Kids on diets

[user1491515536]

I'm a 28 year old mum of 4, oldest 7 youngest 18 months. 7yo eats like there's no tomorrow. Always in the biscuit barrel. Frankly is getting quite chubby. AIBU to put her on a strict diet and exercise regime? Puppy fat quite cute but don't want to be thought of as someone who would let this carry on.

I would remove the biscuit barrel and make sure that only the fruit bowl is within her reach. She's less likely to want junk food if it's not in clear view.

Why do you think you might be unreasonable in getting her to eat more healthily and take more exercise?

There's no such thing as puppy fat either.

If you're unsure about what foods to give her, speak to your GP or nurse at the surgery.

Don't buy the biscuits? Send them out to play!

Define diet.

Bin the biscuits and stick to meal times amd sensivle portions Yes.

Huge big deals about calories and replacing food with highly processed low fat sweetener laden substitutes that taste like the box they come in. No.

What do you typically feed her that means she's still hungry enough to keep eating biscuits?

A strict diet would be unreasonable. She doesn't need to lose weight. She needs to stop gaining weight so fast, so that as she grows vertically she evens out. Trying to go for a strict diet at this stage, so she loses weight, could compromise her height.

Step 1 is healthy swaps. Step 2 is slowly shrinking portion sizes. And go for fun activity so she doesn't feel like she's on a strict exercise regime. Walk to more places. Walk the dog (if you have one). Dance, or a fun sport. And you'll all have to make some of the changes together, so she doesn't feel totally singled out.

It's brilliant that you've realised and want to help her. But you're after gradual progress without knocking her self esteem, in order to set her up for good habits for life. Good luck.

You must not put a growing child on a diet! Ration treats, give healthier meals with more veg, make sure portions are the right size and encourage activity (fun stuff!). She will grow into the weight don't make her lose it and don't give the poor child a complex! Is she actually overweight in bmi?

I would advise against a strict diet, just offer better food. Stop having biscuits available, stock up on fruit and veg and make healthy food fun.
I was greedy/ day as a kid and the one thing an adult could do to ensure i'd use every opportunity to binge eat was to put me on a diet.
Help your DD to make better choices, yes. Diet, no.

Good lord no, do not put her "on a diet", and certainly not a strict one. Diets only make people fatter. What you need to do is improve her nutrition, make sure there are loads of healthy snacks for her to dive into. Make fruit and yogurt unlimited but restrict the number of biscuits she can have in a day (note, do not cut them out completely). Talk only in terms of health, nutrition and fitness, never in terms of fat and weight. Find some classes she'd enjoy like trampolining, gymnastics, dance, football, martial arts - but the emphasis has to be on fun first, fitness second, never about losing weight.

Please also keep in mind that it's very common for children to eat loads and "fill out" before a growth spurt.

The very suggestion of a "strict diet" for a 7yo suggests to me you have your own issues with body image. Please don't pass any of this on to your child.

Also, you say you "don't want to be thought of as someone who would let this carry on". I have to wonder why what others think of you is a motivator to make changes rather than your daughter's health.

Our DD aged 3 is slim but loves.snacks and treats. Our DS aged 5 is totally differe has an off switch with food. We just don't have treats in the house. Solved the issue. YANBU by the way. Sensible to address it before it's really an 'issue'

Make sure meals are balanced with a good range of nutrients including proteins and healthy fats. That will help feeling satisfied for longer and avoid dips in blood sugar that create demand for raids on the biscuit tin.

There's no need to have a biscuit tin anyway. Have more filling foods that will satisfy any hunger between meals rather than empty calories that leave you craving more.

Drink water or full fat milk. Again sweetened drinks from sugar or artificial sweeteners will create more desire for sweet foods.

