Establishing a healthy lifestyle for my daughter..
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LORIINSJ 9/7/06 9:04 A
I was thinking about her food obsession thing this am and thought...what if her interest in food is the same kind of serious interest that drives kids to pick up things like a certain sport or dance or singing, where they eventually develop significant talent and make a career out of it?
So I was thinking that maybe you can use this interest to your advantage as you teach her about nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, cooking and meal prep. A lot of kids love to cook and she's old enough to learn (just not use the stove or oven unsupervised).
So my earlier suggestion that you guys can plan meals together (then she knows what's for dinner and what her lunch options are), shop together (all the while discussing good foods and bad foods) and prepare meals together can be used within the context of a "healthy lifestyle for the whole family" without pointing any fingers at her. Who knows, she may become an expert!
My kids know fast food is mostly unhealthy and yes, they still get it sometimes. It's treat that falls into that defined area at the top of the food pyramid for not so great food. Once they start school, as you've found it, the crud is everywhere.
Anyhow, I'm just thinking that it may make it very easy to make her a mini-nutrition expert without putting any pressure on her to worry about her weight. Puberty will bring that to her attention soon enough.
Here's some fun websites she might enjoy: http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardkids/ There's a number of fun games there. This one's my favorite: http://mypyramid.gov/kids/kids_game.html#
ASHLEY_GVILLE 9/7/06 8:07 A
We've gotten her involved with different activities and their are many young girls in our neighbor that she likes to play with untill dark. I think I know the problem. I met her dad when she was 4 years old and ever since then have been her "only mom". Her real mother stepped out when she was a baby. Anyways, her daddy was a single parent and often brought home fast food for her, often it would be adult size meals. I think she got use to having that and when I came the way she ate changed. She still has fast food from time to time (like the kid chicken nuggets w/apples instead of fries) but its nothing like what her dad gave her. Thats really the only thing Ive been able to come up with.
LORIINSJ 9/6/06 11:29 P
I wonder if a child psychologist might have some answers. I've never heard of a child that young being obsessed with food. (save those who have that weird syndrome where their "full" button never triggers and they're obsessed with food...don't worry about that one, the kids that have that disease are huge even as toddlers...)
The only thing I can think of would be to make sure she has hobbies and other interests. Perhaps if she's busy enough she'll be too busy to think about it?
MOM2BOYS 9/6/06 10:04 P
Have you talked with her ped. about her constantly talking about food?
ASHLEY_GVILLE 9/6/06 8:29 P
Those are some great ideas...especially about breakfast. She has attention issues too (not ADHD) just very excitable and hyper. She has been eating Cherios in the morning but I will try the breakfast pizzas next week to see if they might change.
I cant keep her away from junk, she gets it at school and our neighbors. I try and show her healthy choices at home and she seems to really like them. The biggest problem is that she thinks about eating constantly. She wants to know what she'll eat for dinner while she's eating lunch. This is what worries me.
LORIINSJ 9/6/06 7:45 P
I've always been a nutrition freak and I have 3 kids. When they were little, I kept them away from most junk until 4 or 5, except for the rare happy meal. I always stocked the frig with healthy snacks like bits of cheese, yogurt, fruit, baby carrots, etc. They've also been fed "grown-up" food from the beginning, so they all like a diverse range of foods including lots of vegetables.
That being said, my girls did inherit a tendency towards obesity. The younger one is only now gaining some..not too bad, but maybe an extra 10lbs, at 17 which is pretty common, but her older sister was fine until 8, then she began to sneak candy bars and soda (the middle school behind us had machines, plus the grocery store was across the street and they'd sneak off with friends.).
So then she started to put it on. It's a tough one. As mom I do care as I want them to be healthy and look good. Fat girls do suffer social and employment prejudice. But the last thing I want to do is to hurt their self-esteem and create eating disorders.
So...what did I do? I continued to cook good meals, never stepped in and said "no seconds" and still kept a supply of junk food on hand. Not tons, mind you, at our worst we've never stocked what most homes have and I don't buy soda. Like many parents I didn't realize how fattening juice is. So she kept growing.
