A thin child used to be a symbol of illness, weakness, rickets in short, of everything negative that can be related to the physical development of a child. And, of course, he could not even be called "cute" no matter how well defined his actions were and how well proportioned his body was. He was simply ugly! On the contrary, the plump, meaty shaped like rings all over the body, it was the symbol of overflowing health and how to doubt it with those colors on the cheeks?), of strength and, of course, of physical beauty. In other words, the fat child (not to say that the notion of thick today would be translated to obese) was a symbol of everything positive in the physique of a creature that, in turn, promised great advantages in the mental aspect. Today, however, these notions have completely changed .
Years ago, when diseases were rife and modern antibiotics to combat them did not exist, being thick represented a certain resistance against all childhood diseases. So thin children tended to be sicker and to die more often. But today, when the fatal childhood diseases have almost been eliminated, it is proven that being thin is a great advantage, while being thick from early childhood only carries the danger of later having a tendency to extra kilos and, as a direct consequence, to reach adulthood with cardiovascular problems.
Despite the fact that this new concept has not begun to be defended and disseminated yesterday, many mothers remain with the ideas of our grandmothers. These, when they take a chubby newborn in Their arms, they see the puffy cheeks and the rolls in the arms, hands, legs and feet, and they find it charming. They even comment with great pride that the child has increased from the beginning and that she already has more weight than usual for her age. In short, they consider him an "advanced" child.
Unfortunately, one in twenty newborns in the Western Hemisphere weighs more than 4 kilos at birth. This weight, which is too high, is the product of the lack of care that the mother has observed in her diet during pregnancy, despite the importance that the obstetrician gives to the fact that it is kept to a minimum for health of the mother and the child and, of course, to facilitate the process of childbirth
After being born, these mothers who may even be described as modern "fall into the same obsession as their predecessors: making the child fat, and they use all the means to achieve it, from entertaining the child with a story while they give the compote until they squeeze their noses to make them pass the spoonfuls of porridge through their mouths, which they open to breathe. What a martyrdom this represents for the baby with a normal appetite! And what a negative satisfaction for the glutton! doing enormous damage.
Adult weight is defined during childhood
Many specialists believe that the mother's weight gain during the first three months of pregnancy determines the weight of the newborn at the time of delivery. In this case, the danger of an increase above normal directly affects the mother, for whom the last months of pregnancy are much more difficult and for whom labor will certainly be more difficult than for the woman who has been able to support a suitable weight.
The thick newborn, like its mother, has a layer of subcutaneous fat greater than normal. Therefore, women who start their pregnancy already fat, should be much more careful in following the diet that the specialist gives them; These women must take special care to avoid sweets and pay attention to nutrition, so as not to ingest additional calories in desserts and take advantage of them in meat and vegetable dishes, rich in protein and vitamins.
When children are born with more than 4 kilos of weight, they have the probability of developing normally, as long as they later lose the characteristic fat of the baby. But the problem with chubby children is that mothers continue to fatten them through infancy, and the result is that they later grow into fat teens and adults.
It is proven that babies born 25 or 30% overweight not only have more fat cells, but they are larger in size and in concentration of fatty elements. This close relationship between the number and concentration of fat cells and the weight of children is in itself a reason for the mother to fight overweight in the child from the beginning, by creating good eating habits
Until a few years ago it was believed that the number of fat cells was fixed at birth, and that the only thing that could be changed was their size, over the years. It is now known that fat cells increase easily, especially in children who weigh more than they should be for their age and size. It has been proven that there are two-year-old children so fat that at this very young age they already have the same number of fat cells as an adult of normal weight.
You have to be very aware of the critical periods of the child in relation to their nutrition. The time between the first year of life and three years, and between 14 and 18 years, are key in the adult weight afterwards. Overfeeding the child or adolescent in these two periods usually leads to fat problems later. Because what is increased in the number of fat cells during the first six years of life, later is very difficult to alter, and the weight of the adult, therefore, will always tend to be much higher than it should be. and desired.
The human body can be compared to a machine that requires enough fuel to function; But unlike the machine, the body also needs energy to make more cells. For correct nutrition you need 60 calories per kilo of weight. What is eaten beyond this index of need, becomes fat. Of course, newborns are unaware of these facts. However, nature only makes them suckle according to their needs (when they are breastfed). This being the case, they should never have weight problems; But as there are mothers who either do not breastfeed or supplement the breast dose with bottles, the chances of being overweight through the years do not disappear.
In addition to the damage that fat represents to health and how unsightly it is today, the mother must think about the disadvantage at which she places her child with respect to her schoolmates. While the thin are generally physically agile, the fat easily tire from physical activities, so in most cases they prefer not to participate in games and sports like the rest of their friends. Thus, they suffer from certain complexes, since they even become objects of ridicule by others. Several studies have found that 25% of schoolchildren are overweight and, among this percentage, 97% have no reason other than eating too much.
When a newborn is born overweight, what is recommended is a diet based on few cereals and many fruits and vegetables; that is, a lot of protein and few carbohydrates. As soon as she begins to crawl, she should be given plenty of free space to exercise enough to burn off calories. In any case, whether the child is chubby or normal, proteins, legumes and fruits with residue are of greater importance during the first three years of life. Following a diet based on these three elements, in which there are hardly any carbohydrates, it is difficult for the child to go beyond her normal weight.
Despite all these facts, which make the thin child see as healthy and pretty (yes, the aesthetics say somodern), are you still worried because the child is thin? Let's go!
Stop obsessing over those ideas of the past and enjoy your perfectly healthy baby, future man or woman without weight problems. And always remember what the pediatrician will have told you: "No child goes hungry with food within reach.
Thanks for your attention, I hope you like it!
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