Are you raising fit or fat kids?

• Position: Family Health

There is an epidemic of overweight kids--and you do not have to read the newspaper or watch the news to find that out. Just take a look at youngsters at the mall or in the schoolyard. You also can see a shortage of children outside playing, biking, or running. What can parents do to make sure their offspring are not part of the statistics? Here are some answers from Bridget Swinney, author of Healthy Food for Healthy Kids.

Exercise together as a family. This shows that you think exercise is important enough to make it a family activity. This includes biking, hiking, skiing, kayaking, tennis, basketball, and skating.

Take a look at eating and snacking habits. The meals your family eats may be perfectly balanced, but what do your kids eat between meals? If foods with concentrated fat and sugar fill your pantry, it may be time for a "snack makeover." Avoid buying soft drinks, juice drinks, and flavored teas. It often is what we drink, not eat, that packs on the calories and extra pounds. Encourage the drinking of water, tomato juice, milk, or fresh tea (with a teaspoon of sugar if necessary) instead. Even 100% fruit juice should be limited since it has roughly the same number of calories as soda.

Keep a lot of fresh fruit in the house--and put it on the counter where it will be seen and hopefully eaten. Ditto for raw baby carrots and celery.

Kids love the crunch of chips, but there are many healthy alternatives. Pretzels, cereal, snack mixes, and baked potato or corn chips are great substitutes without all the fat. Remember that salsa actually is a way for your children to eat their vegetables.

Limit television "screen time." Research shows that the hours spent watching TV and on the computer directly are related to being overweight (as well as to other negative behaviors). In fact, youngsters who watch TV with meals have diets that may in include and more pizzas, snack foods, and sodas. Give your kids active chores every day, such as walking the dog, running an errand on their bike, raking leaves, sweeping the porch, etc. Encourage games with children in the neighborhood such as basketball, tag, or...