According to figures from the Ministry of Health (MOH) 13 percent of children in mainstream schools were overweight in 2017. Schools are already increasing their efforts in serving healthier meals to fight obesity but what can you do as a parent to prevent this?

One way to prevent childhood obesity is through ballet. Rather than allowing your child to sit still and entertain herself with video games, you can sign her up for children ballet class as an outlet for her to channel that same energy into losing some weight.

This is important as childhood obesity can gradually develop to further problems such as diabetes when she grows older. Apart from illnesses, it is also not good for a child’s overall confidence. When a child knows she is obese, it can negatively impact her self-esteem. The feeling of hiding increases, especially when she has peers making fun of the way she looks.

To prevent this from happening, this is why it calls for parents to be more concerned. Ballet can be a good “all-in-one” workout when taken seriously and there are mainly two benefits that your child can gain from ballet as an exercise:

• Ballet improves physical health and strength. In fact, did you know fitness programs actually incorporates many of the movements that ballerinas do? The reason is, the different ballets poses vary from difficulty. For example, while the movements are slow and controlled, this helps your child develop muscular strength in the process. Ballet increases muscle mass while burning calories to ultimately lose fat. It is also all about flexibility, working to strengthen bones and muscles that will improve your child’s health as a whole.In addition, your child learns how to control her breathing while dancing, and you might start to see improvement in her endurance and stamina as a result.

• Ballet teaches a child discipline and dedication. At the start, a child will recognize how it can be difficult to perfect certain movements and to fully master a dance routine. Through practicing, this teaches her that she is able to achieve anything as long as she remains committed to it. For an obese child, this realization will take some time. She might find herself in situations where she has to catch up with the rest of the class, or she could face those moments where she wants to give up. This is when parents should encourage the child the most and when she gets past those moments, it is half the battle won.

As your child loses weight through ballet, you might start to see a happier, healthier child with increased confidence in herself. Besides the physical aspect, your child has many opportunities to make more friends when she works in groups during ballet classes. In Dancepointe, ballet will become a fun way for her to maintain the weight she has lost while allowing her to express herself in a supportive environment.

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