to think my dd eats a lot and worry about her weight?

[PinkHardHat]

My exH is morbidly obese. I had weight issues in my teens but have been a size 8-10 for the past nine years or so. Dd is 6, around 105cm tall and almost 4 stone. She looks fine from behind but has always had a big tummy that protrudes out of clothes. She does loads of exercise but her tummy seems to be growing bigger. We eat healthily but have McDonalds once per month, which we had at the weekend. She was sharing various things with her cousins and declared afterwards that she'd eaten ten chicken nuggets as well as a box of fries. That's more than I could eat! She's told me before that her dad has given her Pringles and she ate the entire tube

Today she had:

Two slices of brown toast with choc spread and banana and a yoghurt
Milk and Apple at snack time
Lunch consisting of three crackers, cheese, ham, peppers, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, melon, grapes, small cake
After school snacks of pineapple, cherries, popcorn and a bowl of cereal
Dinner of two Yorkshire puddings, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, five roast potatoes and four chipolata sausages
Pudding of jam sponge
An hour later was asking for yoghurt and fruit

If I reduce portion sizes she asks for more. She isn't eating due to boredom as she is always busy but she eats loads more than me and weighs almost half what I do. Aibu to worry about her eating and weight at this stage?

[PinkHardHat]

She doesn't like rice or brown bed. She likes pasta but it isn't her favourite so could be a good option to discourage her from eating too much.

[Dahlen]

I'd agree with everyone about upping her protein and reducing her carbs or replacing them where possible with more complex forms.

I'd also reduce her portion size. If she asks for more, say no and tell her to fill up on water. You know that she's not being underfed. The thing with portion size is that it's what you're used to and it only takes a few days to adapt. Looking at the diets of many people who are a bit overweight but not hugely so, I'd say that what they're eating is absolutely fine; it's just that there's too much of it. Teaching your DD sensible portion control now is a life skill that will serve her well.

If it helps with the guilt (which I'm sure you'll feel when she says "I'm hungry ) think of comparisons - I am a marathon runner with very active DC and none of us - me included - would eat as much as your DD in one day for example, despite the fact that we don't deprive ourselves either and treats are regularly enjoyed.

Good luck. You're a great mum for addressing this now and hopefully educating your DD with a healthy approach to food.

PS, you may also want to consider some food intolerance testing (not the same as allergies), as a bloated stomach on an otherwise slender frame can be a classic sign of that.

[PinkHardHat]

Dahlen I have wondered about intolerances as she often has tummy ache, particularly after visiting her dad's. Her tummy is massive at the end of the day compared to the beginning.

[Dahlen]

It may be worth keeping a food diary then.

(It might also help your X realise how much food he is shovelling down your DD when he has to write it down, even if he chooses to be economical with the truth it will still make him think).

[capsium]

I would not worry too much about her having the odd 'blow out' at her Dad's if you can ensure she eats sensibly when she is staying with you.

Yes brown pasta and wild rice is better. You might want to make her dishes consist more of the meat and sauce though, if you want her to lose a bit of tummy. Don't need to mention you have reduced the rice / past amount if it is mixed in or if served round the sauce (in a circle)it often looks like more and she probably will not notice. You could mix grated courgette (that has been microwaved for a minute) to make vegetable rice and reduce the carbohydrate content more. Again you would be just trying out 'healthy dishes' more of the'5 a day' they get told about a school.

I would not worry about her eating chicken skin as growing children need that for their growth and development.

[capsium]

^that should be growing children need fat as for their growth and development.

[Artandco]

I would ditch all the deserts tbh. Cake at each meal or mousse plus choc breakfast is more than mine have in a month

Virtually Everything is high carb and sugar which leaves her hungry an hr later. Are the only meats she likes processed ie ham/ sausages?

Can you try porridge with ground nuts and banana for breakfast. Rye bread with cream cheese/ ham/ avocado for lunch, with some fruit/ veg. Mayr some kind of protein smoothie as a snack, and half the amount of dinner.

Why do you cook extra at dinner? Surely your dh doesn't need seconds if overweight too. Cooking what you need will help everyone

It does seem high weight for height. In comparison my 4 year old (115cm), weighs 2.5 stone

[carabos]

"Hungry" isn't the same as "under-nourished". Feed your daughter three balanced meals a day (and btw that menu you have posted isn't balanced - nowhere near enough protein) and once its gone, its gone.

If she doesn't learn restraint and portion control now, when someone else is dishing it out, she never will.

just say no.

[jacks365]

www.cwt.org.uk/chew.html

Download and read the bit for 5-11 year olds it'll give you really good idea of the actual balance between carbs, proteins fruit and veg etc and portion control. My dd gets bloated if she eats too many carbs.

[Oblomov]

It's too much. It's too much for HER.

Some of us are able to eat more than others, without putting on weight.

Unfortunately your dd isn't one of those. So you MUST address it.
So what if you cut back and she's a bit hungry and you deny her that Youghurt or snack. She'll be hungry. So? For a few weeks. Then her stomach will adjust.

Do this. It will be painful for a few weeks. But will save a lifetime of misery.

The food you listed is a mad amount. Toast, Nutella and a Youghurt and banana. All Taft fruit, as a snack. Then a huge dinner. And pudding.
Just too much.

My 2 eat a lot. But not those foods.


Saying that my 2 ds's have insatiable appetites and are on the skinny side.

But the Pringles, the eating 2/3 of a baguette after pasta. That's not normal.

