Anyone have their kids use MFP? (not for weightloss)

Beaner63

Thanks for the suggestions on other ways and other places.

We do go on family walks, usually 5 out 7 nights a week.

As I said, this thought wasn't about weightloss, more about accountability. Having access to the MFP database and being able to scan barcodes on her own phone would be helpful.

As one of the moderators pointed out this is against the TOS, please go ahead and lock this thread.

Swanson83

As a child who was never overweight but worried far too much about it, I agree this would be a bad thing.
We have a daughter who is similar to what you explain! She is 10 almost 11. She too loves food. We try our best to keep her active in things she is interested in. Sports may not be her thing but she love to swim so we go to the pool. Or trampoline park. Things that are fun and active are necessarily sports.
At 11 your daughter hasn't even reached her full growth. As she grows she will probably stretch out and her body will change. She will develop healthy lifestyle choices by watching you and the rest of the family.
The other issue is that she could take this the wrong way. You don't want to be saying watch what you eat and see this is full of calories don't eat that, she could take it the wrong way. She may think you think she is fat. And that isn't ok.
If a doctor is saying that things need to change then you start putting in place under the doctor's supervision if you just are worried about it then just let her be a kid for a while. If you are living a healthy lifestyle she'll follow you.

zoeysasha37

Sometimes as parents we want to fix everything asap!believe me , i totally get that part.
The reason you have gotten some slack here is because counting calories at that age could open the doorways to disordered eating.
You mentioned you already walk with her, thats awesome! Im doing the same thing !( like i mentioned above, if she had a Nintendo ds you can get her into these activities challenges where the kids earn play coins by tracking their steps with the ds. My son loves it. All the kids on his do it . As soon as they get on the bus in the morning they all huddle together and talk about their steps and how many coins it earned them. For my son, it keeps him motivated to keep going )
As far as the food, just keep an open dialogue about healthy choices and be mindful of her portions of snack foods.
I know you created this thread because you want to help your kid. Thats commendable. It really is. Tracking her calories might not be the best move though. Theres plenty of other ways to get there though ☺

megzchica23

I agree with others that that is a bad idea. Also, if you want her to eat better the easiest way is to prepare her healthier food options. Don't buy chips, cookies, cheez-itz and all that. If it isn't in the house, she can't eat it.

amc00000

I know children of her age can buy their own snacks when they're at school or with friends, but it'd surely help to just not buy any of that kind of food in as family? Encouraging her to be active is the best thing to do, but removing snack food from the home is a fair and sensible measure, and benefits everyone.

blues4miles

Could you get her to be more active?

The walks are great, but it'd be nice if she had an activity she did by herself with people her own age. I get that she isn't sporty but at 11 there are a lot of options. Running, soccer, even stuff at the local rec center like climbing. My parents were probably a lot like you are your wife, overweight, always on diets, and activity was something they only did to lose weight. I wish they had emphasized more the "fun" and the "play" of physical activity.

I would focus more that you want her to take on a challenge, not that you are worried she will put on weight. Most growing kids will not get overweight as long as they have enough activity to compensate.

I really wish my parents had pushed for me to be more active when I was a kid. I run now, who would have thought it, and thought I was the most uncoordinated anti-fit person when I was her age. I bet she's capable of a lot more than she gives herself credit for.

Beaner63

blues4miles wrote: »

Could you get her to be more active?

The walks are great, but it'd be nice if she had an activity she did by herself with people her own age. I get that she isn't sporty but at 11 there are a lot of options. Running, soccer, even stuff at the local rec center like climbing. My parents were probably a lot like you are your wife, overweight, always on diets, and activity was something they only did to lose weight. I wish they had emphasized more the "fun" and the "play" of physical activity.

I would focus more that you want her to take on a challenge, not that you are worried she will put on weight. Most growing kids will not get overweight as long as they have enough activity to compensate.

I really wish my parents had pushed for me to be more active when I was a kid. I run now, who would have thought it, and thought I was the most uncoordinated anti-fit person when I was her age. I bet she's capable of a lot more than she gives herself credit for.

Um, no we don't just do activities to just lose weight. Even at my biggest we would do activities for fun.

We also bike in the neighborhood. We live in northern California, so hiking comes around at least once every 3 weeks since there are thousands of trails around us. We go skating, bowling. We are not the type of parents who are going to force her into a sport just to have one.

In the past she has tried gymanstics, softball, volleyball, and soccer. None of them have stuck with her. We have never been the one to stop her, she has basically told us she was done because she wasn't having enjoying it for whatever reason.

As I have stated, this thread has nothing to do with me thinking she is currently overwight or heavy or anything. But I want to build a foundation now that she is in middle school to make better choices not only on the types of things she eats, but the amounts of the thing she eats.

She's a tween, and sometimes just me talking to/at her isn't going to get through to her.

JeromeBarry1

Your daughter has a bad habit of mindless eating. I've had it. It's beat-able. She just has to be aware of it. Bad habits really bite when her adolescent appetites set in with her hormonal chaos.

zdyb23456

Do you have a YMCA near you? Ours has an iZone for older kids with games, a kids rock climbing wall, pool... Ours even has a zumba for kids class. I'm thinking of taking my daughter - something fun we can do together. My daughter isn't that coordinated, but she loves swimming/playing in the pool/sprinklers and playing games with other kids.

