Article 121: Prevention of Obesity in School-Age Children and Prevention of Postpartum Obesity

To prevent obesity or avoid its worsening in school-aged children, the main methods are to develop reasonable personal eating habits and engage in regular and consistent outdoor activities and physical exercise.

Overweight or obese school-aged children must develop good eating habits, paying attention to the composition, type, calories, frequency, and manner of their meals. They should consume low-calorie foods and limit or avoid sugar (especially chocolate), sweet snacks, and sugary cold drinks. They should also avoid high-calorie foods such as animal fats, fatty meats, dried fruits, and fried foods. They should eat more high-protein foods, such as lean meats (beef, lamb, pork, rabbit), poultry (chicken, duck, goose, etc.), fish, eggs (especially egg whites), beans and bean products, and skim milk drinks. They should also limit their intake of starchy foods such as rice, noodles, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and vermicelli. They should eat three meals a day, preferably smaller, more frequent meals. If hungry before bed, they can have a snack of vegetable soup or fruit. They should not skip breakfast, even if they eat a large dinner or for any other reason. Eat meals at regular times and in appropriate portions. To reduce appetite or eat less staple food while still feeling full, you can eat a bowl of flavorful, oil-free, thick vegetable soup before meals. Chew your food slowly and thoroughly, avoiding wolfing it down to prevent unknowingly overeating. Avoid snacking or unbalanced diets, and limit salt intake. If you feel hungry between meals, you can eat thick vegetable soup or fruit to stave off hunger.

To prevent obesity in school-aged children, it is essential to maintain a consistent amount of outdoor activity and physical exercise every day. Encourage participation in beneficial activities such as hiking, wading, games, morning and bedtime gymnastics, and short jogs. Actively participate in various sports, such as table tennis, badminton, and rope skipping. Organized participation in choirs, sports training classes, and summer camps is also beneficial. After school, children can also do appropriate housework or other physical labor.

The most noticeable area of ​​obesity is the waist and abdomen. To eliminate excess fat in the waist and abdomen, the best exercise is to strengthen the waist and abdominal muscles. Here are three simple and easy methods: ① Sit-ups. ② Supine leg raises. ③ Trunk exercises. Perform each method 10-15 times daily. Regularly doing these exercises will not only strengthen local muscles but also reduce local fat, reshaping a strong and healthy physique.

Many women struggle to lose weight after childbirth, primarily due to hormonal changes during pregnancy that disrupt the body's fat metabolism. This type of obesity is medically termed postpartum obesity, and prevention methods include: A balanced diet; avoiding the traditional reliance on animal protein sources like chicken, duck, meat, and eggs, and focusing on a balanced intake. Fish, meat, vegetables, and fruits provide the body with essential nutrients such as protein, minerals, and vitamins while preventing obesity. Limit your intake of sweets and sugar. Breastfeeding accelerates milk production, promotes maternal metabolism and blood circulation, and helps eliminate excess nutrients, preventing fat accumulation. Exercise enhances the function of the nervous and endocrine systems, promoting the metabolism of fats and sugars, effectively preventing obesity. After a normal delivery, women can get out of bed and move around 24 hours later, performing light exercises or sit-ups. However, avoid squatting or lifting heavy objects to prevent uterine prolapse and other complications.

The desire for beauty is universal. Some young mothers hesitate to wean their children when it's time. The reason is that they believe the nutrients in breast milk will be stored in their bodies, causing weight gain. This is a misconception and lacks scientific basis. Although adult women possess the organs and functions for lactation, they do not produce milk. Only after birth, when the placenta is expelled, hormone levels adjust, and prolactin and lactogenic hormone levels rise sharply. Through neuroendocrine regulation, breast milk is then produced continuously. Therefore, in a sense, "breast milk comes from the baby." While breast milk is a nutritious staple for infants, it is 90% water. Other nutrients are negligible for the mother and do not contribute to weight gain.

Under normal circumstances, women tend to accumulate fat more easily in areas like the hips and abdomen than men, making them more prone to weight gain. Furthermore, judging whether someone is overweight involves considering both fat percentage and weight. A person is considered overweight if their ideal weight exceeds their ideal weight by 20%. Obesity occurs when the intake of calories exceeds the expenditure of calories; the excess calories are converted into fat and stored under the skin, leading to obesity. During lactation, many mothers are very particular about their nutrition to ensure sufficient and nutritious breast milk, consuming fish, eggs, chicken, or duck daily. Coupled with the fact that women are generally sedentary, and after having children, being busy with housework further reduces their ability to exercise postpartum. After weaning, the absence of nighttime breastfeeding leads to better sleep, making them more susceptible to weight gain. Therefore, whether a woman gains weight after childbirth is completely unrelated to whether she has weaned. Introducing complementary foods to the child in a timely manner to prepare for weaning is beneficial for the baby's healthy growth. However, indefinitely prolonging breastfeeding is not a good strategy and is more harmful than beneficial. To prevent postpartum weight gain, it's essential to adjust your diet and increase exercise. Reduce your intake of high-fat, high-cholesterol foods, as well as staples like rice and flour, and limit high-sugar fruits. Simultaneously, perform sit-ups to strengthen abdominal muscles, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, 10-20 repetitions each time. This exercise method is not conducive to fat accumulation in the abdomen and helps maintain a good postpartum figure.