Dr. Lona Sandon, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, offers several tips on preventing and reducing childhood obesity:

• Resist pressuring your child to clean his plate. One of the most important things your child can leave the table with is the ability to stop eating when he’s full. It’s a skill many of us forget. And don’t pressure a child to eat something he doesn’t want. In general, avoid making mealtime a time of pressure and stress. 

• Provide healthy food for your child. A meal should consist of a protein (lean meat, poultry, fish, lentils, or beans), a vegetable, a fruit, and a starch (whole grain bread, pasta or rice, or potatoes). Add less sugar, salt, and fat. Put a bowl of fruit on the table to encourage healthier snacking.

• Avoid foods with added sugar. Substitute water flavored with fruit slices for sodas, which have “no redeeming nutritional qualities,” according to Dr. Sandon. Buy 100 percent fruit juice instead of fruit drinks, which often have lots of added sugar. Check food ingredient labels. If sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, agave, dextrose, or maltose appears as one of the top three ingredients, avoid it.

• Eat out less. Restaurants provide large portions of the cheapest foods – bowls of chips, mounds of french fries. And it’s hard to control both the portion size and the amount of added salt, sugar, and fat. When you do eat out, try sharing an adult entrée with your little one instead of opting for the chicken nuggets and tater tots from the kids menu. Crafting a dinner of appetizers or sides can also result in a healthier, lower-calorie meal.

• Serve smaller portions. Children can ask for more if they’re still hungry. Using a smaller plate might also help. “We eat with our eyes. If it’s on the plate, we’re going to eat it,” Dr. Sandon said. “But if you put a smaller portion on a smaller plate, studies have shown that people will be just as satisfied with that smaller portion that looked big on a small plate.”

• Have your child exercise more – at least 60 minutes most days – and spend less time with electronic device screens. She recommends an hour or less a day of screen time for children ages 5 and under and 2-3 hours for teens.