Need Some Advice and Ideas for My 2 Kids Who Are a Little Too Chubby!!!..

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but the biggest cause of obesity in children is a sedentary lifestyle. Yes that means getting them moving, but it also means looking at why they are not. How much is the TV on? How much time do they get on the computer? What about just lounging and listening to their iPods? These things need to be limited, if you want to have success at getting them moving. My son is by no means overweight, in fact he's skinny, but he has a "spare tire". I attribute it to genetics (his dad has one, although he's always been thin) and too much TV, Gameboy, etc. etc. etc. That's at his dad's. Here we don't have the TV on but maybe once a week and we don't even hve those other gadgets, but it shows what can happen. We eat pretty healthy, too (I've researched TOO much! :-) ). I would also recommend a couple of cookbooks..."Looney Spoons" and "Crazy Plates"..."Low fat food so fun, you'd swear it was bad for you". I LOVE these because they are fun. In fact, the other day I found my 13-y/o sitting at the table just reading the cookbook because of the jokes in it! Weird!!

Get them involved in some sort of outdoor activity, baseball, soccer, even just playing at the park. Play outside with them. Limit TV & video games. Put a strict limit on the amount of unhealthy snacks they can eat. At 6, especially, they can't eat the bad foods unless you are buying them.

Switch to whole grain breads, brown rice, fruits, veggies, yogurt, water. Stay away from soda, 'juice' boxes, and anything else that uses high fructose corn syrup. You will probably encounter a lot of resistance at first. Stick with it. It is in your child's best interest to start eating healthy now. We all know how hard it is to change poor eating habits as you get older. None of us wants our children to suffer from type II Diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. It is our responsibility to teach them how to eat healthy now so they don't suffer later.

I hate the term "dieting". Making the move to eating healthy, nutritious meals, is not dieting. Children are growing & developing which is why eating a nutritious diet is SO important right now.

Hmmm...maybe start going on walks after dinner? Do you have any trails nearby? Make it seem like something fun...let them bring their friends...explore a bit outside. If this goes over well, eventually challenge them to a race (like from here to the stop sign). Make it a 'family play time'. It will be good for you and your husband, as well.

I've already lost my 14 yr old to his friends and activities so I use 'a walk' as an excuse to spend time with my 11 yr old and get a second workout in. I let her bring her best friend and we run, skip, poke at dead bugs,...you know...

Good Luck!
M.

I dont believe in dieting for kids because of their growing needs. so when my children were packing on the pounds I did not alter their eating patterns because they ate generally healthy foods just alot of it. so what I did was increased their physical activity and it helped me as well. I signed them up with the park district baseball, softball and basketball. I also got them swiming lessons and after dinner I took them to the forest trails and they could do what ever they wanted bike, skate, walk and sometimes we would have races where we would run to see who was faster. the key was not to call it exercise call it family funtime. also it will be time consuming at first and they may be whyning alot just do it. take them to the skating rink they offer classes for those who dont know how to skate. you will see the pounds droping as they are getting taller. The holiday inn near my home offer for a small fee the use of their holidome (the swiming pool, weights, pool table area) we did that during the winter time.

Hi M.!
I think its excellent that you are taking a look at your children and realizing that your health and their health is something that you want to change.

I work with many families who are wanting to make some lifestyle changes for better health.

I definately agree that outdoor activities and physical fitness is a great place to start. Healthy snacks, such as fruits and veggies is a good start as well. If you would like information on healthy ways to lose weight, I would be more than happy to share some information with you - I have my own nutrition consultation company.

In good health,
B.

