I'm sure this question has been asked before and I'm only half way through my Atkin's book but is LC safe for children??? My husband and I are 4 months into a LC lifestyle and have knocked alot of High Carb junk from our house. Our 3 sons ages 41/2 and 3 are also eating semi-LC however I do allow them cereal and orange juice and sandwiches. Do they really NEED the bread?? Do they need carbs in the form of "simple" because they are so young and growing?? Just wondering because my 41/2 yr old is about 10Lbs overweight and I just see my own childhood all over again and I'm freaking out. I don't want any of my sons to experience the overweight struggle. Doctor only suggested less food and more activity. His problem is he eats way too much, he could out eat me if I let him. I just can't figure out why the boy is so hungry ALL the time So any suggestions from families with overweight children or LC families would be tremendously helpful.
Thank you all

Hello

Below are links to a study done reported by the BBC regarding low carb diet and what keeps us satisfied longer. They found it was protein.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_wxJageqw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmuZ...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKfN...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHD...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtQI...feature=related

Try to increase the amount of protein he is getting at each meal and see if that helps.

Good things to eat would be meat (protein, whatever that would be for you), veggies, fresh fruit, water, whole milk, cheese, whole grain/wheat type bread and try to find a high protein cereal like Special K Protein Plus.

Hope this helps

Yeah low carb I don't think is bad at all for children. But that is such a broad term. I wouldn't think you'd want to put them on a diet unless it's doctor recommended, and even then most doctors recommend low fat / cal.

But yeah fruit juices are kind of a joke, bread, and most cereal is so laden with sugar that its not worth eating. Most "healthy" whole grain type cereal is something that a normal child probably wouldn't touch, (tasteless I would focus on whole grains (like mentioned above) organic, and whole fruits instead of juices. So many juices contain extra sugars etc...

But that's my $.02. Getting my husband to eat this way would be a miracle in its self let alone not having any junk in the house.

Sure would be better for him though....

I guess I would do a clear study on nutrition and see how you feel about it. There is so much evidence out there that the typical american diet is horrible but there is also mis-leading evidence as well.

I've toyed with the idea of being a trainer but am concerned about what I would be "trained is right and healthy".

It's always good to teach children about nutrition I think....

Reason being I never learned about nutrition and what the body "needs" until I was about 70 lbs over-weight and miserable. I vowed that I would not die of diabetes like my grandmother or be obese like my relatives. I've been studying anything I could get my hands on for about 6 years now. I encourage you to do the same.

One thing that I found helped me with weight loss (not that we're really talking about weight loss....) was everytime I'd put something in my mouth I'd go, "Does my body need this? Will this food be good 'fuel' for my body? Is there nutrition in this item?" That has helped a LOT of stuff stay out (especially in ketosis) of my mouth.

This is one reason I can't stand eating white bread anymore, it tastes like white flour and sugar to me and is pretty nasty. Although I have to admit, if it's homemade that is pretty tempting.

Hope I haven't confused you! I'd look around do some research and see what you think.

Educate your self!

My children have been semi-low carb for years. I made meat and veg type meals for the family, and they can add fruit at any time. I occasionally cook rice or potatoes to go with the meat and veg, which is optional for whoever wants it.

At breakfast, I cook eggs and bacon, and they sometimes eat porridge or non-sugar cereal as well. Their school lunch is usually something like ham or cheese or tuna, and a piece of fruit.

If I'm buying chocolate, it's 70% or 85% and they like it.

They still like their sweeties, but accept that they are an occasional treat rather than a normal part of meals. On ski holidays, they eat pizza and pasta and cake, but since they are exercising so hard, I don't see this as a problem.

They are all very healthy, but definitely slimmer than many of their friends.

We're a low carb family. My only regret is that I didn't find low carb sooner, and 2 of my kiddos show signs of carbohydrate metabolism problems.

I'd second the recommendation to dump the juice and replace it with whole fruit.

If you're really believing that your kiddos need more carbohydrates, I'd stick with carby-ish veggies like winter squash and sweet potatoes, and whole fruits mostly with a few whole grains.

Gary Taubes in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories has really convinced me that the low carb diet is good for the whole family.

i just had to give you my input....
because i began low carbing back in 1973, i've raised two children on low carb, high protein since birth...

i can attest that both are healthy, happy and thriving....
and best of all, they only know how to eat this way.

it's a very good program to teach your kids proper eating habits.
**neither kids have a weight problem.

IMO, juice is mostly empty calories. It's a special treat, not a staple, at my house.

I do allow bread (ok, matzah this week), crackers, and cereal in the house, but I do try to discourage its use and encourage high protein foods in its place. My kids are much older than yours and I simply can't change their diets too drastically too quickly.

Ideally, the whole house would be LC, and the kids would have unlimited fresh fruit and whole milk to fill in any extra carb needs they might have. Oh, and I'd have bread for Shabbos (Friday night and Saturday) and Jewish holidays- but in my ideal world, we wouldn't have sandwich bread during the week- bread would be one of the special things we only have on Shabbos.

