Diets For Kids

I wish it was easy. I have a set of beautiful (external and interal) step-daughter's who both struggle with their weight - the one has a thyroid issue and is encouraged by her mom not to take her meds 'because they just make you fat!' That ended her up in the ER with arythmias!! She's now got her issue under medicated control and understands if she wants to LIVE she has to stay on the meds.

The other one is very active in sports, but she has some SERIOUSLY bad eating habits and per the doctor - is 35lbs over her highest ideal weight. We are attempting to support good healthy eating changes, but then get the nasty emails from the mom saying we're going to give her an eating disorder if (we) ban chips, cookies, high fat foods from your diets and how dare (we) do that to a teenage girl 'it's just a phase'. 35lb over her max weight for her height is 'a phase?' when she's been gaining an average of 2 lbs a month for over a year and a half, and only grown one inch in that time period? The doctor and nutitionists don't think it's a phase!

Their mother yo-yo'diets for each activity or trip that she plans (1 - 2x yr). Their grandmother died of typeII diabetes complications and ate out of emotional need. She was 125lbs overweight when she died! The mom's weight has fluctuated from the lows of 130 (before activities or trips) to an all time high of 210lbs (two months after the activities/or trips) over five years and she's only 5ft tall!! She is a serious emotional eater with bi-polar disorder treated by meds.

Their dad has struggled with his weight by 10- 30 lbs - more non-chalance type attitude toward working out and eating right till about a year ago, I changed what we were choosing to eat and the one step daughter was SO happy about it - so it stuck. The sports stepdaughter - 'I won't eat it unless it's made of refined flour, cheese, potaotes or red meat.' UGH!! And then if we don't have what she wants, she whines to her mom who then takes her out for shakes, fries, burgers or worse binge eats WITH her and then says to us "It's your fault she's craving these foods!" WHAT?

I have lost over 30 lbs over five years and kept it off. I'm now on the last 10-15 that I want to lose. I work out at least five days a week, watch what I eat and eat to fuel my body, not fix emotional issues and try to set a good example for the girls. Dad's on the same bandwagon for the last year. But it is a constant struggle with the mom.

Our scariest fear was realized last week when she said after we bought some goodies for her friend's party "Mom and I would have bought two big bags for us to eat on the way there! We've done it before and then ate a whole pizza afterwards. It's just something we have in common - our love for food." I almost cried.

I'm 11 and I think I need to get a flat tummy because a'm entering an audition and I don't want the judges to think I'm fat.

My son decided he was fat at age 13, when he was 5'7" tall and 185 lbs. He wanted to lose weight but he didn't know how. He had no idea of the fat and calorie content of different foods. Yes, they get some of that in school, but only in Health class where there is some kind of teenage rule that you cannot pay any attention. We embarked on a diet and lifestyle change program together, stressing exercize and food moderation. We kept food diaries together for about two months until he really had a good understanding of what a serving size looks like, foods and drinks to avoid, and things to eat for a healthy balanced diet. I didn't want him to become obsessed with food, so didn't have him try to stick to a set number of calories, just to try to average under 1800 per day over a week period. At the gym he started working harder, and he started caring about how many calories the cardio machines said he burned. He ended up losing about 20 lbs over about 3 months. Now, a couple years later he is back up to 185 lbs, but he's 5'11" now so we both feel that is ok.

The keys to success for us were:
1. He decided he needed to lose weight. This wasn't something I imposed on him.

2. We did it together. We gave each other a lot of support. I was limiting my food and increasing my exercize the same time he was.

3. We didn't totally stress about it. We were both aiming for something we could maintain over the long haul.

Hope this is helpful,
Lemaloon

cydnie, what kind of audition are you going on? People don't have perfectly flat tummies unless they are Photoshopped. There is internal organs in there, and they need some space. You are setting an impossible goal for yourself. I'm sure that your talent is what is most important in the audition, but if you really think your tummy is a problem, then look into a support undergarment, like bodyshapers, and not into a crazy diet.

