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Life Kit

Do's And Don'ts For Parents Whose Kids Have Gained Weight In The Pandemic

Life Kit

NPR

Business, Health & Fitness, Education, Kids & Family, Self-improvement

4.5 β€’ 4.9K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 16 August 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you've noticed that your kid put on some weight during the pandemic and you're not sure what β€” if anything β€” to do about it, you're not alone.

Weight is an incredibly fraught topic β€” and an imperfect indicator of health. As parents, a kid's sudden weight gain can be hard to know how to tackle β€” the last thing we'd want is to do anything that might create poor body image for our children or set the stage for eating disorders.

We spoke to doctors and specialists who work with kids. In this episode, they share their tips for how to get kids back on track and support healthy habits.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, Life Kit listeners.

0:03.8

We're looking to make Life Kit even more useful and enjoyable for you.

0:07.4

And to do that, we need your help.

0:09.8

Please consider completing a short anonymous survey at npr.org slash Life Kit Survey.

0:15.9

It'll help us out so much and we'll give you a chance to tell us more about what you

0:19.2

like or don't like about the show.

0:21.4

Again, you can take the survey at npr.org slash Life Kit Survey.

0:26.2

Thanks.

0:35.2

This is NPR's Life Kit, I'm your Martinez.

0:37.8

Lots of people gained excess weight during the pandemic and emerging data suggest children

0:41.8

were no exception.

0:43.3

Across racial and socio-economic lines, kids put on weight.

0:46.7

As schools went online, sports were canceled and routines collapsed.

0:50.6

Now as children head back to school, some parents are wondering how to get their kids

0:54.6

back to healthy habits.

0:56.4

On this episode of Life Kit, I'm joined by NPR Health Correspondent and Life Kit reporter

1:00.5

Maria Goudoy.

1:01.5

Maria, hi.

1:02.5

Hi.

1:03.5

Now we all knew adults put on weight that quarantine 15 we kept hearing about.

1:07.6

Was it a surprise that kids also did?

1:10.0

Well, researchers had expected this to some extent based on what past data shows happens during

...

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