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Let's Get Physical
Helping Overweight Kids Get Active
By Alex Powell
Should parents try to solve bullying problems, or is it better to steer overweight kids into activities where they won't have to fight the harassment? According to Sylvia Rimm, a child psychologist and author of Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children (Rodale, 2004), parents should take responsibility for both. "The child should be able to find other activities where people aren't necessarily watching them," says Rimm. But while all children must learn to cope with some degree of teasing, "the parent certainly needs to communicate if the child is at risk of being hurt, or if it's extreme," she adds.
Dr. Sothern adds the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" attitude doesn't help overweight children become fit. "If you think you're going to send your overweight child onto a soccer field, and it's going to build character if they are yelled at, pushed real hard by the coaches and teased by the other kids, you're not going to build a better kid," she says. "What you're going to do is contribute to them having low self-esteem." Instead, parents of overweight children should help them work on conditioning and learning basic skills for the sport in which they're interested. Make eventually trying ut for the team one of their fitness goals.