By 11 she really was fat! (160lbs and maybe 4'8") She slimmed down some on her own between 7th and 8th grade. Overall her self-esteem is high and she was active, playing softball and doing karate. In 10th grade she was her smallest, at 5' even, she hit 120lbs and looked okay. Then she stopped eating and was hospitalized.
It's hard to call it a blessing, but after her best friend nearly died from anorexia, she stopped playing that game and is not at risk for trying to starve herself again. Whew!
Now she's 19 and the freshman 15, ended up being the freshman 40. At 5'1", she's back to 160lbs and trying to take it off.
Soo...what could I have done differently? I've asked her actually, what could I do and she said she thought I did pretty well, because I couldn't stop her from sneaking food (I was a working single mom so she spent a lot of time unsupervised, plus at Dad's house there was always a lot of crap).
So what would I do differently, knowing what I know now?
1. Keep juice to a minimum and ALL soda out of the house. 2. Encourage water consumption, even if that meant buying flavored waters to start the habit. 3. Serve tons of vegetables and very few simple carbs. In our house today, this is how we eat and I do not buy "white" anything. I use Dreamfield's low carb pasta and the kids can't tell the difference. 4. Cook smaller portions, and/or divide a bigger dish up immediately into separate meals to be frozen. That limits seconds without creating a need to chastise anyone. 5. Talk about nutrition and get the kids involved in meal planning and preparation earlier (I did talk about nutrition, but actually looking up recipes, discussing the benefits or bad things about a recipe, and also having the kids help choose what they would like to try, all teach important lessons. 6. Teach them to read nutrition labels early. 7. Keep them active and involved. Kids, like grownups, will eat out of boredom. Find something they love, swimming and martial arts are absolutely the best for weight control as they meet several times a week. Most sports and dance do not. 8. Limit TV time. 9. Exercise more as a family - hikes, bike rides, lake paddles, swimming, etc. 10. Keep junk food out of the house 11. Eliminate desserts in favor of a healthy evening snack and have more of them not be sweet (beating the need to have a sweet after dinner).
I still have 2 at home and I no longer let my son have most breakfast cereals for breakfast. It was an experiment to see if his behavior improved in th classroom (we were seeing some ADHD like behaviors). It did. Mornings are hectic here, so he fixes his own breakfast (has since 6 yrs old). He can choose from oatmeal (I buy the heart healthy or low sugar varieties), eggs (he used to microwave scrambled eggs, now he's old enough for the stove), and I stock the freezer with egg-based frozen breakfasts. Red Baron has breakfast pizzas, and others make biscuits, breakfast burritos, frozen omelets and frozen breakfasts. No pancakes or waffles or toaster pastries.
All that seems to be helping the younger too avoid their sister's problems.
BROWNEYEDGIRL31 9/6/06 6:48 P
This is something I worry about too. I don't want to put my bad habits off on my kids. More than I have all ready. I also don't want them to worry about there weight at their ages.
ASHLEY_GVILLE 9/5/06 8:58 P
I have been overweight since I was 5 years old and experienced all the "pleasures" kids that are overweight get to go through. I come from an overweight family where portions were huge, veggies didnt exsist, and fast food was a main staple. I now have a 6 year old step daughter who genetically speaking can gain weight easily. I dont want her to go through what I did so im trying to find a happy balance of helping her make good choices without persay putting her on a diet. I dont believe any 6 yo should be aware of what a diet is or have thoughts of being fat. Ive introduced her to different types of veggies which I must say she loves. I also limit her tv time to around 2 hrs a week, if that. We buy her outdoor toys like a playset, slipnslide, etc to keep her active. She is turning 7 this year and weighs 65 lbs, so she is by no means "overweight" but her doctor wants us to keep watching it. The problem is her life revolves around food. She wants to know constantly what the next meal will be and is always asking for food when she just ate. She also will overeat until she makes herself sick. She loves food and everything about it. I give her food she enjoys just doesnt know is healthy, like homemade pizza with wheat crust, low fat cheese, and turkey pepperoni, so she eats like a normal kid. How do I monitor what she eats without letting her realize it? I dont want her to think shes fat, because shes not. I just want her to learn about healthy choices.