Also, I like to point this out.
I have been fat all my live. I'm happy, healthy and successful. It is not the catastrophe people on mumsnet like to create.
You damage a child a lot more by giving them a complex about their weight than by feeding it an extra biscuit.
That doesn't mean give her unlimtied biscuits, but focus on health. Don't have "naughty" and "nice" foods. Just a general guideline of vegetables have lots of nutrients, but not so much sugar so I can eat lots of them. Gummy bears are pretty much just sugar so I shouldn't have them every day.

I have been fat all my live. I'm happy, healthy and successful. It is not the catastrophe people on mumsnet like to create.

No-one is creating a 'catastrophe' here.

But being fat all your life, often causes serious health problems, discomfort, emotional issues and a whole host of other things that can very often be avoided.

'Feeding a child an extra biscuit', is not what the OP is talking about.

Her child is chubby and she'd obviously like to do something about that.

Obviously a 'strict diet and exercise regime' is not the way to go about it though.

As long as it's about healthy eating and feeling good/energised I don't see a problem.

Worra, it's not ideal, but being fat really all that catastrophic. Some studies even suggest that being slightly overweight actually decreases the likelihood of heart disease (whilst other studies suggest the opposite). What I'm trying to say is it's not nearly as clear cut as people like to make out.
I'm trying to say the focus should be on nutrients and exercise not on arbitrary numbers on scales.
I can only speak for myself, but treating my fatness has done a lot more damage to me than being fat ever has. That is in terms of my mental health, eating habits and self-worth.
Ironically I have also shrunk a few dress sizes after I've stopped trying to lose weight. I have started to exercise for pleasure and learned to self-regulate.

I'd get rid of the biscuit barrel and snacking (if your dd 'snacks') just stick to decent 3 meals a day not made up of crap and she'll be fine. I don't think a drastic regime is needed. If she complains of being hungry between meals just offer fruit.

You'd be unreasonable to 'put her on a strict diet' that she would presumably be aware of.
You wouldn't be unreasonable to take responsibility for the snacks you are buying and feeding to your child and making sure you only buy healthy snacks from now on (fruit etc).
Your child will obviously notice the change but I would avoid the word diet or singling her out altogether and say you want to start eating more healthily as a family.

Just stop buying biscuits and other unhealthy treats. My dd loves food - she loves healthy food but if we had biscuits, chocolate, crisps, juice, etc at home then of course she would help herself to those. But I just don't buy that sort of stuff. Agree that there is no such thing as puppy fat!!! That's why we have a diabetes epidemic....

Get rid of the biscuit barrel for starters!

Don't have crap in the house.

Dd is allowed treats at the weekend, but we actually have to make a trip to the shops to buy them, so it's a conscious decision, not just a 'it's there so I'll eat it' kinda thing.

AIBU to put her on a strict diet and exercise regime? Puppy fat quite cute but don't want to be thought of as someone who would let this carry on

YABU to want to put her on a strict diet and exercise regime yes.

YWNBU to slowly change her eating habits so she doesn't really notice, and exercise should be done through walks/plays. My DD was on the rather chunky side after she meant most of her early life on and off steroids (asthma). We made little changes. I.e I'd pick her up after school and would have a piece of fruit with me instead of a small chocolate bar. We'd go to 'Pixies Park' which we'd have to walk to, she wouldn't mind as she knew the end result and got to play and we all got the exercise. Start with small changes like that and you'll soon see the difference. Cutting things out completely generally means you'll crave them more anyway whether you're 7 or 47.

My DCs love it when I buy biscuits because I rarely do. Having them in the house means I'm just as likely to inhale them as the DCs are. So we don't. If she's the sort of kid that wont listen to 'No DD I said 2 and no more' have you thought about getting the individual packets?

Re the snacking. I remember what a friend said to me once because I have a DS who's always telling me he's hungry. He's not. It deviates between a sensory thing with him some times but most of the times it's just out of pure boredom. "If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not hungry".

When DS tells me he's hungry I tell him to get a drink of water or grab a piece of fruit. If he's not that hungry he can wait until dinner is ready.

She's 7, the majority of her food intake is what you make available. Make healthier food available and encourage her to be active, it ain't rocket science.