It's so good that you are doing this for your kids. It sounds like your daughter is viewing it as punishment. Suggest you go to library, or do an online search at your library, for healthy but interesting snacks you can make, like fruit salad sprinkled w/ a tiny bit of sugar and let it sit overnight, it's amazing how a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar can bring the natural sugars out of the fruit, your kids will love it. Don't take away all their treats at once, do it a little more slowly, integrate the good food into their diets, and promise them small rewards at the end of the week. Trying to get kids onto a whole new diet is hard, especially if you do it "cold turkey" (which is also quite delicious and healthy :). I am what i used to consider a very healthy eater, mostly raw foods (fruit/veggies), but i still believe in a twinkie now and then, or a bowl of ice cream (go by the serving size on package, not by how hungry you feel). After a few weeks move a new healthy snack into their diet. Figure out what healtier foods they like and buy a bunch on the weekend, prepare the food sunday for them so they can just go to fridge and pick it out w/o first going to the ding dong carton. If they like cereal, get something like mueslix or even Total raisin bran, if they like sugar, get honey to replace it, or natural sugar (not processed). Kids are going to be kids and will prob sneak candy bars and whatever else they can, but at their age am sure their finances are limited so they can't do too much damage when you aren't looking. Keep it up and after a while, a few months, they will want to eat good food, they will definitely notice a change in their energy levels and how great you can actually feel when you eat food that is good for you. The most important thing is to actually prepare the food -- wash the fruit, cut the strawberries into bite sized pieces, have a bowl of fruit sitting on the table ready to eat. Don't buy little debbies. Do buy organic chocolate chips, you can get them at trader joes, made w/ honey, they are delicious! But again, limit them to the serving size. It really is about having the will power to stop, and knowing that after about 5 mins of eating our bodies are typically "full", but that we will continue to eat for 10 more minutes w/o feeling "full", and is a lot of reason why we overeat. Good luck, be happy and thankful for your children, aren't they just the greatest little people... :)

So many people have already given such great advice, such as more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and making exercise a 'fun family activity'. Here are a few more pointers.

Throw away any 'junk food' you might have in the house...even if your kids are hungry and want to snack, then they don't have the garbage and empty calories and if truly hungry, will need to turn to healthier alternatives. Gather it all up in a bag and either throw it away or give it to your husband to take to work. But remember, if it isn't in the house - it can't be eaten!

Also, resist the temptation the convenience of the drive-thru window brings. If you have to keep 'emergency food' on hand, keep a bag of healthy and tasty snacks in the car, instead of going to McDonalds for the high-calorie, high-fat snack.

Don't think of it as a 'diet' for your kids. Think of it as teaching them a healthy choice they will sustain for a lifetime.

M., I have a big child for his age too (7 years). Parents do need to be more proactive in modeling for this. I heard a disturbing statistic quoted from class I took out of U of I Extension. They are predicting 1/3 of children born before 2000 will end up obese and diabetic. She gave some good advice. Keep them active - it is hard to do, especially with some personalities. So few children and adults meet the need of 60 minutes on continuous activity. (Take family walks.) No sugary liquids (pop) including limiting milk and fruit juice. Doctors are now advising 1% or skim milk for children 2 years and over. Beware of junk food with trans fats. Another source said to stay away from white foods - flour, white rice, processed foods, etc. Emphasize raw vegetables and fruit for snacks, etc.

My girls are 7 (90 pounds) and 6 (80 pounds). The are both in the 95th percintile for their height as well. Yes, it does start at home, we all admit that. I control what they eat when I am home, but when my husband has them, I have no control. We have spoken to a dietician, who advised my husband to change some things with him. He then lost 50 pounds and it was then that he realized he had to be more adult with the kids too. So he is much better. Our pediatrician recommended that we don't put them on a diet as much as we change what they eat and do. She said they would eventually grow into their weight as long as we keep them steady with the numbers now. And with summer coming, take them to the park, walks, bikes, etc...Keep them moving. Good luck, I know it's difficult.

welch's has a fruit snack that has vitamic c in it and they are 98% fat free, these will be good for them, since they will still feel like they are getting "junk" food.

