
• Governments and community groups promote healthful eating and physical activity.
  
  
• Governments, community groups and developers create local recreational opportunities for children.
  
  
• Healthcare professionals and organizations including insurers track body mass index (BMI) and establish programs on obesity prevention.

Schools make it easy for students to eat well and be physically active. Parents should promote good eating and physical activity behaviors at home.