How to Keep Your Child at a Healthy Weight – Practical Advice for Parents
- Caroline Curtis
- Jul 12
- 6 min read
Diet and weight, and their impact on health, can be a stressful and sometimes triggering topic.
However, it’s important to remember that establishing a balanced diet and promoting healthy eating
habits for kids is one important element of promoting children’s health and well-being.
Alongside healthy eating, it’s important to encourage an active lifestyle and support children’s
mental health and emotional well-being. Giving your child an understanding of healthy choices when
they are young will stand them in good stead for their future.
Here’s our judgement-free hints, tips, habits and mindset to help you get on the right track.
What is a healthy weight for a child?
From birth, midwives, health visitors and doctors will use the growth chart and percentiles to get a
quick overview of your child’s physical health.
Although helpful, it’s important to remember that these charts are simply a snapshot, and the real
picture is built up over time and at multiple points.
Every child is different. They grow at their own pace and have their own line.
From 2 years +, the NHS use BMI charts, and offers advice on weight categories, and a healthy weight
for children. You can find more information on children’s weight over at the NHS website.
By discussing with your health visitor or doctor, you can gain a good insight and understanding of
your child’s weight trends and patterns, and keep any worries or weight-related stresses at bay.
Nutrition Tips to Support a Healthy Weight
1. Focus on Nutritional Foods
From the get-go, all childhood nutrition tips and advice tell us that nutrition-dense food is the best
way [1].
This means that fruit and vegetables with all their natural vitamins are a great starting point for a
healthy plate of food. Check out our guide on how to encourage your child to eat more fruit and veg.
Add in whole foods, such as wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread and wholewheat pasta, as well as
a portion of protein and some dairy, for a balanced diet for kids - adults alike!
It’s important to keep ultra-processed foods and snacks that are high in sugar but low in nutrition to
a minimum.
However, this does not mean that they should be off limits entirely; it’s all about striking a balance.
Some snacks that are purely for joy are just as important as nutritious, vitamin-packed snacks.
2. Create a Balanced Plate
The “Healthy Eating Plate” is a visual guide which helps with knowing how much of each component
to serve.
There are also lunchboxes out there that are designed with each compartment holding the correct
portion size - great when learning how to keep your child at a healthy weight.
3. Encourage Regular Family Mealtimes
One effective way to support healthy eating habits for kids is to model it ourselves.
How? By eating together as a family and friends.
By doing so, you’re practising what you preach in real time, with your child watching. By eating
together, you are encouraging healthy relationships with food.
Here are some examples of healthy family meals.
See this as an opportunity to connect, to learn about each other’s day, and to make those bonds
between you stronger. Try to keep screens away from the table as this will allow everyone to focus on
eating, be present, and be together in the moment.
4. Offer Food, Don’t Force
Intuitive eating is a term to describe someone who eats until they’re full - and no more.
The only way children can develop this ability is by not having to clear their plates every time they sit
down to a meal.
Some caregivers serve everything (the meal and pudding) at once – no dangling carrots for finishing a
particular proportion of the meal before getting their pudding. This means we trust our children to
know how much they need.
Supporting intuitive eating can help with picky or fussy eaters.
Children are far more likely to try new foods if they don’t feel any pressure, and if they’ve been
exposed to it on other occasions without being forced to try some. Keep placing the same new food on their plate - it will take numerous times of seeing the food as an option to try, before they actually
try it.
[image]
Caption: Image by gpointstudio on Freepik
Alt Text: Toddler girl eating a bowl of fruit at the table
Physical Activity and Movement for a Healthy
Lifestyle
Eating healthy foods is just one part of a healthy lifestyle. Keeping active and moving our
bodies is another.
But how do we encourage young children to partake in light exercise?
Make it fun!
When children enjoy, they want to revisit the experience. This builds a lifelong positive relationship
with exercise.
Kids particularly enjoy dance, biking, walking in nature, and even formal games such as football,
tennis, etc.
Keeping Consistent
Aim for daily physical activity for children, as they are still mastering gross motor skills.
Did you know? Toddlers need upwards of 180 minutes of activity a day!
Children of 5 years and up need upwards of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day (this
means raising heart rate, getting hot and sweaty, and/or getting out of breath).
At Lucky Beans Childcare, we ensure that the children take part in physical activity of some sort on a
daily basis. The children also take part in weekly tennis and ballet lessons to help develop core
strength and hand-eye coordination.
Keep away from screens where possible
Screen time is very sedentary and encourages little to no movement for children.
While it can provide calm and quiet time, we must remember that screen-free time and time spent
moving their body are vital for children.
Where possible, establish routines for regular physical play, activities, or time outdoors.
1000 hours outside is an excellent initiative that aims to support breaking current worrying trends
where children spend far less than 1hour a day moving their bodies. They provide inspirational new
ideas and fun ways to increase your time spent outdoors.
Building Positive Lifelong Habits
For these healthy habits and routines to stick, it’s important that they’re embedded into your family
lifestyle.
How can you do this?
● Be the change you want to see, and set the example for your family.
Remember to model the behaviour you would like to see in your children - healthy eating,
family mealtimes, and daily movements.
● Create calming and structured bedtime routines. Poor sleep has been linked to weight gain in
both adults and children.
Kidshealth.org provides a rough guide of the sleep hours we should be aiming for.
● Remember, the focus is not on weight, but on being healthy, feeling good, with raised energy
levels.
It’s always best to avoid weight-focused language. Instead, look at what our body can do and
how it helps us, e.g I love my body because it is healthy and allows me to ride my bike.
[image]
Caption: Image by Freepik
Alt Text: Young boy and girl cutting up vegetables in the kitchen
Your Children’s Health and Wellbeing Checklist
➔ Are we mindful of the limits of sugary drinks and processed food?
➔ Do we have healthy snacks and meals available at home?
➔ Are we encouraging fun physical activities every day?
➔ Is bedtime calm and consistent for the children?
➔ Are we modelling healthy choices?
Keeping your children healthy can feel like an overwhelming list of things to do to achieve your goal.
Remember, consistency is key – you’re not aiming for perfection every day.
Make these habits, choices, and routines part of a lifestyle you adopt as a family. Together, you can
make small, positive lifestyle choices which are the foundation for lifelong family health.
Do you have any go-to healthy routines or tips you could share?
Share your family health activities and what works for you in the comments!
FAQs
Q1: How can I tell if my child is at a healthy weight?
Consult your child’s GP or health visitor, who can use growth charts and other measures to assess
healthy development.
Q2: Should I put my child on a diet?
No, this isn’t necessary.
Instead, shift the focus to creating a healthy environment and modelling balanced habits. Dieting in
children can be harmful and lead to negative body image and disordered relationships with food.
Q3: What if my child is a picky eater?
Continue offering a variety of foods without pressure.
Keep a safe (known) food at every meal so that children always have something they like to fall back
on. Repeated exposure and a calm approach often lead to success over time.
Q4: How much physical activity should my child get?
Children aged 5+ need at least 60 minutes of active play or exercise each day. Younger kids benefit
from multiple active play sessions.
Q5: Can screen time affect my child’s weight?
Yes, excessive screen time is linked to lower activity levels and can influence poor eating habits. Aim
for screen-time limits and promote active alternatives.
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