Lower your child's risk of obesity

You've heard the reports: Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years, putting kids at risk for weight-related diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. Last year, President Obama established a federal task force that set a goal of reducing the rate of childhood obesity to 5% by 2030; right now, we are at about 17%. And just last month, the government proposed new federal guidelines to improve school lunches.

The biggest changes, though, can and should start at home. Diet and exercise are key: You know your kids need to eat more fruits and vegetables and consume less soda and sweets; you know they need at least an hour of physical activity a day. But did you know that making some lifestyle changes may also lower the risk of obesity? Try these:

Let kids sleep in on weekends. Researchers at the University of Chicago monitored the sleep patterns of 300 children ages 4 to 10 for a week. Those with the shortest, most irregular sleep had more than a fourfold increased risk of obesity; but when they slept in on the weekends to compensate, their risk decreased.

Limit screen time. Preschoolers spend a total of four hours a day in front of the TV or computer screen on average, according to a study in the Journal of Pediatrics. That's more than double the one- to two-hour limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Research has shown that for every extra hour toddlers spend watching TV, by grade school, they'll be less active, drink more soda and have an increased body mass index. A University of California study suggests commercials are the culprit — the more junk-food ads children see, the more likely they'll eat those foods. To help cut back screen time, set limits, offer more active alternatives, and evict the TV from their bedrooms (kids with TVs watch 1.5 hours a day more than those who don't).

Eat as a family. Doing so will improve your little one's eating habits and reduce the risk of obesity, two recent studies suggest. Previous research has linked frequent family meals to an increased intake of fruits and vegetables and less fried food and saturated fat. Sitting down together lets you model healthy habits as well as spot any eating problems.