Some Advise on Proper Feeding for over Weight Child.

I agree with everyone about portion sizes and whole wheat and grain foods. Also I would suggest, whenever possible stick to Organic foods, specially with milk, meats, and fruits. I happen to think all the chemicals and hormones add pounds to all of us, but kids are mostly effected by these things. I know it can get expensive, but it's worth a try. I started with the organic foods for my son, and I feel much better about what he eats.

hi G.,

if you're already doing things like no-fried foods and lowfat dairy for the little one i suggest a few things:

1. watch what you eat in front of your child. she's picking up her eating habits from those around her and if that's mainly you then you want to make sure that you're eating well too. eating is such a social thing that if you've prepared a 'special' meal for you child while mom and dad chow down on fried chicken at dinner time then you're not going to have a very enthusiastic healthy-eater.

2. i'm a doctor of chinese medicine and find that many overweight people don't have complex carbs (whole grains) in their diet. try making a chicken soup with all the veggies she likes and add things like quinoa, millet, or buckwheat (buckwheat has a very strong flavor so go slow with this one until you know she likes it). i love making butternut squash soup with quinoa in a chicken broth base... very nutritious and delicious too.

3. cook her foods, even if just a little... not too much raw in the diet. fresh fruits are great, especially in the summer but try lightly cooking/ steaming veggies before offering them to her. raw food makes the stomach work harder to break it down because the stomach has to essentially 'cook' it (with more hydrochloric acid) before breaking it down and assimilating the nutrients. if she likes the crunch of a raw carrot try steaming it lightly so it retains its firmness but is warm. this will help her body use less effort to get the nutrients from her food. with this new efficiency in food-assimilation she'll eventually need less food and she'll have more energy for other things (no more food coma after lunch) and she'll certainly shed the pounds she doesn't need.

if you've tried everything under the sun then perhaps she needs her doctor to do a full medical work-up (checking thyroid function, possible allergies, etc)

Well G., I am also a mom to a 2 year and eight months old girl. I had the same type of situation with her. Believe it or not pampers.com has alot of preschool friendly meals. I love the sample menu's. Just check it out. They also have alot of great advice. Good Luck!

I believe it or not alot of the baby food websites have great meal ideas for older children as well. kmart foods is a other gerat website for the whole family. Well good luck bye for now E.

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains! Don't just giver her apples/oranges/bananas though..they're too typical and kids get sick of them fast! Try to give her some melons and maybe exotic fruit like mango/kiwi/papaya every once in awhile! As for vegetables, give her anything that she likes. A lot of kids do not like veggies at that young of an age, so just try your best! Make them fun also, so she wants to eat them! For example, celery with a little peanut butter w/raisins..you could call it "Ant's Marching" or something creative....or make a flower on a plate with cucumber slices as the middle and tomato wedges as the petals! As for whole grains..if you give her any kind of bread/pasta..or anything made from "Enriched Flour", switch it to 100% wheat or whole grain! Make sure if you give her wheat bread though that the package says 100% because otherwise it might not be that healthy afterall! By the way, don't be afraid to give her peanut butter, it's healthy as long as it's in moderation!
Do not give her a lot of junk food...if she wants snacks, try fat free fruit gummies (Welch's are good!) or granola bars (look for ones with less sugar content...like choose Nature Valley rather than the ones that have chocolate and stuff in them). Trail Mix with dried fruit and nuts is also a great snack...I'm not sure what kinds of foods she can handle eating right now, but keep all this in mind for future too. The most important thing is to change your way of life basically with food. Don't only put her on a "diet"..make sure you stick to healthy habits so she learns them and loves them and keeps them for life!
Also, feed her often, but in small amounts! If you continue to give her stuff to eat throughout the day in small amounts, she won't be hungry and feel the want to eat junk food! If you wanna give her a nice treat every once in a while, try frozen yogurt, yogurt covered pretzels, or fruit smoothies (made with yogurt, or just fruit juice). Watch what you give her to drink also, make sure you don't give her fruit "drinks" but rather 100% juices. Usually companies plaster 100% all over the carton when the juice is pure so they're not hard to find.
Well, I really hope all that helps and you can get into a good routine with feeding her healthy!

Well as a stay at home mom, you may have more time than other moms. So, I think first off its best to make things homemade, from scratch, not store boxed foods. Use whole grain pastas with the lowfat cheese for mac and cheese, use the whole grain pasta for the spagetti, etc. Try to make alot of veggies and give more veggies than carbs. I am not a doctor but after sometime if your continues in this path you may want to consider it maybe a medical problem? I don't know, is anyone in your family over weight? Good LUck!

Hi! Well, first of all, you should commend yourself for wanting to help your child. I have a daughter who is 3. She LOVES fresh fruit (strawberries, bananas, blueberries). I try to give her fruit salad as much as I can. Whole wheat pancakes are great. Oatmeal has a lot of fiber and will fill her up without adding caleries. For lunch and dinner, you could offer low fat yogurt (yo-baby brand). She should have everything in moderation, because she is so young...but just watch the portion sizes. Try not to offer fried foods like fries and nuggets. Introduce her to cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. She can have foods like pizza and mac and cheese, but the most important thing i would say, is just watch the portion control. Best of luck with your healthy eating :)