With teenage obesity on the increase both sides of the Atlantic, more and more parents are being put into a situation that their parents never were in.

If you have a teenager that?s having either a weight problem or is showing signs of having a weight problem, you?re probably wondering what the right things to say and do are?

Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Firstly, you need to talk to your teenager. They?re probably aware of the situation they?re in themselves, talk about their weight gain. While you might be worried about the health effects of being over weight, it?s important to know if there may be some underlying depression that could be the root of the problem.
2. Avoid any quick fixes to lose weight quickly, most children may be inpatient to lose weight over along period of time and will want to try the latest starvation or fad diet in other to lose weight quickly. Teach them to resist this temptation and go for healthier options of losing weight by a better diet and more exercise. Weight loss pills and potions may lose weigh quickly but are they really something you want them to do for the rest of their life?
3. If you?re in charge of cooking in the house, keep an eye on portion sizes. You should encourage your child not to feel guilty if they leave their plate with food still on it, they don?t have to eat it all. If they?re in the habit of clearing everything on their plate why not buy smaller plates for mealtimes as a way of reducing portion size.
4. Why not get the whole family involved. If you teenager is overweight rather than singling them out and concentrating only on them, why not get the whole family involved. Look at how active your family is, is there any ways you could exercise as a family either by going for long walks together or taking up swimming, etc. As well as exercise look at changes you can make when you?re grocery shopping for your family.
5. If you think your child is suffering from a self esteem issue over their weight, help them to be positive about themselves. Remember a persons worth shouldn?t be measured by their waistline. If you think you need extra help, you should contact your doctor or health practioner about services and support groups that can help in these situations.