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Thursday, February 9, 2012
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
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Diet and Nutrition |
7 year old daughter is in an eating frenzy!07/28/2008 |
My 7 year old daughter likes to eat. She will eat all the time if I don`t "distract" her. The minute she`s back from the "distraction" - or the least bit bored with it- she states she is hungry. Until about 3 months ago she did not appear chubby. I`m at the point where I`m worried she is going to get fat. I know she knows about it as she asks if her clothes look good, etc. I am overweight and have been trying very hard to "get healthy" with a Healthy Lifestyles class for the past few months that did not focus on weight loss as much as on healthier choices, although I did lose about 25 pounds - with many more to go. I brought home a lot of info and tried it out on my family (without saying. "Eat this, it`s good for you") My husband and son are good at naturally limiting their food intake and usually make good food choices. My question is, could this be a health problem, a growth spurt, or should I be genuinely worried? I really feel like I need to take steps now before we have a real problem. I have looked for a program to follow at home with a chart or something visual for her work on but can`t find anything besides a pyramid worksheet that doesn`t really interest her. I don`t want to track her weight - and maybe not even her food intake-as I don`t want to draw attention to it any more than her brother already does... I just don`t know what to do anymore.
I understand your frustration and hope the following information will be helpful to you. First, realize that without knowing more about your daughter it would be difficult to guess what exactly is going on. With that said, I would recommend that you discuss this concern with your daughter's pediatrician and rule out any medical and/or emotional reasons for this behavior. Once that is done, a visit with a registered dietitian (RD) would be helpful. The RD will evaluate your daughter's food intake and eating behaviors, as well as physical activity. Then the RD will work with her (and you and/or the family) to develop a plan for healthy eating (realizing that at this young age "dieting" is not the answer).Be assured that at this pre-puberty stage, most children do naturally gain fat weight. They may seem overweight to you, but don't worry. This is normal and she will most likely lose that extra weight once she goes through her growth spurt and enters puberty. You are already on the right track by not drawing attention or mentioning her weight (it is also important to encourage others to do the same... such as her brother). The goal is to build her self esteem, rather than lower it during this vulnerable time.
If your daughter is eating out of boredom, you will need to put some limits on her. According to one of the most respected child nutrition experts, Ellyn Satter, "feeding demands a division of responsibility between the parent and the child. The parent is responsible for what is presented to eat and the manner in which it is presented. Children are responsible for how much and even whether they eat." She also states that "the division of responsibility assumes that parents will present food to children in a positive and supportive fashion" and "the parent should provide firm and consistent structure." The parent is the "gatekeeper." Meals and snacks that are scheduled (not allowing for "grazing") is recommended, as is feeling hunger when she arrives at the table for a meal. As you said, your daughter is not eating out of hunger. Rather, she is using this as "entertainment" from boredom and, also may know that this behavior gives her some emotional control over you. To help you further, I recommend Ellyn Satter's books (especially "How to get your kid to eat...but not too much."). You can see all of her publications on the website: http://www.ellynsatter.com.
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Jane Korsberg, MS, RD, LD Senior Instructor of Nutrition Department of Nutrition School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
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