Helen H- that sounds pretty darn close to our family's eating habits during the week (accept me, I'm doing Induction...still) I know that any Nutritionist that went through my fridge and cupboards would agree that my children have plenty of vitamin rich foods and not empty calories (JWilson65 I'm totally at that point in my life where I am analyzing food before I eat it to determine if it's what I NEED) but I just don't get it with my son?? The twins are fine, weight is fine, everything is fine but my oldest baby just eats too much. Doctors and Nurses say he's overweight, but damn it he is such a strong little boy, I have never seen a child his age do the things he does. I realize he does have a stalky-build like his dad (exactly built like his dad) so I don't think he'd ever be "skinny" but even an extra 10Lbs off him would make a big difference. Am I suppose to put my 4 1/2 yr old on an exercise regime on top of his daily activity? I suppose my doctor would be the best person to talk to but I also like real life experiences as well.

Maybe not an exercise regime as such, but give him lots of opportunities to do extra exercise. When you go for a walk, take him too. Some children are just like that, they NEED the extra exercise or they turn into fat slobs. With it, they turn into champion athletes.

My youngest is like that, eats like a horse, strong as an ox, full of energy. I let her work out with light weights when I do, and make sure she has plenty of extra activities like football and ballet. Right now, she's breaking records for the youngest to get the various taekwondo belts in her club.

We've signed him up for soccer again this year (he needs to learn how to run, I know he's my son but he runs like a fat kid...kinda wobbles however with the nicer weather and more outdoor activity his running has improved and he runs every chance he gets). My doctor suggested some type of taekwondo activity as well, considering he was right into TMNT it may be worth the time. I was also thinking of a little weight lifting, nothing extreme, I have some 3Lb weights he can use, but again I have mixed reviews on children doing weight training. I've heard it's a no no and I heard it's ok in moderation.

Weight training is fine for children. There was a totally unproven idea that lifting weights would stunt growth. In fact, the same rules apply to children lifting weights as adults (only lift the weight you can safely manage for X number of reps with good form). One study in Denmark found that that girls who lifted weights before puberty tended to have significantly stronger bones than those who didn't.

Don't know about you, but I grew up on a farm, where I was expected to muck out stables, push heavy wheelbarrows, haul bales of hay and straw and lift plenty of heavy things. It didn't stop me going to over 5'10"!

Goodbye, my kiddos slimmed down noticeably when we started low carb. 2 still have a ways to go, because I'm not making a big deal about it. I was a kid that dieted since 5th grade, I don't want to do that to my kids.

However, as a kid, I didn't "want to" do physical activity. I saw no sense in it, and it seemed like too much work. It wasn't until I started low carb that I actually thought activity was fun. I firmly believe that I had carb problems from about 3rd grade or so. (if not earlier)

When I described how I was as a kid to my dd#2, she looked at my like, "How do you know?" - Easy, it was me as a kid. That, and how much better they feel on low carb make them willing participants.

Helen- well I never grew up on a farm but I do my fair (well more than fair-share cuz I'm a Mom) share of house and yard work. I know for myself that I really hate "formal exercise";treadmill, weight lifting etc...maybe that will change some day like my eating habits have changed but for now I accept my likes and dislikes. So I up my activity by more work around the house and yard, I'll burn the calories working but you can't get me to work out! Last summer we planted a garden at my family's old homestead, the well and pump still work great after all these years (50-60??) and was our only source of water for our garden. By the end of summer my 4 yr old could pump that water and fill almost half of our watering containers where he couldn't even pull the pump handle down in the spring. My husband wanted to invest in a sump pump to get the water out more easily, I'm like "NO!!!! that's my exercise, I know it's more work that's why I like doing it and Levi can do it so good too" I found my children have the same mentality as I do, if we're working hard and have something to show for it when we're done that's great. If we're walking in the bush, we'll walk for 3-4 hrs straight but put us on a track and we won't do it. I just try to adapt everything to fit our lifestyle and what it boils down to is my husband and I are workhorses (not workaholics!) and I see that in Levi but I just want him to dodge the weight problem bullet that got my husband and myself. We're very optimistic that he will lose alot this Summer so I'll do an update in the Fall, maybe check in throughout the Summer. Thanks all for your advice, experiences and insight.

I will put in my $.02 here and say I never did strict LC with my kids although I think it's fine! But I nearly never give them juice (occasionally orange juice but i stress that a serving is a -small- glass) and for myself i don't believe in kids drinking milk so they only have it on their cereal, and always whole milk.

We also avoid high fructose corn syrup and limit sugar to occasional treats. I have taught them that the food pyramid is a dangerous way of eating that will lead to illness for most people and that protein and fats are healthy, while carbohydrates are for quick muscle energy. At 14, 12 and 9 (beyond the age where their dad and I began to get chubby) they are slim, so when they exercise I do allow more carbs but focus on avoiding the corn syrup and going with things that have protein and fiber.

All three are healthy weight, active and rarely ill. Now that I am back to LC I anticipate a gradual decrease in the carbs in the house down to a few specific things like high-fiber bread and cereal in addition to what I fix for myself.

Oh as for cereal, I have taught them to find things that are high in fiber, have no HFCS, no soy (two are girls) and have some protein. Some that we like are: Kashi Heart-to-Heart (the one that's kinda like cheerios), Cinnamon Harvest, and some store-brand granolas. I don't pay attention to carb counts, just focus on the presence of fiber and protein.

Also I never encouraged them to eat when they wanted to stop, just let them choose from healthy foods according to their own appetite. Yes, even when DS wanted nothing but carrots for two weeks. As a result he is 14, 6'2" and fit weight, and eats slightly less than the average inactive adult. He just never needed much food!

I always felt the important thing was to offer healthy choices and when they were older, give them good info. Good luck on finding what works for your son! =)