OBESE NIECES

[hifi]

just got back off hols with ds and her daughters, haven't seen them without clothes for a while, two of them 10 and 8 years are really overweight, the 10 yr old more so.

in the course of the hols i have made one or two comments on the amount they eat. ds says she doesn't want them having a complex about food, they were eating twice the amount i was in a day, if not more.

for example the 10 yr old would have 4 slices of toast, yogurt and coco pops for breakfast.

4 slices of bread with cream cheese, 2 sausage rolls, crisp and a twix plus 2 cans of 7up.
dinner was adult portion in a restaurant.
thru the day maybe 6 more cans of 7up and more biscuits.

i can understand her concerns about food issues but surely this is out of control.

shall i but out or tackle her. both dn are clearly bothered about their weight.

I think the amount of fizzy drinks should be a big concern - deffo out of control but easy enough to change.

Is what they eat normal for your family? I mean were you brought up eating like that - and do you eat those sorts of foods at home?

I doubt your sister will take your comments well - mainly because the weight problem may well be due to portion size which is harder to deal with than changing a family's diet.

But - if no-one in your family eats like that you may get away with suggesting a change of diet.

I think the main problem is this research -

"Among parents with an obese, or extremely overweight, child ages 6 to 11, 43 percent said their child was "about the right weight," 37 percent responded "slightly overweight," and 13 percent said "very overweight."

Your sister prob genuinely doesn't see there is a problem.

Gosh, what a diet!
I should imagine they'd be very, um, "gassy" after all those cans of pop.
It's way more than I eat, and far too many empty calories. Does your sister eat healthily? Is she overweight?

we were brought up on a very healthy diet, ds has had 4 kids and has a flabby stomach but is slim everywhere else.we joke she has never used her oven as its mostly convenience food.

my parents were there and passed comment to me on the c* they were eating.

dn asked me to delete photos where her stomach was overhanging her bikini. they are given fruit but consume huge amounts, we had a melon and they ate 5 pieces each, also full bunches of grapes.
they are hugely spoilt in other ways and i dont think she can say no.

Suggest nicely that she get her gp to refer her to a dietician. She needs to know what is a "normal diet" and she is not going to listen to you. A professional might be able to put is better.

Suggesting anything nicely is not going to work with a mother who does not see a prob. I don't think there's much you can do at all unless your sister asks for advice.

It's clear the nieces need to cut out the fizzy pop, eat only wholemeal bread and home cooked meals with plenty of veg. I agree the portions/amounts they are eating are very large but I do not think children that age should be encouraged to stop eating before they are full; you can offer them only good food and cut out the junk.

Re the bikini - the mother is mad to buy such a swimming costume for an overweight child.

She obviously knows what is a healthy diet then so what will be hard for them is to reduce portion size then.

I do think that dcs (and adults!) can get used to eating huge volumes of food.

I don't agree with this comment Elastic "I do not think children that age should be encouraged to stop eating before they are full" - my dc1 would eat and eat and never stop if it was sweet (chocolcate & diet coke), high fat (crisps & sausage rolls) and white bread!

IMO the amount eaten does need to be reduced but slowly.

I hope she and you get to have a chat sometime soon - if you're brave enough.

thans everyone, i will tackle her when brave enough.

Gagarin - I agree with you - many of us, adults and dc will find room for more sweets, crisps etc if they are there. What I meant was, they should be allowed to fill up on proper food.

My brothers all used to eat mountains of potatoes (boiled) when teenagers, and were all skinny as rakes. But sweets, biscuits etc were limited. My parents had 56 lb of potatoes delivered per fortnight for a family of 2 adults & 4 children.

Ah, those were the days, when you had to get up half an hour before you went to bed and lick t'road ....