Teach.com: Childhood Obesity Facts and Statistics

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I'm always fascinated by any reports about health, weight-loss, and nutrition. Even though I don't have any children, I'm helping take care of my eleven year old brother for a few years as he improves his English in the  US Education system. 
I didn't realize how much commercials affect children until my brother asked me if we could go to Olive Garden one day. I asked him why all of a sudden did he want to go there. He apparently saw some new cheesy pasta dish they just came out with that he wanted to try. I took him for lunch one day since he asked and we hadn't eaten out in weeks. I had the unlimited salad while he enjoyed the entree he saw on TV. He couldn't finish it so we doggy bagged it and brought it home. 
It's one of those rare occurrences when I let him eat out. Normally, if he's craving something, I make it at home using healthy ingredients and cutting the fat. We just happened to be outside and away from home that weekend. 
He's the baby of the family so it's really hard for us not to do everything for him. He's only started living with me and my boyfriend since September so it's definitely been a transition having him in my life. I have to find a balance between being his older sister and being his pseudo-mom. Thankfully, my boyfriend is the voice of reason whenever I either baby him too much or I'm too hard on him. 
Can you believe my brother didn't know how to put on his own clothes at the age of eleven? My parents treated him more like a grandchild than a child. I'm just thankful he's not a spoiled brat because my sister and I don't let him get away with anything. 
He's gotten straight As since he started school but I find the things you learn outside of school really shape you as a person too. 
My brother doesn't have a weight problem but when he first arrived in the States, I noticed that he had a very large stomach. The rest of his body was fine but I was worried about his health when I saw how big his belly was. 

Taken Spring 2011

He told me that both adults and children would make fun of his belly. I asked him how that made him feel and he said it hurt his feelings. I can definitely relate to this experience knowing what it was like for people to criticize or joke about your size.

I told him living with us would be very different than living with our parents. He said it was okay. 

My parents noticed that he had changed when we visited during winter break. My dad told me my brother was a lot more considerate, mature and independent now. 

When I was growing up, I dealt with my weight problem by crash dieting and binging secretly in my room. 

I was very adamant that my brother would grow up healthy without an eating disorder or emotional issues that I still deal with today. He eats all the food I cook and likes to ask questions about what I've made. I take him grocery shopping with me and answer any questions he may have. I bake with him and let him pick out the recipes.

Last Halloween, he dressed up as Russell from Up and I dressed up as a Greek Goddess. We came home with a hoard of candy. He was good about eating it slowly since I told him he could have no more than three pieces a day. I gave half of the candy away to his friends in Taiwan when we went back for winter break.

I also try to encourage physical activity as a family. We go for long walks a lot especially on the weekends. Since we have the Disney World annual pass, I treat it like a long day of actively moving. I don't hear any complaints from my brother. I remember loathing PE and any form of physical activity when I was younger because I thought it was punishment for being fat. I found out he loves badminton so we bought a set and play on our driveway. He enjoys it so much he beat his PE teacher at school when they played badminton. 

I invite him to go jogging with me around the neighborhood and I'm not going to lie, he hates it. We are looking into buying a bike for him though so he can follow us when we go jogging. 

We recently bought the Just Dance 3 for Kinect and play whenever we can in our living room. It definitely gets the body moving yet it's fun and enjoyable for him. 

He's still a growing boy so I don't believe in restricting his food intake. He seems to know when he's hungry and when to stop. I find he's gotten a lot more athletic since he first arrived. I think it would be incredibly beneficial to him in the long run if we lead a whole foods lifestyle and incorporate fun physical activity in his life.

Taken two weekends ago at Disney World