Help!!!!! - Chambersburg,PA

L., you didn't say if your daughter was overweight or was at a proper weight. If she is gaining weight too quickly or is overweight, I would be more concerned than if she was normal weight. I would suggest that you let her body condition dictate when you become concerned about her eating habits. Sometimes sneaking food is done because the child's body requires more than is being provided. Maybe her metabolism has become more active lately, maybe she is going to do one of those unbelievable growth spurts that children sometimes do. So I would let her body's condition tell you when she is eating too much. My son ate everything that was not nailed down all his life. His legs rubbed together when he was a toddler, though he was never above the 100th percentile in weight. He is adopted, so I didn't know the body types of his parents. Many people told me to put him on a diet. I let his internal regulator decide when he had enough, because he ate mostly good food. At around age 10, he had an unbelievable one year growth spurt and turned into a bean pole. Literally, he grow several inches and didn't put on an ounce. Today, at 23, he is a fit young man. Sometimes, you don't know what is going to happen. You are wise to consider your daughter's genetic make up, and to be concerned about the eating habits she is forming. Maybe you can't keep her from eating, but maybe you can form the healthy habits of more exercise so she doesn't become overweight. Just getting into the habit of taking a daily brisk walk in the neighborhood or on a walking trail will be good for both of you, it will also give you more time to bond together. If you make it a family thing, everyone will benefit. Just a suggestion, you maybe can come up with something yourself. The habit of exercise is good to foster, and will help her overcome any predisposition to being overweight. Hope this helps.

Good Morning L.. I have 7 year old twins and a 4 soon to be 5 year old. I have all the snacks, treats,cookies etc. out of reach. This way they cannot get to them .We do give them cookies,sugary foods etc. sometimes as a reward for doing well with their homework all week or sometimes when they bring it home from school. We control the sugar intake though. My one twin gets very hyper when he eats sugar so I have to really monitor his sugar intake. There are other things out there though that are much lower sugar,and calories. I give my 3 rice cakes or a graham cracker for homework treat. We also give them yogurt,fruit snacks or even popsicles . These are all fairly healthy,low caloric snacks. We get the Trix Yogurt. They are small containers and only 21 grams carbohydrate.Read the labels carbohydrates turn into sugar and what the body doesn't use turns into fat. The more she plays and excercises burns off those extra calories too. MY children seem to want to be outside every free moment now that the weather is nice. I hope this helps.

really L. that's a difficult one in my opinion. reason being if you end up having to point out to her about her habit then in her mind that would be scolding her for her wight. nowadays girls are becoming self concsious way earlier than we ever did.
i can tell you only from my personal experience but i was totally on the other side of spectrum. i did not eat a lot. i ate as much as i wanted, but as soon as i didn't feel hunger anymore i'd stop. i don't mean just healthy stuff (considering my mom used lard for everything). but i was always the olive oil from friends. in my society skinny was not considered attractive, but the good behind,. bossom, cheeks, meat really in a woman's body was what was appealing not the stick figure. therefore my mom always and i mean always talked about food to me. more she talked less hungry i got. it was like a power struggle. when she wasn't around i ate as much as i needed to when she was around and talked about food killed my appetite completely. my father had a different approach. he talked to me once about how important nutrition is. he left it at that. i always remembered what he said, not the constant nagging from my mom.
so my suggestion would be to talk to her about what eating constantly can do to a person healthwise (without talking about obesity and such), but mention the health problems and things that may occur if she continues doing that.
on top of that, hide well or eliminate all the cookies and sweet stuff until she learns to eat without having to hide from you.
now if she's eating real food in my opinion that's ok. the other stuff, the unhealthy stuff, is what i would be concerned about, sugar, and unnecessary fat that won't go away.
well, really like i said complicated but i hope you don't turn it into an issue for her.
good luck
vlora

Hi L.,

You have every right to be concerned since this has been a problem in your family, however, don't over think this situation with your daughter. Remember that all children will go through growth spurts and they have a great sense of picking up on grown ups. Meaning she may realize how much of an important topic this is for you, but just not for her. Try to include her in sports and extracurricular activities in order to stay active. Learning to eat right is great but incorporating exercise in your life is even better. If she becomes involved in a sport such as swimming, biking, basketball or soccer, for instance, now she will continue as she gets older and perhaps your sister can do these things with her :) Good luck!!