I know a little too much about food and nutrition, so I hope I can help... With the weight issue, as well as the diabetes, it's important to keep those kids active and to feed them nutritious foods. We try to buy organic foods that are made with all natural ingredients, particularly evaporated cane juice. They are just as good and just as sweet, but the cane juice raises blood sugar slowly, whereas high fructose corn syrup (found in most 'sweet' foods) shoots blood sugar sky high very quickly. This will help to prevent or minimize the potential for diabetes in your children. Switching to organic will also keep weight down, as the foods tend to be higher in dietary fiber and more nutritious overall. You can find everything organic, from chocolate chip cookies to snack crackers, to cereal, fruit roll ups, milk and more. Like I said, it's a start, and at least if your kids are going to eat a lot, make sure it's good stuff they're eating.

My kids are not over weight at all, but my youngest one loves her junk. The rule we have is one small dessert and one can of soda per day. Most of the time now she does not even go for the soda. I do not believe in taking all junk food away, it tends to make them want it more. It's teachng the children moderation that's the key. We still have McDonalds, we just order a side salad and apples with a hamburger or chicken wrap. I always have served them a fruit and vegetable with each meal no matter what we were having.As for the exercise go for long walks as a family or bike rides, go outside play catch with a football, go rollerblading together. When you do it as a family it is no longer exercise, it is quality time together. Walk to the library, store, or even to a movie. Walk any chance you get! My daughters and I love to play DDR together, talk about exercise!!!!
Changes take awhile but in the end it will be worth all your effort. Take little steps but keep working toward your goal.
Good Luck!

Dear M.,

I think that you got a lot of great advice from the other post. I did want to offer some ideas. I am a daycare provider and last year I took a class that was about healthy eating but making it fun for the kids. The showed us some things that would be fun and healthy for the kids.

Rainbow
you take different fruits and put them in rows
for example we used green grapes for the green row
watermelon for the red row
blueberries for the blue
But the trick is that you let them build there own rainbow

If you would like me to mail you a copy of the guideline for healthy eating per the state I will do that.

Have you tried a snack like apples and peanut butter or

ants on a log
celery with peanut butter and then put raisens on it

Butteryfly
celery with peanut butter and then 2 small pretzels that would make the wings and two raisens for eyes.

What about a smoothie?

My kids love taking the graham craker sticks and dipping them into yogurts.

As for exercise we do a lot of things that the kids don't realize they are doing.

We take balloons and blow them up and then they have to make sure they don't touch the floor. My son has a pedometer and loves to see if he can beat the #'s from the last time we went for a walk (he's 4). My sister has her 9, 11, 13 y/o kids do things like make an obstacle course around the house and while do that they have to carry a hard boil egg on a spoon with out dropping it. If they drop it they have to go back to the start line. Do you have friends in your area that have kids. Where do you live? If it is close to Rockford, there is a place called PlayWorld or IceArena it is a lot of fun and I see kids there of all ages. It is about $3-$4 a child and they get to climb around the tubes like McDonald's.

What do your kids drink? If you need anything from me please feel free to e-mail me. Good Luck with this.
B.

Hi M.,
good for you for starting to make some changes. Your kids may not be happy now, but I am sure they will thank you later. From everything I have read, kids want stuff that is accessible, so if you have healthy snacks at the front of the fridge (cut up fruit & veggies) they may go for that since it is right there. Same with cabinets- stock whole grain crackers and natural PB instead of cookies, etc. Also, honey is a great natural sweetener for fruit, crackers, whatever. This is a great time to do this, since there are so many fruits and veggies coming into season. Maybe your daughter would like to pick out a new produce treat every trip to the store. if she picks it, she is MUCH more likely to eat it. The after dinner walks were a terrific suggestion as well. Any family activity that you can all do- bikes, whatever, will help your kids. My mom is really into healthy eating, so I have tons of recipies if you start to get stuck in a rut- e-mail me and I will send you a few! Again, Congratulations on taking this really important step for your kids!!!
E.