If you could give your children a gift that would benefit them for the rest of their lives, more than likely, you would do everything within your power to give them that gift. I know I would! People would be lined up outside the department stores if they could purchase such a gift.

Well, of course, the most important gift we can give our children isn’t something you can buy. It’s teaching them about God and training them in His Word and in faith. As a part of that training, I believe one of the most valuable gifts you can give your family is a healthy lifestyle. The benefits are numerous!

For one thing, living a healthy lifestyle will protect your family from an epidemic—obesity. So widespread is this disease that the World Health Organization refers to it as “globesity.”

Statistics reveal that more than one billion adults worldwide are overweight and obese. Of that number, more than 300 million are considered morbidly obese (100 pounds or 50 to 100 percent above their ideal body weight).

As alarming as this may sound, perhaps even more alarming is the fact that this trend is rapidly growing among children. Presently, an estimated 17.6 million children under age 5 are overweight! According to the U.S. Surgeon General, since 1980 the number of overweight children (ages 6-11) in the United States has doubled and the number of overweight adolescents (ages 12-17) has tripled.

But here’s the good news: Simple lifestyle adjustments can help protect your family from obesity and its effects, which make it the “second leading killer in America.” Among other things, Type 2 diabetes, heart problems, hypertension, orthopedic complications and social stigma are conditions associated with globesity.

The primary cause of obesity in both adults and children is the same—a sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor dietary habits. So in order to lose weight and/or keep it off, proper diet and exercise are necessary. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? But in truth, making lifestyle changes as an adult can be downright hard!

Being overweight is much easier to prevent than it is to treat.

Not surprisingly, obese and overweight children are 70 percent more likely to grow up to be obese adults. So protect your children from this epidemic by training them to eat healthy and exercise at a young age.

In other words, an ounce of prevention now is definitely worth a pound of cure later!

With current trends what they are—conveniently located fast-food restaurants and vending machines, and watching TV and playing computer games as national pastimes—it’s essential that we “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word train in this scripture means “to discipline, initiate; dedicate, train up.” It takes commitment to train a child in any area, including diet and exercise.

Begin by setting goals to “live healthy” rather than to “lose weight.”

If your child is overweight, don’t focus on weight loss—just strive to slow down or halt further weight gain. Your child can then grow into his or her body weight over a period of months or years without getting into a harmful pattern of dieting, losing and gaining. Making dramatic changes or introducing a highly restrictive diet won’t work. Not only will your child resent it, but it sets him up to fail. Fad diets are not the answer.

Studies show that gradual changes resulting in lifestyle changes will bring lasting success. So we’re going to discuss five simple steps you can take that will help your family get on the path to a healthy lifestyle. Over the next few posts I will share some tips to get your children on that path.