Talking to 7 Year Old About Healthy Eating

he's 7....let him be a kid. Don't preach to him, don't hound him. No matter how hard you try to be kind...it will still leave a lasting impression on him.
Model good choices & let him be.

Never eat straight from the container. Mindless eating can pack on a lot of calories. Get some smaller bowls/plates...it'll make a huge difference!

I rarely see an overweight child with normal weight parents. If you are buying healthy food and eating at home most of the time. He will grow into his weight. Set a good example.

I think the key at this age is the simple answer. Monkey see, monkey do. I would let him see you push the plate away when you've had enough. Talk about it like "That was great but I'm full now". Sounds like you're doing everything right.

I think a lot of it boils down to how you are with food.

If you model good nutrition, exercise, good choices... He's likely to follow how you eat.

He needs to learn how to tell he's full. Drink water before and during the meal. No seconds, ever.

Don't keep junk food in your house, don't drink sodas. Moderation is key but you also need to exercise and use self discipline.

Just a couple of points to keep in mind:

a) it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to get the satiety ("I'm satisfied") signal. So delaying seconds, rather than saying "no", is a good strategy. Let the full stomach "register" with the brain.

b) a lot of hunger is really thirst. So increase his water intake before and during meals as well as throughout the day. Give him his own water bottle (ideally a stainless steel one or at least a BPA-free plastic one) - there are cool ones with super heroes, or you can order one with his name on it. Keep a pitcher of water on the counter or in the fridge, and keep a rough track of what he takes in. Don't send him to school with juice boxes and so forth - just refill the bottle from the regular water supply. Don't invest in bottled water - aside from the waste of money and the litter problem, he'll wind up limiting his intake based on when the bottle is empty rather than what's available all the time or what he really wants.

c) remember there are growth spurts, and a lot of kids carry some extra "baby fat" until high school. Don't go too crazy about his body size, shape or image right now. Keep him moving, and don't deny him treats that the skinny kids get - there's no guarantee that they are any healthier than he is. It will all play out late in adolescence. By focusing too much on it now, you actually can sabotage him down the road.

Whoever buys the food has a great deal of control over what will fill him up or make him hungry. So stock up on complex carbs, fruits, veggies, and protein (eggs, various cheeses, nuts, lean meat, tuna, etc). Things like juice and tonic (soda) probably shouldn't even be in the house. As for junk, it's amazing how many forms it comes in... crackers, most cereals, frozen breakfast sandwiches or waffles, cookies, chips, granola bars, yoghurt with fruit or flavoring, candy, fruit roll-ups, ugh!!! Each of these items end up making a person hungry again quickly. It's a real problem for children. Honest story: when the kids were little I only had one box of cookies a week. When they were gone, they were gone.

Also, food that is crunchy or chewy tends to make us work harder to eat it and ends up making us feel fuller. I'm thinking of popcorn, raw veggies, unsalted nuts.

And food that is eaten with a fork takes longer to eat and is more likely to satisfy. So hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches can be scarfed down and you could still be hungry. But whole wheat spaghetti with hamburger takes forking time and lots of chewing. Hot dogs and beans take time. And of course, the give and take of conversation really helps. So snacks and meals only at the table and only with someone else's company is ideal. Even if you only sit with him for a few minutes while he snacks. Food on the run does not compute in the mind that he has eaten.

Well, best of luck! Whatever you do, please don't talk to him about food and his intake, unless weight is a critical issue. And then talk to a nutritionist about the best way to address this. Boys get body image issues and food control issues, just as girls do.

Hi :)

So he's just hungry is that it? If he wants more than he needs, but it's real food (i.e. supper or healthy foods) - I would just give it to him, in moderation.

I would also let him drink lots of water. Sometimes kids feel hungry when really it is thirst. I serve water with supper at our house.

I don't do juice - except here and there - and very limited. I mostly serve water.

Just make sure he's not eating too much with hidden sugar (like drinks, etc.).

My kids all have different body types. One of mine has not hit the growth spurt yet and is rounder. Active, eats well, eats some junk (I allow some), but is just at that stage where the growth spurt hasn't quite hit. Still healthy on the charts.

I remember mine as toddlers - they would get very round ... like little Telletubbies and then suddenly shoot up.

I am very careful not to mention weight with my kids. Or make a big deal about diet. Trust me, they hear a lot of this at school. I have a small child who told me the other day they should go on a diet. I couldn't believe it. But the kids at school are on diets.

I stick out baby carrots, chop up apples, and the like. I do the same for me when I find I can't button up my pants.

