DD (5.11) has announced she is going on a diet so she 'doesn't go fat'. This is not something she has got from me. Should I ignore or discourage or what?

[AnarchyAunt]

In our house we don't even have scales! I am completely unconcerned about weight, its just a non-issue here. We eat a fairly healthy vegetarian diet - eveything in moderation kind thing, so chips if we want them, cakes/chocolates/sweets every now and then, etc. She's aware of the need for plenty of fruit/veg, limited salt/sugar etc but on very general health grounds.

Neither of us are remotely overweight, she's a normal sized nearly-six-year-old (if nything rather thin, I'm always taking her trousers in) and I'm about a size 10.

But down she comes this morning and tells me she is not eating sweet things ever again because she is on a diet so she doesn't 'go fat' She doesn't really watch TV so can't imagine it comes from something she has seen, family members aren't likely to have mentioned it... So no idea where its come from. Is this just something girls do? Do I dismiss or discourage or ignore?

I don't have girls, but DS2, at around 11/12 started talking abouthis weight. No idea why as he is and always has been a skinny thing!

I didn't ignore it, but neither did I make a big thing about it, just said that there was no need for him to watch his weight and carried on feeding him just the same.

I think with your DS the age she is, you're still in total control of what she does eat (unlike my DS - once they're going to secondary school they have more autonomy over what they eat when they're out of the house), so I'd just continue to feed her as you always have. I would, though, keep an eagle eye over what she's eating and making sure that she is eating things.

Sorry I can't be more help.

I think you need to tell her a 'diet' is a way of life you need a good mix of everything to have a good diet and because she already does her 'diet' is sorted.

done dusted and final.

my dd(8) recently said she could do with losing a couple of pounds!

I tend to ignore any comments like that, and just tell her she's beautiful, and that her diet is healthy and balanced, because it wouldn't be healthy if she just ate carrots, she needs a bit of everything

My ds is 5 and since he started reception in Sept he has talked about healthy food a lot. He often asks if something is healthy before he will eat it. He thinks that milk, cheese and sweets make you fat and chocolate cake 'makes you die'. I am constantly having to tell him that you need to eat different kinds of food and food is only healthy if you have a varied diet. He thinks that fruit and veg are the only healthy food and everything else is 'bad'. He hasn't refused to eat anything because it is unhealthy yet. Your dd might think that if she eats something sweet then she is suddenly going to balloon. I have tried to tell my ds that you have to eat too much food for years and years before you get fat. I think he has an image of people swelling up after one sweet like the girl who ate the gum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

This really makes me

I teach English as a Foreign Language to children between 5 and 10 yo, and the text books we use all have a section on food. One of the exercises is always to divide food into healthy and unhealthy. As if things were that simple. I always change the categories into "things we should eat lots of" and "things we shouldn't eat too much of".

I think in your situation I would focus on varied diets, letting your dd see that everything in moderation is the best way forward. Of course your example of being unconcerned about weight is a great one for her to follow.