Both my ds's eat

[Ubik1]

HMM

If it helps, my seven year old has:

A bowl of cornflakes and milk for breakfast, slice toast with peanut butter, water

Apple or cereal bar

School lunch - usually something like fish fingers and chips and veg plus yoghurt, water

mini pepperami on way to swimming lesson

Dinner was home made chicken curry and rice and water.


She is not overweight, her tummy does stick out though, almost like a toddler's but that is normal for her age.

[manicinsomniac]

It does seem like an awful lot, YANBU to want to address it.

But Anniegoestotown your 15 year old is surely undereating massively?! I estimate that menu to be between 1100 and 1400 calories depending on size of serving. Nowhere near enough for a teenager doing hours and hours of dance a day. I eat a similar amount myself and I'm very underweight with an eating disorder.

[Anniegoestotown]

Lifeisaboxofchocs, dd does this type school day twice per week and similar evening activities 3 nights per week, works 9-6 Saturday and is in rehearsals 1-6 on Sunday. She is not loosing weight but she is very slim and very tall. American size 00. Try buying a pair of size 2 jeans with a 35" inside leg in the uk.

I eat less than dd, I do an hours route march on the running machine each day and I can only be described as short and dumpy, df is same.

[AngelaDaviesHair]

She likes roast chicken but the problem is she would happily eat the entire chicken skin too which is obviously not healthy

Let her have some, but not all of it. Fat is more filling and satisfying, plusd not as unhealthy as advertised provided that the diet is not high in fat and refined carbs.

There is nothing wrong with full fat yoghurt or milk either. In fact Greek yoghurt with a small amount of honey or fruit compote is probably a better bet for her than bought fruit yoghurts that are too high in sugar.

[Lifeisaboxofchocs]

annie, i totally agree with your point about fat, but honestly...i think you need to look carefully at your dd's diet. fruit and yoghurt for brekkie, soup for lunch, no snacks between, and an astonishing exercise schedule... that is worrying.

[Anniegoestotown]

Some times she has 3 hard boiled eggs and tomatoes for breakfast and the soup is a thick thing that is her school dinners. She does have the odd bar of chocolate or packet of crisps she certainly does not have an eating disorder.

[manicinsomniac]

sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that she does - I was just saying that she doesn't eat a massive amount more than I do and I do have one. I was just concerned that it was such a low caloric intake. Fair enough if you know she is healthy and happy though. But I wouldn't recommend that diet to another child, I think she is unusual in coping on it.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Lots of emphasis here on the DF but a lot of your posts have 'she doesn't like' and 'she won't eat' in them. If my DD refused all lean proteins I wouldn't give her chocolate spread and cake instead. Not hungry for chicken, you are certainly not hungry for garlic bread.

If someone served all my favorites at every meal, I would probably eat lots of it. There are a couple of things DD hates and I don't serve them as a rule. However, she eats what we eat. Do you think your way of feeding her is because of her fussiness as a toddler? Do you think you need to be a little less indulgent about what she eats?

For example, dinner last night was chicken, green beans and cous cous. DD, who is a massive eater, can have three portions of that (with skin) and no issues at all. If I added cake, sausages and jam sponge, there would be an issue.

[FootieOnTheTelly]

I think she is old enough to be a 'bit' responsible for her own diet when she is at her Dads. I would tell her that she needs to make sensible choices - even at 6 she must know that a whole pack of Pringles is crazy. You needn't link it to weight. You can say its to do with dental hygiene.

My kids were happy to turn down sweets from their very, very pushy Aunties because they knew it was too much sugar. Even now they are practically adults they stick to a rule of one treat a day and coke and crisps once a week (more or less!). When the older ones come home from Uni they will still order water if we go out for a meal if they have had come the day before.

It never bothered me that I simply said no to my kids when they asked for snacks. I would let them have something if there was a reason (ie swimming made them really hungry) but otherwise I just said that they have to wait for the next meal.

[Anniegoestotown]

I think her stomach could be down to the amount of carbs she is eating. Strictly speaking fruit is also considered a carbohydrate because of sugar content and yoghurt is made of milk also considered a carb then the only none carb foods she is eating all day is the cheese, ham and cucumber she has on the 3 crackers and the broccoli and cauliflower she has in the evening.

The sausages are not pure meat as they are packed with other stuff.

[BarbarianMum]

Yogurt is not a carboyhydrate! It contains protein, some fat and a variable amount of sugar depending on the type.

[Anniegoestotown]

Plain yoghurt is about 6g of carbs per 100g it is not carb free. I doubt ops dd is eating plain unsweetened yoghurt.

[EasterHoliday]

I wonder whether the fact that she's eating the vast majority of her calories at the end of the day makes a difference? my 7yr old eats a far larger breakfast (on ONE day, it'll be sthing like 2x weetabix, scrambled egg on toast, yoghurt, scotch pancake, water. Vast) but much less later on - tiny after school snack, much smaller dinner (no dessert other than yog / fruit) and smaller snack before bed. That said, she's also doing much less activity.

If it's really only the size of her tummy that worries you, perhaps it is the carb that's bloating her a lot and switching to brown rice / pasta / fewer potatoes will take care of it (you will of course all have to switch and give no options)

[Oblomov]

Yes youghurt is a carb.
40 years of diabetic carb counting, and I KNOW that it is.

[Oblomov]

I agree with others. e.g chicken skin. etc.
OP do you know the word "NO".
You do know that discipline and not allowing our chidlren to do what they want when they want, is called 'good parenting'.