dd1 (8 yrs) - bottomless-pit type appetite and chubby - how to deal with it?

[geekgirl]

Dd1 has always been a good eater and on the heavy side, but I am getting really quite worried about her size now.
She is overweight (not terribly so but still...) and if left to her own devices would completely stuff her face with high-calorie food, shunning fruit & veg.

I am forever having to tell her that she can't eat more of a something and do try to curb her eating, but she obviously has huge school dinners with second and third helpings, and has on occasion had dinner at a friend's house without my knowledge, only to have another full meal at home .

I'm also fed up with having to supervise her permanently during breakfast as she would easily have 4 bowls of cereal if left unchecked.

I guess one solution would be to switch her back to packed lunches [groan]

She is at least very active, cycles lots and spends her time after school on the playground and the playing fields nearby, which has really helped. I feel that unless we get a grip on her eating we're fighting a losing battle though.
I've not said anything to her directly - I was an overweight child and my parents always made a big deal over it, and as a result I ended up battling with bulimia and then anorexia for years and years, so I am very conscious of not not the same to her - but at the same time I don't want her to be overweight.

that's interesting reading

so many of dd's peers seem SO tiny and kind of weigh the same as my 2.5 year old (2 and 3/4 stone) whereas dd is 3 and a half stone!

Awww ! Aren't you all lovely geekgirl?

I am beginning to wory about this too. For DS#1 because for the first time in his life (at 10) he is beginning to get a little chubby. He is quite active but does eat huge amounts - we've always used the 'you can have pud if you eat all your dinner' but as he always does that doesn't work too well. He is conscious of it too and has agreed to eat fruit instead of other things for snacks. We'll see.... At 8 DD is skinny but eating a lot atm and has a very sweet tooth which is a new thing for her. So I'm keeping an eye. DS#2 is very slim and active and doesn't eat that much.

What worried me was hearing a nutrionist on R4 say that primary school kids should be skinny - you should be able to count their ribs. Which is taking things a bit far. I think I'd struggle with DS#1's....

I always ate loads as a child, always wanted seconds, ate as much as I could get my hands on between meals, and was a bit of a popgy child although not huge. I had the very occasional fatist comment from my Dad (and each one is imprinted on my brain) but my mum never made a big deal out of it. As an adult I'm slimish and have a fairly healthy relationship with food. So I'm saying try not to worry and definitely don't let her know if you're worried.