There are so many diets today that claim to be a healthy weight loss diet. Yet there are experts who say that some of these diets actually encourage poor health. They say that only the future will tell if some of the diets have actually caused an increase in the risk of cancer and other deadly disorders.

Losing weight has become an obsession in many cultures, and for good reason. The number of obese people in the world has skyrocketed.

There are many reasons for this such as the change in diet around the world from whole foods to processed foods, the increase in the amount of sugar we eat each day, and the use of fluoride in water, toothpaste, and even in baby formula.

Did you know that fluoride was found to cause young mice to grow up lazy? About a decade ago one doctor did a study using newborn mice who were given fluoridated water to drink.

The mice grew up to be listless and lazy, preferring to just lie around all day instead of playing or moving around. This sounds like today's children who prefer to sit in front of video games or TV instead of going outside to play and run around.

Today's children could prefer to sit around for the same reason as the mice in the study. Fluoride is an ingredient in the popular soy baby products used by many unknowing parents. We might have been feeding our babies a product that caused them to grow up lazy and listless and fat!

What can be done? First, don't feed your babies anything with soy in it. If at all possible, nurse your baby for the first year. This actually helps fight obesity and asthma, just to name two.

Second, if you don't get water from your own well, call the water company and ask if they put fluoride in the water. If they do, then buy water that does not have fluoride.

Third, get you and your children on a healthy weight loss diet of reduced levels of sugar and fat. We are supposed to eat ten teaspoons of sugar each day (or less). One can of soda can have nine teaspoons, and many people (children included) drink several cans a day!

Also, eat more whole foods and less processed foods. Check the labels of processed foods for the fat content. If the grams of fat total more than 30% of the calories, don't eat it. For instance, if a chicken strip has a fat content of 30 grams and 100 calories, then that would be 30%.

Fourth, have you and your children begin an exercise regimen. Don't overdo it. Strenuous exercise can actually cause more harm than good by producing more free radicals in your system. Free radicals attack your healthy cells and can reduce your immunity to illness and disease.

The best exercise is moderate exercise using weights or some other resistance exercises. This builds muscle, which helps you burn more calories and increase insulin function (which helps you avoid diabetes). There are many side benefits resulting from moderate exercise.

Start by exercising about 30 minutes a day (ask your doctor's advice if you have a medical condition). As you start to feel better, increase your exercise time to one hour a day.

By starting a healthy weight loss diet (that doesn't necessarily mean eating less, just better foods) and exercising every day your body fat will diminish and your muscles will increase, resulting in you and your children being healthier, happier, and more energetic.