The best time to start to teach your child is when he starts to eat. Introduce to him healthy foods like fruits, milk etc. Avoid buying junk food while shopping for your monthly or weekly grocery at the store. Try to make foods at home. Eat a wide variety of nutrient-rich foods so try to Prepare nutritious but tasty snacks like mixed fruit cups and cereal cakes. Teach your children the negative effects of too much junk food; as well as the positive and healthful effects of nutritious eating.

The easiest way to help children avoid junk food is to simply not have it on hand. Monitor what your children eat. As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that your children eat three meals a day that include foods that are low in fats and high in nutrients. As your child gets older you should try to help him understand your rules for healthy foods and treats.

The relationship between stress and over eating has been examined in animal and human studies. Longitudinal studies showed that chronic life stress may be linked to weight gain, with a greater effect that has been seen in men. Stress-induced eating may be one factor contributing to the development of obesity.

A new study on female rhesus macaques has shown that psychological stress is closely linked to overeating and weight gain. Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, found that socially subordinate female rhesus macaques over consumed calorie-rich foods at a significantly higher level than do dominant females. During the study, female macaques were given access to a sweet but low-fat diet and a high-fat diet for 21 days each. For a 21-day period between each test diet, the group was able to access standard monkey chow only. Researchers found socially subordinate females consumed significantly more of both the low-fat diet and the high-fat diet throughout a 24-hour period, while socially dominant females ate significantly less than subordinate animals and restricted their feedings to daytime hours.

The difference in feeding behavior resulted in accelerated weight gain and an increase in fat-derived hormones in subordinate females. Dr. Wilson believes this may suggest profound changes in metabolism and the accumulation of body fat. As this study shows, they prefer the high-fat diet and, as a result of the stress of being a subordinate, they have higher levels of the hormone cortisol.

This is a guest article by Rachel. She’s webmaster of weight loss pills review website and offering various useful diet tips on her website. She is also co-founder of an e-commerce company in US.

• People eat when they get bored or do not have anything interesting to do or look.

• Some people turn to food whenever they experience an emotional upswing or downturn.

• There are some serious medical conditions causing the problem for some overeaters. These include thyroid imbalance, hormone imbalance and metabolic imbalance.

• Biological cause of overeating is that if you’ve gone too long without eating, for example longer than five hours, then you are bound to overeat at the next mealtime. You may feel you didn’t have control over your eating.

• People overeat when they do not get enough calories in a day, or inadequate eating.

• When people feel deprived of the foods which they enjoy and this leaves them craving for them even more.

• People turn to food when someone says or does something upsetting or hurtful to them. Anxieties and emotions can also lead to the desire to eat. Some women eat because they are sad or stressed out.

The most commonly craved foods among women are chocolate, ice cream, potato chips and biscuits. Men also tend to crave chocolate and ice cream, but also crave pizza and burgers.

The biological or physiological factors believed to be responsible for cravings include:

• Blood sugar imbalance is the foundation for most cravings. When our blood sugar level is low it means our energy level is low and our body tells us we need more and this lead to cravings.
• People with food cravings may actually have neurochemical and hormonal imbalances that trigger cravings.
• Low serotonin levels (a hormone responsible for feelings of pleasure and relaxation) may lead to carbohydrate cravings.
• Our body is lacking certain nutrients which it cries out for in the form of cravings.
• A major cause for food cravings is low blood sugar. This is typically caused by lack of food as a result of going too long between meals/snacks, or following very low calorie diets.
• Our body simply wants a particular food taste, texture, aroma or temperature. So when body need is not fulfilled this can lead to craving.