Do you worry about your children getting heavy?

briteyes1002

For all of us that have children.. do you worry about them being heavy/over weight?

My 6 year old is about average weight/height right now.. but her father is a very big guy. His side of the family seems to be on the much heavier side. I always worry that my daughter might eventually take after his side. I hate to see children pick on other children for being over weight. Her older brother (her fathers older son) was a very over weight child and got picked on all the time. My daughter is active but can see that she is starting to get bulky. I will love my child no matter what she looks like.. but was just wondering if this is something that you think about?

Lyndi4

I do worry about it. That is one of my motivations for wanting to get healthy & become more active. I want to set the example. Our oldest is super active. He does football & track. He is 14, and he's very muscular. He just loves being active. Our second oldest is semi-active, and she is starting to get a little bit of a belly. I worry a bit about her, but we stay very positive about things. I just try to engage her in more activities and help her see how much fun it can be to be active during your free time instead of watching TV, etc. Our other two kiddos are still really young and active, and they are both very healthy weights. I try not to make things about weight. We just talk about making healthy choices. I think that if they form healthy habits now they can last them a lifetime.

I am also working to do more active things as a family. We've been going on walks together a lot more or tossing the ball at the park. When my husband and I take the kids to the park to play we try to be up 'playing' as well so that we can get a little more of a burn in too. I say just keep it fun & look for opportunities to encourage healthy eating & activity. The daughter that I worry about a bit loves to cook, so I try to involve her in planning healthy foods for our weekly menu. She loves helping me in the kitchen, so this is great!

PapaverSomniferum

Mostly I worry that my daughters will grow up as self-conscious as I have always been. I try my hardest to show them that I love and care for my body and not to let them know my struggles for self-acceptance. I make it a point to show them that all different kinds of people are beautiful and I try to guide them towards a healthy lifestyle (we eat a lot of whole foods around the house, tons of vegetables and lean proteins, but we don't obsess. We eat candy. Just not LOTS). They go on long walks and bike rides with me. They do yoga with me.

It doesn't worry me that they will be "heavy", but it DOES worry me that they might not accept whatever body type they do grow into.

OnMyWeigh464

Not so much getting heavier but I definitely worry about eating habits. McDonald's has 2 pies for 1.49 so yesterday my 13 year old wanted the cookies and cream ones so I said sure. Then we got home 10 minutes later, and after eating those two pies she asked for a piece of chocolate pie that I'd made for Easter dinner.

She's a bit overweight but she's starting to slim down with her growth spurts but it's the habits I'm worried about more right now.

Lyndi4

Mostly I worry that my daughters will grow up as self-conscious as I have always been. I try my hardest to show them that I love and care for my body and not to let them know my struggles for self-acceptance. I make it a point to show them that all different kinds of people are beautiful and I try to guide them towards a healthy lifestyle (we eat a lot of whole foods around the house, tons of vegetables and lean proteins, but we don't obsess. We eat candy. Just not LOTS). They go on long walks and bike rides with me. They do yoga with me.

It doesn't worry me that they will be "heavy", but it DOES worry me that they might not accept whatever body type they do grow into.

I totally agree with this too. That is why we try to focus on being healthy & not so much on the weight. Accepting ourselves is so important, as well as accepting others.

littlelily613

I don't have kids, and I may never have kids--if I do though, I would definitely worry about them being fat. I don't think it would be an issue as long as I feed them right. I know I didn't eat right as a child or an adult. I was bullied and made fun of constantly, and I was miserable ever since I was eight years old when I started to get fat. I would never wish that existence on anyone, and certainly not my own children. If I ever do have kids, I will make sure that they live a healthy lifestyle right from the start.

M1chelles5

Not so much. Tall and thin runs in my family (and my husband). I've made a point to teach my girls to eat healthy. Pay attention to portion sizes, no snacking in front of the T.V and no you cant have fast food every day. They get it as a treat every now and then. I dont buy junk food often but when I do its by special request only! I dont have a sweet tooth anyway

My concern is that my youngest daughter (10) is overly focused on her weight. She's been this way since she was around 5. She is an extremely picky eater! She will tell me her stomach is fat...well its supposed to be rounded! She's concerned about having fat thighs, etc. *sigh* This is comming from a very slender little girl. One of the smallest in her class. I'm already on Aneorexia watch w/her especially since she was born w/a heart condition.

juliecat1

very much. My oldest especially. Shes 11 and starting to go through puberty/emotional changes. Shes starting to emotionally eat. Im just trying to be open with her about food and its purpose. When I see her doing it, we talk about it. Its such a fine line - I dont want to make it an issue by pushing too hard.

Ruger2506

Deleted

Ruger2506

For all of us that have children.. do you worry about them being heavy/over weight?

