Here’s the short answer: You’ve got to move to lose!

The quest for increasing activity begins with understanding that weight loss requires a change in the balance of energy. People who want to lose weight must expend more energy than they take in. To maintain weight loss, energy expended must match energy consumed. Unfortunately, for your overweight child, he or she probably has a biology that makes the management of this energy balance quite difficult. Overweight people have bodies that resist weight loss by being very efficient at storing food taken in and stingy about expending energy.

Nonetheless, with lots of attention, the right information, and considerable dedication, even resistant biologies can be tamed. For example, did you know that by simply standing up you expend 20% more energy than sitting down? As soon as we start moving, we double or triple the energy expended when sitting down. This means that overweight children don’t have to begin training for triathlons to lose weight. A walk through a book store or to the corner to buy a paper will contribute to health, in contrast to playing video games. You can discuss this with you child and both of you can follow this key principle: You’ve got to move, to lose.
The following suggestions, which we review in detail at the Wellspring Academies family workshops, focus on increasing movement along these lines:

• Buy pedometers for the family. A good one costs about $20 (e.g., Digiwalker; Accusplit).
• Set goals for steps walked per day. It takes about 2,000 steps to walk a mile and adults average about 4,000 steps per day. Several studies have shown that reaching 10,000 steps per day contributes to weight loss and the maintenance of weight loss over time.
• Post a chart on the refrigerator that allows all family members to record the number of steps walked each day.
• Consider creating a reward system in which steps walked and monitored get reinforced (e.g., make part of allowance contingent on reaching a step goal at least 5 days per week).
• Model movement. Walk instead of ride whenever possible. Park further away from destinations to get some extra steps in your daily life.
• Make vacations movement oriented. Many cities are great walking destinations and full of attractions for wide ranges of interests and ages (e.g., New York City, Washington, DC ; Boulder, CO). Of course, bike trips and hiking trips can work, as well.
• Remove TVs and even computers from your children’s rooms if possible.
• Limit TV and computer time to 2 hours per day.
• Provide active lessons for your children, including martial arts, fencing, and any sport which seems interesting to them (including golf).
• Become an exercise partner for your child. This could include walking, hiking or jogging together, taking lessons together, or going to a health club together.