Greedy overweight 4 year old

[Lizyloured]

Hello all

Have a problem with my nearly 5 year old daughter. She constantly asks for food and is the greediest child I know. Whenever my back is turned she will eat whatever she can find - for example whilst running her bath tonight she came down stairs, went into the cupboard and stuffed 2 kit kats. She's had her dinner - healthy chicken veg and rice. She is overweight despite my best efforts to get her exercising and walking. She crys I front of people if she's hungry and makes a huge fuss. I'm at the end of my tether

My DD would also eat constantly if she could. She often asks for food. I say no, of course, which is probably easier as she is younger than your DD.

When you say she cries in front of people if she's hungry, is she actually hungry, do you think, or does she just want to eat?

I think you have to remove unhealthy stuff from the house. Just don't have it around.

Do you think she's hungry or greedy? Can you walk/ scoot to school? In my experience, exercise has to be part of a daily routine or its just not sustainable.

Is there a chance there's an underlying medical reason? Have you spoke to a doctor or health professional about it?

Does she drink much? Sometimes a big glass of water can be enough

We walk to school and are quite active, I just think she likes eating - I will stop getting any unhealthy foods I think at all. Problem is she'll go to a friends with me and cry if she wants more food too - she had a penguin after school at a friends the other day and cried her eyes out because I said one was enough. I buy 7-8 year old clothes for her and worry for her health and future eating habits xx

Maybe I'll get her checked out - water a good idea x

Could there be a medical condition that might cause this? Might be worth speaking to health visitor or GP. If health causes are ruled out you can think of other strategies - keeping high calorie snacks out of the house and offering veg, keeping her busy, etc.

Oops - cross-posted.

Thirst is often confused with hunger. Buy her a special drink bottle (or two) and have them around the house so she can always help herself to a drink.

Does she get enough protein in her diet? If you give carbs and sugar especially, your body craves it more.

Cut out the refined sugar - don't buy sugary snacks. She can't have them if you don't buy them. Give her yoghurts, cheese, hummus, fruit for snacks instead.

I agree with others - just don't have tempting snacks in the house. And make sure that you have a no snacking rule - this is best for teeth as well as weight.

I really agree with the water suggestion.

My 4 year old is also greedy, loves chocolate and biscuits and gets very naughty if I refuse a second helping. He also loves milk.

I'm cutting down on the milk and keep lots of bottles of water in the house instead, he now likes to have a bottle of water to drink from when watching tv. He is very active and muscular. He is heavy weight wise, but is not podgy in the body.

I try not to have biscuits/treats available in the house but instead he gets some when we happen to be in a shop together.

He loves cheese and other non-sweet tasting but fattening foods.

I think the only way we are going to control it is by controlling the food in our house, only keeping nutrient dense but low(ish) cal foods available and keeping treats as treats. Much easier said than done!

My guy is especially demanding when he is tired, I think he craves the sugar buzz when he is tired. Good sleep probably helps to stick to good nutrition, even for kids.

Yup, maybe try no snacking full stop. 3 squares a day, nice filling stuff with fruit/plain yoghurt offered if everything eaten. Our dentist said that a glass of milk is best for teeth if our DS was hungry between meals. You could try offering this - there's calories and protein in it so if she's really hungry it will put her on till the next meal. But if she's more eating for comfort/out of habit then it might help to break that cycle.

I was a bit like this when I was a kid. I used to hoard food, too. My mum was at the end of her tether.

I think in my case, the problem was that mum used to insist we cleared our plates, every time. To the point where I would be feeling sick but continuing to eat. So I think I never felt like I'd had enough until I was uncomfortably full. I still struggle with this today. Not saying that this is your situation, OP, just wanted to offer my perspective as a former greedy child.

My tip: if she likes sweet things try blending some fresh fruit with water or yogurt and freezing it into ice lolly trays. My toddler thinks this is ice cream. Yours is older and might be a bit wiser to these kinds of tricks though.

Or have healthy snack options like hummus with rice cakes and lots of fruit.

If going cold turkey with the snacks doesn't work. Maybe start with a "snack box" filled with raisins, a couple of biscuits, breadsticks etc and tell her that's all she's having for snacks that day?