Growing up, I was chubby but my parents NEVER forced me to lose weight. In fact, they never even really commented on it. My mom was always overweight and her mother used to put her on diets all the time. So she refused to do it to me. Instead, my parents encouraged us to eat healthy foods and limit refined things. Truth is, I never really ate unhealthy foods, just too MUCH of the healthy ones. I realized in college that I wanted to slim down for my health and not because my parents forced me to. I think putting a kid on a "diet" is pretty much setting them up for an eating disorder of some sort.

Alot of parents should look at their own eating and health habits before they start fixing their children's diet/health. It's very much what the parents are doing that are affecting the children. it's quite a general statement for me to say but i think healthy parents who have a good diet, excercise routine and healthy menatility naturally pass it on to their children through practice and example.

I agree that kids and diets don't belong in the same sentence. It is my experience that kids who get increasingly heavier as they get older, come from families that are not dealing with food and exercise in the right way. Often times one child will be heavy and another skinny. They are both eating wrong, but one has better genes. It is also my experience that families with heavy kids are often in denial about the fact that they are not feeding their family and exercising appropriately. My family was guilty of this. It took a very blunt pediatrician to wake us up. We had one heavy child (getting heavier), one skinny child and normal sized parents. How could it be our fault? Well, when we got real with ourselves, it turned out it was.

The bad news is, again, that many parents refuse to take a hard look in the mirror and be open to the fact that they may be dropping the ball.

The good news is, if you can take responsibility as a parent, there is no need to ever put a child on a diet. The key is making over the whole family, not singling out the child or children. Put your family on a healthy eating and activity plan. Eat out less, play together, substitute healthy habits for less than healthy habits. It's amazing how quickly kids get into shape when the family makes changes over the long haul. They can grow into their weight. It sounds simple, but it's not. You have to have a plan that can deal with complications, like...say...kids who throw tantrums because they don't want to change. Or the fact that Life is hectic. Unhealthy food is cheaper and easier. You can't change from macaroni and cheese to brown rice and expect to stick with it.

The key is accepting responsibility and putting a plan into place that your family can live with and that will result in good lifelong habits. We did it. We made some mistakes, but in the long run it was the most rewarding thing we’ve done as parents. At the urging of some pediatricians we put together a book and CD-ROM called The PariPlan, which is one of the resources named above.

...when I was young, I went through "a chubby phase", right before I hit puberty. Cyndie, if you're 11 honey; that is the time when your body needs extra space to grow into- PLEASE don't do anything like go on a crash diet for this audition! I ended up very sick when I was about 14 because of a very similar situation, and I didn't get better til I was 19 or 20; and I didn't feel better about myself until I was 26! The images we see in magazines- Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan- they aren't even CUTE anymore! They are sick, and the media allows them to market this illness to a young impressionable crowd who want to be "normal" like the people they see on TV. Guess what? NOT NORMAL!!!! Real girls are soft and curvy, not skeletal and stickly. And when you grow up a few years, you'll find out that REAL boys like chicks with curves. So suck in your gut if you feel you need to, but a big beautiful smile that says, "I really am beautiful!" is SOOOO much more attractive than a bony pale frame. PS what does your mom think about you visiting a diet web site?

Oh god... I remember, as a child being handed over to the doctor by my mother. He ,of-course, put me on a strict diet. All it did was cause me a LOT of emotional pain, and make me give up on trying to lose weight and getting healthy. I wish that at the time instead of just underfeeding me with crappy foods, my mother would have attempted to change the whole family's eating habits for the better (because frankly, over-processed meats are not healthy breakfast). It took me several years to attempt changing my eating habits and I was not supported by anyone in my family.
It's sad... because I also don't believe in children being put on diets. I think the parent should lead by example and support healthy changes in their child. Gradual works better than sudden and kids deserve to be healthy and happy without being put through extreme and dangerous diets. Who needs more potential eating disorders?