Good luck :)

One thing you can do is make sure he drinks all of his milk or water before having seconds. I always give my kids more food if they ask for it, but I usually make sure they've had something to drink as well. The milk helps to fill them up too.

With all 3 of my sons, they would go through a period where they ate more - couldn't fill them up. They would get a little "rounder" but then the growth spurt would hit and they would shoot up and loose the roundness. During the growth period and after they ate way less - on their own. Then another cyle would start. It seems like it started around 6-7 (they are grown now so hard to remember!) We did talk about not eating too fast because you eat too much that way as your brain doesn't know you're full. We knew someone who ate really fast so it was a very natural conversation. It sounds to me like you are offering healthy food and making sure he is getting plenty of exercise so I wouldn't worry just yet.

You shouldn't worry about portion control with him.

Kids don't grow like adults.

They eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. Then they chub out so much you think they're going to pop. Then they wake up one morning and their pants fall off because they grew while they were sleeping.

Then they hardly eat anything extra for months.

So don't worry about this so much. If he's hungry let him have seconds. If he's full he can't put any more in his tummy, it's physically impossible.

So many parents worry about weight issues, I understand that. But when a parent starts focusing on food, portions, diet, and stuff the kids get even more focused on food and they want more. Just don't bother. He'll be fine.

Take time to sit down and actually look at the nutrition information on some of his favorite snacks. Measure out a serving size. Buy a tub of Crisco and measure out grams of fat in that serving. Use sugar cubes to measure out grams of sugar in one serving. You can also measure out sodium amounts with salt. Sometimes it takes seeing it to really understand it. My kids had some kind of a presentation at school about healthy eating. They now refuse to eat regular potato chips because they aren't as "healthy" as the baked ones. Neither of my kids will touch French fries now.

At dinner time make just enough of the main dish and breads for everyone to have just one portion. Supplement with more veggies. When you buy snacks, measure out portions into ziplock bags. A friend of mine used to do that. Then she had a plastic shoe box for each kid. Every week she put a certain number of individual servings of snacks in the box. Her kids knew that when they were gone, they had to choose fruit for a snack. They weren't deprived, but they learned how to control their portions. If they ate two today, there wouldn't be one for later in the week.

Probably just as important as talking about portion control is talking about being active. How much time does he spend running around outside vs how much time he spends on electronics or even just reading. There needs to be a good balance of healthy eating and active living. Take a look at how many calories are in an individual portion and how long you would need to run to burn off that many calories.

But, I think if you make too big of a deal about weight it can back fire. Instead of focusing on having a healthy weight, focus on having a healthy body. Yes, they can do go hand in hand, but you can have a healthy weight and be a very unhealthy person.

With my son, I realized that you can talk about nutrition all you like.. but it really comes down to actions..
we never have things like soda or sugar cereals in the house, chips and crackers are a no no.. we just have a lot of the basics..
when it comes to eating.. I ALWAYS try and have at least two veggies on the plate.. and one is always RAW.. example.. red bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes.. avocado, mango.. etc..
I have been causally without making a fuss, putting out raw or steamed , salad without saying.. oh you must eat this or that... but if I know my son likes the food, I will then say.. you know, strawberries pack a lot of vitamin c.. or because we have a book in the kitchen which list the nutrients of different veggies and or fruits, I will say, hey we are having bell peppers, can you look up the vitamin content... my son is now 13 and I have been doing this since he was little.. now, he will be eating something and tell me what vitamin or mineral it has.. I agree that a child shouldn't be pressured and like yours, my son was heavier than most even if he ate better than most.. but thin doesn't equal healthy and fat doesn't always equal bad eating, it just might mean that for a specific body type, sometimes some kids need even more exercise than others.. nothing wrong with that..
also, we drink and always have tons of water.. NEVER soda or packaged/processed juice (they are high in sugar)
basically.. just keep it casual.. if you expect your child to eat something, you better be eating it too.. my son has always liked big portions, but that is why if that is the case, have LOTS of veggies to go along with it..
things like the avocado and red bell pepper, which also add fiber and help to fill him up...
also.. try smaller plates and put less starch and more of the protein and veggies.. without making a big deal... once someone, even adults feel they are being deprived, then they automatically want more..
I once read.. that's it's best to add something healthy then to go in and completely take away everything..
so add the protein, a little starch but then add two veggies and a fruit..

I would talk to him about growing foods and foods that give good energy and sometimes foods that don't really help you grow. My DD knows that she needs growing food to get any SMALL sometimes food. We portion things out. If she has chips, she has a few chips in a small kiddie bowl. I would also talk in the grocery store. Discuss what fruits and veg he might want for snacks. Stick to the outside aisles. If he wants potato chips, then perhaps get one of those 35 cent bags only. Don't keep the junk in the house. Keep water handy. My DD cannot take juice around the house, but has her own sports bottle that she can drink from anytime - only water, though.