I feel like with her being in school she spends so much of her day sitting and learning (she has PE twice a week). When we come home from school it's more sitting to do homework and practice piano. I feel like we have to schedule physical activity for her! She's only 7!

tincanonastring

What about getting her involved in the family meal planning, food shopping, meal prep, etc.? That's different than just talking to her.

Also, participation in organized athletics doesn't have to just be about physical exercise. Depending on the sport, it can teach team-building, social skills, self-reliance, perseverance and so much more. I know it's not for everyone, but as a parent, I'm going to try to help my kids find a sport they like and will stick with.

Beaner63

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Your daughter has a bad habit of mindless eating. I've had it. It's beat-able. She just has to be aware of it. Bad habits really bite when her adolescent appetites set in with her hormonal chaos.

Yes, this. Thank you.

I was thinking that MFP would be a tool to help her realize it.

Beaner63

tincanonastring wrote: »

I know it's not for everyone, but as a parent, I'm going to try to help my kids find a sport they like and will stick with.

And we have tried. Been through 4 sports so far and she has taken a liking to them. And none of the other suggestions either.

However, set her down with an easal and some paints and she can be there for hours. Art really is her thing, so we got her into an art class for social skills as well as personal skill.

KateTii

Some kids are just not sporty. I am not a sporty person by any means.

P.E at school was a nightmare and was my least favourite class which was frustrating - growing up in Australia, most kids love sport. The only active thing I enjoyed was rowing and even that eventually died when getting to practice at 5am was too difficult.

It was only as an adult I learnt that while playing cricket/footy/tennis etc. was a nightmare, weightlifting was amazing. It's all the benefits of playing sport, without actually playing sport AND without a lot of the contact-injuries associated with other sports.

Ninkyou

What about gymnastics, cheerleading, tap/ballet, swimming, volleyball? All of those were super popular for girls when I was a kid (minus swimming because there were no pools... small town). Or even karate!

My daughter is 7 and she does tap/ballet. SHe wants to try karate, so we're giving that a go this summer.

ALG775

Beaner63 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions on other ways and other places.

We do go on family walks, usually 5 out 7 nights a week.

As I said, this thought wasn't about weightloss, more about accountability. Having access to the MFP database and being able to scan barcodes on her own phone would be helpful.

As one of the moderators pointed out this is against the TOS, please go ahead and lock this thread.

Don't lock the thread! It's a great discussion on how to help our kids!!

thunder1982

While its has been pointed out that MFP is for 18+ I have seen people refer to sparkteen when someone has come onto MFP as the place they should go to. I have no idea what its like but it might be worth you having a look at it if you think it might be appropriate.

My daughter is about to turn 9, shes super active. She has independently come to like things like salads and while she does like chips/chocolate etc we talk about the fact that they are sometimes food. Also about the fact because she does so much exercise that she uses more energy so needs to eat more food. We also talk about the energy content and nutritional value of different foods. Treats she understands have energy value but not a lot of nutritional value which means they wont help you grow as well as you could. I have also mentioned that eating too much food can make you fat if you dont use the energy up but didnt really go into it more than that. She also loves watching biggest loser which is where some of the interest has come from about food/fat etc. Hopefully I am on the right track with her, I didnt have a good role model when it came to food so I am just winging it.

LazSommer

Or stop stocking the house with junk?

Larissa_NY

LazSommer wrote: »

Or stop stocking the house with junk?

Agreed.

You wanted her to have a food log for accountability? Dude, she is eleven years old. YOU are accountable for her diet. If you don't want her eating mindlessly, don't keep snack food in the house.

amyk0202

I did suggest that my 14 year old set up an account to track his calories. He tried sparkteens but said it didn't have anything in the database. He is underweight (he always has been) & he recently started running several times a week & lifting weights & I wanted to make sure that he was eating enough & wouldn't lose any weight. He aims for 3000 calories a day. I don't think he actually has set up an account though. He's just been trying to eat more.

I don't know what you should do. I was underweight growing up & I haven't had this issue with my kids. I wonder if it would be helpful to speak with an eating disorder therapist about what is the best way to approach a child with a weight problem. You want to help, but you don't want to propel them into disordered eating.

ashliedelgado

My step daughter is 14 and on track to being obese at her current rate.
We tried sports - the ones she said she wanted to play - she sat on the bench.
I tried getting her to work out with me - she tapped out after the first day.
If we're lucky, we can get her to walk the dogs with us if the weather is nice and there is nothing on tv.

I've really come to the conclusion that the only way for me to help her is to do my best to keep nutritious food in the house. You're hungry? Cool, have an apple and a piece of string cheese. My rule is if you aren't hungry enough to eat an apple, you aren't hungry (I apply this to myself). We have treats in the house, sometimes. And never enough to last more than a night. She ate a Costco sized box of Fiber One Bars in two days last summer, which was totes okay because "they are healthy, you can eat as much healthy food as you want!" *eye roll* This taught me I can't have stuff like that in the house because she doesn't have the concept of moderation. I can't preportion snack sizes because she will eat them all any way. She's gonna eat garbage at school. She only eats garbage at home if I buy it.

ETA: I tried to get her to work out with me after she complained that she was getting fat, and the boy she liked didn't reciprocate. I told her that she was beautiful and that kids missing out, but I would be happy to help her get healthier if she wanted.