Yeah, kids and diets don't mix in my opinion!
When I was a kid there would be like, the one fat kid in the class that everyone made fun of. The rest of us just ran around like crazy at recess and played after school. Now it is a bigger problem, I know, because kids are so much more sedentary, but I agree with whoever said it has to be the child's choice to lose weight. Chances are if the kid is overweight they know it and have been probably been teased by their peers. If they can realize they will feel better and do it to get healthy, and if they really are overweight, then the parents should definitely be models of healthy eating. But that's one thing and being a little chubby is another...I mean some kids do outgrow this...and it often happens to young girls around the time of puberty or a little before. I agree w/ Spectra that that just creates an eating disorder waiting to happen. All it took was one kid to say I was "filling out" and my friend to say my stomach stuck out when I wore my bathing suit for me to turn to anorexia, bulimia, and later yo-yo dieting that I am trying to break the cycle now...7, almost 8 years later.
Remember to tell kids that no matter what they weigh they are beautiful!!! They really need to hear it, and it's true!

I'm 48 years old now, but I recall that I was a fat child. My parents put me on diet pills when I was 8 years old. I told my mom they made me feel funny and I couldn't sleep. (duh, they were amphetamines). By the time I was in junior high, my dad was weighing me every single morning. If i weighed over 100 lbs, I got no kiss goodbye. My fathers' acceptance of me ALWAYS centered around my weight. I'll never forget the morning I weighed 103 and he had a raging fit.

At one point during childhood I wasn't allowed to eat sugar. It's funny how I don't remember the birthday parties that I went to as a child, but I remember the one's that I didn't go to because my mom feared I would eat a slice of cake.

I wasn't allowed to take ballet lessons because I "didn't have the body" for it. Too fat.

I always told me daughter she was beautiful and never put her on a "diet". As an adult, she's had her weight issues and recently lost 50 lbs on weight watchers. As a child I kept her dancing 5 days a week and she did drill team in high school. Her weight only went up as an adult.

i am 10 years old and i feel fat all the time.people make fun of me sometimes.at school i don 't fit in my chair very well.i weigh a little over 200 pounds!!!!!!!!!!my clothes do not fit as well as they used to.i have stretch-marks all over!!!! BYE

Hi Kenzie,

have you spoken to your parents about how you feel? You need to talk to someone Kenzie.

Hi I think theres something wrong with me i'm 13 years of age, i'm 5 foot 5 and i'm fat. I measure myself everyday and i weigh around 91lbs. Everyday i cry looking at my face, ugly, chubby cheeked face staring back at me in the mirror. I never eat because I'm desperate to loose weight. The odd days i'll have something small from fear of passing out. I have no friends because i'm so fat and i never wear nice, fitted clothes because it makes me look huge! i need help on more weightloss, otherwise i don't know what i will do.
I hate my body and i hate being a big, fat, cow.

hi. i am 14 years old and i want to diet. i think i am overweight because my friends always tell me i am and my parents shout at me whenever i eat chocolate or fast food so i eat it alot when im out with friends or when my parents arent around then i get fatter and my parents get madder and i feel stuck in a circle. i weigh 215lb and i am 5 foot and 6 inches. i have stretch marks and i feel fat and alone since i feel i have noone to turn to. ive considered trying to diet to make my parents happy with me but everytime i do i end up eating lots when i go out. thanks.

cassie.

hey cassie...i am 18 years old and i am having the same exact problem. I eat a lot when other people arent around. I bought all new stuff to start a diet tomorrow but i just go back to my old ways. I want to lose but i just want ideas how to lose it fast so i stick with it you know. I know how you feel. I hope you and i both get over this soon. =]

If anyone has any ideas how to lose weight fast just to jumpstart so that i feel better please let me know thankyou!

hi, i am 14 years old 5'6 and 132 pounds. i think im fat. i went on a diet and lost 15 pounds but i dont look any different and my clothes look the same. i want to be thin enough to wear a 2 peice. how many pounds do i have to lose to look nice.i have 2 months to lose however much weight. i actualy have stretch marks and how do i get rid of them. and my legs look.....ripply is wut ud call it??? how do i get rid of that?

Comments temporarily closed. The premise of this post is that dieting does not work. Becoming obsessed with food and diets in your teens is not a happy place to be.

If you feel your weight is an issue, please visit your doctor.