The other thing to consider is growth spurts. Is it at all possible that he's getting ready to get taller? My nephews both got wider before they grew several inches at once.

You can also slow him down. Offer him one thing at a time on a small plate, vs a plateful of everything. Make him drink a glass of water before seconds because often hunger is thirst.

My 13 yo is very thin, but has always eaten like a horse. Like you I struggled with it because he was thin, so it wasn't a big deal, right? Wrong, it was teaching bad habits.

If, after a meal with appropriate portions, he was still hungry I had him drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes. If he was still hungry then he could have fruit, veggies, or cheese. He learned pretty quickly that he was really thirsty, not hungry, and the 20 minutes gave his stomach a chance to send the 'full' signal to his brain and more often than not he didn't want anything else.

I also tell both my kids that if steamed broccoli (which they both like) doesn't sound good then it's a craving and not hunger and they should drink a glass of water or go for a walk or go outside and play till the craving passes.

i could list scores of little people i've known over the years who've waxed and waned like the moon. my own little fellow was born fat (my fault, i gained like a hippo while i carried him) and was 'the fat kid' til he hit the teens and stretched out, slimmed down and muscled up like magic.
i think if you've got healthy foods in the house, and you have ongoing conversations about nutrition (not lectures!!!), he'll be fine.
it may be hard to keep quiet if he's going through a rounder phase and so far i think you're handling it just fine. it's great to remind him to be mindful, but seriously, don't push any harder than that. if his choices are the healthy meals you've prepared, and the healthy snacks you keep available, he's going to be fine. i'd be much more inclined to keep saying yes to another apple or string cheese or yogurt or roll of lunch meat than to have to keep saying no to cookies and cupcakes.
i actually did a nutrition study with mine when we homeschooled. he was older, i think around 12, and i think it influenced him in a positive fashion. not immediately, though.
so to answer your basic question, i think the best way to approach it is with a very light hand. i like your 'stop and think!', even if it doesn't seem as if he's really internalizing it yet.
but he is.
khairete
S.

Your son could be getting ready to sprout up if he is getting a bit fluffy. So do be aware of that.

Some kids will eat more than others and then they level off and become who they will be in size around say 13 or 14. Activity will help use up the extra calories.

Just make sure that the food he eats at home is healthy. Make sure any snaps he eats are health as well. Once in a while a treat of ice cream but many fruits and veggies with a lot of water. Whatever you do, don't start to nag him about his eating or he will continue to do so because he can as a control issue.

Praise him for what he does and never show disappointment even if you feel it in what you say. He will pick up on it and think what he does is wrong. Let him know when snack time is at him and meal times. If he finishes up the plate of veggies before dinner he is done until the next meal no ifs and ands about it. No need to get into a fight over this. "What is out is what you can have and no more until dinner."

I am very pleased to see that he runs around and enjoys the outdoors. If he is active, his body is burning up the food that he eats. Muscle weighs more than fat.

the other S.

Offer more healthy snacks, throughout the day. Not chips or 'nutrition' bars, but veggies with hummus or freeze dried fruits and veggies. Kids who are given the opportunity to graze through the day tend to have a better handle on when they are truly hungry.

On the same token, put out a plate of veggies and fruits cut up about 20 minutes prior to dinner (crudités). If he comes to the table partially satiated he will likely eat less.

Go for a family walk or bike ride after dinner. It will help all of you digest your meal better.

Make sure meal time is just eating, no TV.

Last thing: worry less! If his pedi says he is OK, and his weight is good, he is fine. You are doing an awesome job just by putting whole, nutritious food on his plate each day. :)

ETA: a side note: Sushi is not all that healthy. The fish and seaweed are great, and it's wonderful to expose him to different tastes, but the majority of calories comes from nutritionally devoid white rice, usually mixed with rice wine vinegar and straight sugar.

My nephew is the same age and man he eats a lot! He could eat a whole pizza in no time. I try to get him to eat slower and take smaller bites. Have him drink a cup of water before he eats. Or maybe take turns having family discussions while you eat to slow him down. And I can't stress enough, water water water! I just went on a 3 day diet that had very little in the meals, slower and smaller bites does fill you up. Especially with the water. Also, don't put serving dishes on the table, when it's not in front of you it's harder to get seconds. Also, serve on smaller plates. I even heard that eating off blue plates fills you up faster, the color is unappetizing. Good luck!