helping my ten year old

[tracilynn]

Hi i have a daughter who is so much like me its scary but the hard thing is she starting to really put on weight just like me I dont want her to go through all the pain Ive been through.I have caught her hiding eating wich is really a bad thing.she is 5'0 and has size 7 1/2 feet so she's going to be a tall girl but how do I help her with this self destruction shes starting so young?If I bring up her weight she gets really upset it hurts her feeling then hurts mine How can i approuch her with out hurting her or making her feel bad about herself .thanks


p.s im not shure what her weight is but shes atleast 120

[TeriDoodle]

I can sympathize with you.... I have a 12 yr old son who is overweight. I don't claim to have the answers, but I can tell you that I have concentrated on "educating" him about low-carb and why I eat the way I do. I don't preach to him about losing weight, I know that won't work. I give him the information and hope that when he's ready he'll make the right choices for himself. I've been LCing for 9 months or so and I see that it IS sinking in for him. I OFTEN see him declining potatoes, pasta or bread. Also, there is nothing sweeter than fruit in our house and all bread is whole grain. I serve pasta or noodles about once a month. Perhaps if you cut down on the type of carbs that are available to her, encourage higher fat snack foods, she won't be so hungry between meals (?). Unless you think it's more of an emotional issue.... I really can't address that.

Also.... as I lost weight and it started become quite noticeable, he became more curious. Be a good role model and explain to her why you shun the foods you do.

Good luck!!!

[liz175]

Both my kids went through a chubby period just before hitting their growth spurts and adolescence. I had to start buying my daughter children's half sizes (Sears sells them) and my son went up to a 34-inch waist.

My parents made my life miserable trying to get me to diet when I was a pre-adolescent and adolescent, and I swore I'd never do that to my kids. I never mentioned their weight to them, although we did have some discussions about what types of foods growing kids need to eat. I continued to buy regular foods and, difficult as it was sometimes because of my concerns about their weight, let them eat what they wanted.

Both kids slimmed down when they hit their growth spurt. My daughter is now 5'6" and a size 5; my son is 6'3" and weighs 165 pounds. Neither of them ever dieted.

I've watched a lot of their friends follow the same pattern; putting on weight and then putting on height.

I think it is a bad idea to focus on weight or dieting with kids of this age. You don't know how they are going to end up once they reach their adult height. I started sneaking around looking for food when my parents put me on a diet and it has had repercussions for my entire adult life -- I never learned to eat normally until I was full. My advice is to focus on making sure the kids eat a balanced diet and avoid starting them on yo yo dieting at this age. Wait and see what happens when they hit their adult height. If they've never dieted before then, it shouldn't be too hard for them to take off some weight at that time if they need to.

[tracilynn]

Thanks for the good advice Liz and Terri.

Ive had so many issues with my own weight ,that I hope its not because of me that shes feeling bad about herself.I try to be very positive and tell her how smart and pretty she is and for the most part I think she feels good about herself.I think the biggest problem is school kids can be so mean :mad: And she also has a twin sister who is average size it makes it really hard.Anyway I will take your advise and just stand back and see what happens.I just dont want her to go through what Ihave all my life such as dieting it can be such a bad trap .Anyway thanks for listening :spin: