My Child Can’t Stop Eating and Is Overweight
If you have ever been on a diet then you know how hard it can be to shed five or 10 pounds. With most adults being fairly clueless about the correct or healthiest way to lose weight it is hard to imagine the struggle that a young teenager or child may experience in their attempts to lose weight. If you are a 10 or an 11 year old or even a 12 year old you can be at the mercy of what the parents have in the house and is made available for you to eat. Even if a young adult was trying to lose weight such as the ages mentioned above it would be almost impossible for them to be able to lose weight without the strength and support of their parents. If we were to take the age of a child down to that of a 5 year old with a weight problem, it becomes the complete burden of the parents of that child.
If a child of 5, 6 or 7 years old was overweight it has to be the decisions of the parents to make that weight loss for the child happen. If the parents are not aware of the obesity problem of the child, and if the parents do not make a concerted family effort to do something about the child’s weight problem, then the child may be destined to become morbidly obese. When a child is classified as morbidly obese it is even difficult to string the phrase morbidly obese and child together, in the same sentence. If a child of almost any age were to be morbidly obese it needs to become the burden and the responsibility of the entire family to help this child learn, deal and ultimately manage this obesity burden.
When a child is experiencing the problem of obesity the last thing that needs to be done is to nag the child. When a child hears constant nagging they, as any adult, tend to just tune out the constant badgering. What a child needs is a role model. What a child sees and hears is so much more important than what comes out of a parent’s mouth. If a parent wants to help their child lose weight then they need to start by making subtle changes to the lifestyle and diet of the child. It is so easy to start bringing healthier food products into the home. Start by using some low-fat or no-fat products. When a meal is cooked just start using some healthier ingredients. Stop bringing all of the food into the house that clogs the veins. Stop cooking unhealthy fried foods all of the time. Stop helping the child become obese. You do not need to trumpet the changes in diet and you really should not make any major announcements at all. What you need to do is start off slowly and introduce new and healthy meals into the family diet that everyone eats and stop singling out that child to eat better.
If you, as the parent, have the notion that healthy food is just lettuce and crackers then maybe you have created the problem that the child is experiencing. Food can not only be healthy, but it can also taste awesome. Changing a few key ingredients can prevent so many health issues and leave the flavor and satisfaction intact. If you serve fried foods often then stop. If you have soda over load in your home then start turning off that flow. The food portioning is simple, if you do it slowly and do not announce the arrival of the new portion sizes. When you start this turn to healthier foods ensure that you have healthier snacks always at the ready. Have grapes and apples and any other fruit you know your kids would enjoy. Turning your food choices to being healthy is not that hard, nor does it have to have the appearance of deprivation. For those days that you just have to indulge, order pizza but do not order 4 or 5 pies. Can your family get by with 2 or 3 slices each and not starve? Do you really need to order enough for leftovers? When your family eats is the family at the table or is everyone in front of the television? Turn meal time into family time and this creates the possibility that mealtime may slow down and by the sheer fact of the meal slowing down everyone involved will eat less food.
There are ways that the activity level of a child can be increased without them even suspecting they are becoming more active. Go to the mall and walk a few miles as everyone shops for “stuff” that they sell at malls. Park your car far from the store and walk a distance instead of searching for that close spot near the door. This is actually what is referred to as “accidental exercise” and it offers much promise to the health and well being of yourself and your children. Start going out and do fun things as a family that include time that just gets the body moving. Stop pampering the children so much, make them move and work and that alone will help contribute to their overall health.
Sure it may be tough for an 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 year old to lose weight but it is something that they can accomplish on their own, to some degree. For these age groups to lose weight it really helps to have the support of the parents but for a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 year old to lose weight it is completely in the hands of the parents. The parents are the ones that need to put the play in motion that will lead the child down the path of a healthy life. As parents we try to teach right and wrong. We try to teach them about sex education and drugs but if they are suffering a weight problem many tend to think it is their problem. If you are the parent of an overweight child then you need to step up to the plate and create the atmosphere that will allow them to grow into the adult that you desire them to become. Helping them deal with their weight issue is just as important as other lessons parents need to teach their children.
I’m a step mother of two little girls, ages 10 and 12. They are both overweight and eat more than me sometimes. I try to serve them an acceptable amount of food for breakfast lunch and dinner. I try to make at least one dish with fruits and vegetables every day. Mostly dinner time because they eat lunch at school. I pack both of them a small bag of fruit to take for lunch or as a snack, but it’s difficult to know if they even ate them or tossed them in the trash at school and bought a bag of chips instead. After they’ve eaten an hour or two later they sneak in the kitchen and pick at a loaf of bread or drink soda or beg for ice cream. I say no, but there father says yes, so it’s very difficult for me to set some rules in the house. They are with their mother on the weekends and so far i have heard stories of their mother buying them top ramen (cup of noodles) big bags of chips, mostly the spicy cheetos, and I have caught the youngest eat uncooked noodles out of her back pack during her bed time. I am not sure how to handle this situation without looking like the evil step mother but I’m very concerned about their eating habits and I’m not sure how to tell their mother how to stop feeding them junk food.
How do I explain to my 7yrs old about 70lbs who eats alot of food when he eats. But he eats healthy foods not just junk. For example if we have hotdogs he will eat 3 with whatever else I fix and I have to tell him he can’t have that many and he says hes hungry. How can I tell if hes really hungrey or if hes just eating to eat? The rest of the family has high metabolisms and we have to eat everything in sight to keep what little calories we get. His dad is 5’11 and about 220lbs so he has big genes in his family and my family is big besides me(mom) and his other brother. Thank you
I have stocked my house with healthy food, Locked all treats or snacks that may be for very exceptinal use away from sight (in our rv). We try to may excercise a happy family (especiallly dad/son) event, eat meals together…you name it. But my son steals multiple treats when visiting others or when we entertain, he uses his allowance to buy extra food (cookies and ice cream, chocolate milk at school lunch), he tries to tell one parent he did not have lunch with the other (or breakfast), he says”you think I’m fat” if we won’t let him fill his cereal bowl with two portions. He just turned 12, is 5’1, probably 125-130. He is a bad student and does have some learning challenges, Hates organized sports or any form and will not play physically indepently. LAZY, unmotivated, sees himself as a failure but has no interests besides video games-AND HE IS ONLY ALLOWED TO PLAY VIDEO 2 HOURS PER WEEK! Would be a couch potato if we let him, but he is only allowed to watch as a family activity when we are together. HELP. Does he need meds? is there a condition? I’m taking him to the doctor (again) soon, but since our visit his BMI has just gotten worse.
ICT RESPONSE:
We are NOT qualified to render more than just an opinion but you may have more going on with this child than you think. It sounds like there is alot of nagging and friction going on daily.
Certain words you used like “stealing” and the manipulation of him saying that you think he is fat send up some warning flags. It is suggested that you pay much attention to how he is manipulating situations and how he steers you and the family down the path of what he wants.
He will be 18 in just 6 short years and at that time he will be an adult and if you do not get a grip on the issues now what then? Will he steal beer? The car? Will he throw issues in your face about sex and drugs?
You have to let him grow into realizing the consequences of his choices. When I state that there is really only so much you can do, I say that from experience. he will do what he will do and as he gets older it will become more and more of an issue in YOUR life.
It appears as the issue with food is really related to some type of issue and it is suggested you start reading up on how Jillian Michaels deals with weight loss.
We are not experts on child behaviour, so please seek professional help for your child as this problem may only get worse.
I wish this article would address why a child overeats as the title implies. We always have nutritious and delicious foods available for our children but for some reason my 9 y.o. is obsessesd with eating and snacking all day – his mind is food-centric. I hired a nutrionist mentor (really cool young person) to hang out and play while non-chalantly injecting pearls of nutritional wisdom and that seemed to help a little but we can’t afford it too frequently. I’m getting concerned – he’s 120 lbs and has average height. He’s been doing it for a while. What makes children overeat?
ICT RESPONSE:
There are many reasons that people in general over-eat. The subject would delve into well beyond the pysical issues such as environment or the selection that is available. We could not possibly write one article that would touch on each and every issue that may or may not impact a specific child.
What we can touch on is the impact of emotional issues people closest to the child might observe when a child first becomes “hungry”. Is is habit? Do the like to eat everytime they sit in front of the television? Do they have to have a snack before bedtime? If the parent(s) is overweight there is a solid chance the child is learning from the parent, by observation. If the parent s overweight and the parent is worried about the child then the real question that should be asked is why am I (parent) overweight? A child learns much through the simple act of observation. Remember you do not have to be visibly fat to be overweight.
One last thing to note is that if your child IS overweight that weight did not get there in a month and it will take months for your child to be able to lose it in a safe and healthy way. Before you ever place a child on ANY weight loss plan it is highly suggested you consult a doctor before you start.
Overall, being overweight as a child is an issue that the parent needs to address because what a child learns in their youth is what they bring with them into adulthood. Never destroy a child’s relationship with food. That relationship should not be one of nagging, anger or insecurity. A child needs to learn at an early age that they need to eat to live and they do not live to live to eat!
Eating poorly does a lot of things – any of these are bad – feel free to expand on the fact that if you get them when you’re young, the longer your body will be living with these symptoms, the worse your health can be
i hate vegetables so much, in fact, my mother used to force me to eat them and I would throw them under the table for the dog on a nightly basis. But I’ve learned to give them a shot as I’m trying to lose weight and when you give veggies a chance, they’re really not all that bad. Broccoli, carrots, corn, all veggies I hated when I was younger.so it is not a big deal.
I weight 230lbs and my six year old son weights 80lbs.
It’s really hard to go on a diet. we tried alot of times but it just won’t work.
Editor’s Reply: The solution is right in the comment that you wrote. You say that it is hard to go on a diet, and that is as true as it gets. The reason why you ,and millions just like you have trouble on a diet……is because diets do not work. The problem with a diet is that they have two fundemental flaws that lead a person to failure. The first flaw is that there is a start date. You are always going to go on a diet …..the real problem is that the diet is going to fail the person becuase they will not be able to live long term on something that is only meant to be short term. If you decide to go on the Atkins diet, do you really think that you will be able to NOT eat carbs ever again? The problem with diets is that people think they just have to eat a certain way for 2 months or 6 months. That is a HUGE flaw. If a person want s to experience long term weight loss, THERE NEEDS TO BE A CHANGE IN FUNDEMENTAL LIFESTYLE.
The second flaw is the end date. Let’s say you lose all the weight you desire on a diet. WHAT THEN? Do you go back to the way you were and gain it all back?
Stop trying to diet. Stop trying to be the person someone else is. If you love pizza then don’t be foolish to think you will NEVER have it again. Get up move around, eat healthier, more often. Park the car at the far end of WalMart. Take the stairs. What ever you do, do something, your son will be happy to have you around a little longer.
I’ve found one of the easiest solution to have your child stop overeating is to simply stock up on healthier food. All you need to do is to check the refrigerator and cupboards. If it’s all junk, then there isn’t anyone else to blame but yourself. Kids will only eat what they can reach. If you change the food you keep in the house into healthy, natural food, your kid will to.