I have a just turned 5 year old, very sweet tooth loves snacks, but I am in charge and without me being overly controlling she would never just help herself from the cupboard, maybe I am just lucky?

If I bring treats or sweet things into the house I put them away before DD sees them, if she asks for a cookie or similar I would say you can have two but that's it and put the box back away so no more temptation (eg I would leave them out on a plate - she would scoff the lot!).

If she was still hungry I would say have a piece of fruit and some water (which she loves and would eat all day - I may have to start limiting that as she ends up being very picky/not interested at meal times).

If she took something without asking then I would probably say no more treats for a a day or two and explain why.

I try and keep the treats child size eg 1 or 2 small choc-chip cookies, a small box of smarties (fun size), a handful of crisps instead of a whole packet etc.

My DD will nag and nag for snacks (mainly when she is bored/watching tv) and I have learned most of the time she is not that hungry just bored but it is REALLY hard to stand your ground on this one so I do sympathise.

I let my DD have plenty of treats (within reason) BUT she is very active and a healthy weight, I am not sure I would be so free with handing out chocolate etc if she were chubby and not so sporty. I think you need to try being much more strict with your DD for now and limit chocolate treats to once a week and come up with some healthier alternatives for the other times.

It will be hard but it sounds like she needs you to control this before it gets worse.

Also we try and finish lunch and dinner with 'dessert' which is usually just fruit and yogurt (once a week something special like icecream or chocolate pudding) but then she has had something sweet and it may take away the craving?

One last thing!

I always explain to my DD that chocolate etc is nice and tastes good but it is not filling etc so if she was whining and saying she was hungry then the options would be banana, crackers etc.

I always carry a cereal bar and some raisins in my bag as she will often want a snack after being out somewhere, not super healthy but better than buying her a choccy bar on the run.

Kinder eggs are a good small treat imo, not too much chocolate and they get the crappy toy to keep them busy for a while!

Thanks everyone very helpful will defo be taking these ideas up, feel more positive now about helping her xxx

Ds (5) is very greedy, he would eat all day. But he isn't overweight, he's super active. We have a treat box where I put all sweets they are given or from party bags and every now and then they can choose something from it. Other than that we don't have chocolate or anything in the house (or I would eat it!) and it's out of reach. I think you ought not to buy the unhealthy stuff, or at least keep it out of her reach so she can't eat it without asking.

It's easier when he is at school but often he moans and whines after school, what he wants is a sweet treat, maybe as he is tired and his blood sugar is a little low. I just try to be really strict. "No, you have had your snack, now you can wait for dinner." He will often cry but I have to stand my ground or he would be stuffing his face all day and then he would be overweight.

The only healthy snack is the one that you have when you are so hungry that you just cannot wait for the next meal eg after a vigorous swimming session.

Hard boiled eggs, fish sticks, unsweetened Greek yogurt, carrot/pepper/cucumber, Babybel, falafel are all things that will fill her up without being unhealthy. I find most kids snacks are simple carbohydrate based - crisps, biscuits, bread sticks, fruit yogurt, dried fruit. It's all sugar in the end.

I don't give mine snack at all, except after swimming. They get three meals a day and that is that. We don't talk about food at other times. If they said they were hungry I would say 'dinner is in an hour. It's chicken and rice"

Mine is the same and plump too. The older ones didn't slim out until six or so so it is in part our trend but the youngest is greedier than the others and a bit fatter (obese officially) so I watch him pretty carefully.

We have no crisps, sweets or choc in the house ever. We have home baked puddings sometimes (low sugar, lots of fruit, whole meal flour) or ice cream made with fruit and yogurt as a treat. I can practically see him expand if we visit te grandparents where he could eat four tea cakes then yogurts then crisps...happily don't go much.

We eat home cooked with at least three portions of veg a day. He has a pack lunch with hard boiled egg, carrot sticks, an apple etc no juice and little milk.

He scoots or bike rides every day and does formal exercise four times a week. How the bugger he is still plump I don't really know but he isn't getting bigger so should grow into his weight...he is also very fit! I figure I just take care of the controllable part and hope he ends up loving sport as much as food. I am very (very)greedy though not fat so it is manageable in the long term.

I agree with the others, just don't have crap in the house (Kit Kats are not 'food'). And stick to 3 mealtimes only. No snacking.