Are you worried that your child may succumb childhood obesity?

Indeed, many dieticians have declared a crisis among our younger generation. There is a frightening statistic that claims that today’s young children constitute the first generation that may live fewer years than their parent’s generation. Here are eight things you can do right now to help combat childhood obesity worries.

1. As a parent, propose to get as fit as you can. Don’t go on a diet or lose weight for the sake of losing weight. Instead, choose a healthier lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle consists of making healthy choices each and every day. Substitute low fat and healthy choices for tempting but fatty foods whenever you can. Be as active as you can on a regular basis. Research has shown that if parents adopt a healthy lifestyle, their children will also.

2. Schedule active time with your child. Part of preventing or combating childhood obesity is to stay active. Staying active can be difficult if you are not drawn to sports or exercise. No matter how busy you are it is important that you take the time to stay active. Schedule active time with your child on a regular basis. Ideally, you will want to spend at least a few minutes every day moving with your child. For young children, consider a special ‘dance’ time each and every day that allows you and your child to move and have fun. Or consider taking the dog for a walk together every afternoon. If you want to make a solid commitment, consider enrolling in a ‘mommy and me’ fitness class.

3. Cook with your child. One of the best ways to help prevent or combat childhood obesity is to spend some quality time cooking with your child. Most children love to help around the kitchen. Even if you don’t consider yourself a gourmand, or you think you simply do not have enough time, set aside a small block of time a few times a week in which your child can help you put together healthy snacks. Make fun and healthy snacks together, such as Ants on a Log—celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins.

4. Enroll your child in a movement activity that they enjoy. Most children today are not as active as they once were. There are too many temptations that keep children inside, including video games and 24-hour cartoon channels on television. Try to instill a recurring and fun activity into your child’s life. If your child loves sports, enroll him or her into a sport they enjoy. If your child is not sports-oriented, find a movement activity that they can enjoy, such as dancing, yoga, cheer, baton—anything to keep them moving.

5. Schedule an outdoor play date. Children are much more inclined to run and play when they are with other children. One of the best ways to keep your child active and healthy is to schedule and outdoor play date with other children. Have them play, run and chase each other around under supervision.

6. Speak to your child openly about health and nutrition. Although you don’t want to lecture about the habits of proper eating habits, children are smart and they will understand your motives and ideas if you just explain it to them. Explain to your children that you are concerned about their health, and the differences between healthy and unhealthy eating.

7. Put together a healthy snack food menu. With your child, create a menu of favorite healthy snack foods. Next time your child is hunting the kitchen for a snack, refer to your healthy snack menu to find something that he or she wants to eat.

8. Get a pet. If you are an animal lover and you have the space to keep a pet, consider adopting a friendly friend. Pets can help you and your family bond and stay active.

Those are some eight easy to implement methods to bead childhood obisity