My 6 year old is about average weight/height right now.. but her father is a very big guy. His side of the family seems to be on the much heavier side. I always worry that my daughter might eventually take after his side. I hate to see children pick on other children for being over weight. Her older brother (her fathers older son) was a very over weight child and got picked on all the time. My daughter is active but can see that she is starting to get bulky. I will love my child no matter what she looks like.. but was just wondering if this is something that you think about?

Every single day. That is one of my big motivations for being on here and working out every day. I want my son to learn by watching me that eating right and exercising is a good thing. Plus the better shape I am in the easier it will be for me to be out there with him skating, water skiing, hiking, bike riding, etc.

BigBoneSista

My concern is more about eating habits. My children are much taller and slightly bigger than most kids their age because I'm 6' and their dad is built naturally like a running back. They are already active so exercise isn't a factor. Its my son's eating habits. My daughter is great. My son like I said before ...not so much. He does good but he has his moments. I wish he was more on the food is for survival kick than the "this is yummy can I have 2nds kick" (which I don't allow). They have their tasty treats so I don't want you to think I'm being strict with their eating because I'm not. I just want him to eat slower and allow his brain to get the signal of fullness before trying to stuff more food down his throat. What I've been trying to do this week is carry on long conversations with him while he is eating to allow the signaling process to work its magic.. Its been working for the last couple of days. I hope it continues.

JustLindaLou

YES!! This is definitely one of my biggest motivations for taking care of myself now - the example I will set for my daughter. She is 4 1/2, tall and slender, and I am so blessed that she loves veggies and fruit and whole grain bread. She eats when she is hungry and stops when she is full. I try very hard not to nag her to eat a few more bites, the "clean plate club" did nothing for me but make me fat and unable to walk away from a plate that still has food on it. Both her father and myself have been overweight since childhood, and we come from overweight families, so I feel the odds are so against her! All I can do is set an example for healthy eating and exercise, encourage her natural love of moving around (she is quite a little dancer), and get consistent with my own exercise (she loves to do the "Walk at Home" video with me).

simplyshannal

My worry is more towards his eating habits, or lack there of. My 4 year old only eats PBJ's on wheat bread and spaghetti. He hates most everything that is good for him, except fruit! He loves fruit. He is an extremely healthy child and is going to be blessed with being at least 6'5" but I do worry about him. I think everyone worries about their children's eating habits, at least I sure do hope they do. Our obesity rating has gone up worldwide and our society is producing the worlds most overweight children. I do thank God that we live in Germany for these formative years because fast food is not readily available here. We do have Burger King, which he likes about once a month or many McDonald's but other than that, we don't have it.
Fast food is literally shortening our life spans!

bushidowoman

I worry about my 18yo. She's got pretty much the same build and shape as I do and has always had a nice figure. But in the past year, she has gained a lot of weight. It has affected her self-esteem (her bio dad and his family are @$$es about it), but she goes back and forth between joking about it, to stubbornly insisting that she likes being chubby, to being teary about it. Recently going prom dress and swimsuit shopping with her, I saw that she has some pretty severe stretch marks that she is self conscious about.

As her mother, I am in the awkward position of wanting her to love and accept herself as she is and at the same time wanting her to be healthy. I don't want her to become obsessed over her weight or develop and eating disorder, but I've had to say something about her food choices and her inactivity. Her BMI has gone from healthy to overweight and is getting close to being obsese. I've asked her if there is something going on in her life that is making her unhappy. I've asked her if she feels depressed. Her answer is always "No."
She will tell me that she's just lazy.
I keep healthy foods in our house. We do not have sodas. But she will go load up on candy and Dr. Pepper with her own money. Or she will go to her dad's house and eat junk over there (yeah, the same people who are rude about her weight gain, go figure.)
I encourage her to take walks. I invite her to exercise with me.
I've talked to her about the health problems that I'm seeing among younger and younger patients who don't take care of themselves--mainly high blood pressure and diabetes. I think it would suck to be a young person struggling to make it on your own and having the added worry of doctor's appointments and medications. And often, the younger patients are less compliant with their medications and then develop more severe problems as they get older.

But she is 18. What does she care about all that? It surely won't happen to HER. And she's old enough to make her own choices.

MaraDiaz

Yes I do. I might drag mine out for a walk today, since we have some lovely cold weather again. I'm mostly worried he'll inherit the family bad back and exacerbate it by sitting around playing games instead of getting enough exercise. Plus the amount of books kids have to carry around is just scary. Schools either need to start issuing laptops with all their books on it, or issuing pack mules for the poor kids!

catshark209

Not really. Its the opposite actually. My son is very very lean and while he eats a lot, he's very thin. Its caused drama with his father's side of the family as they equate leanness with me being a "bad mother". I am vilified for NOT giving my son junk food.
"A growing boy needs his sweets, by God!". :huh:
I have told my son to be aware of what he's eating because just because one is thin, it does not mean one is healthy!

scott_clark22

For all of us that have children.. do you worry about them being heavy/over weight?

My 6 year old is about average weight/height right now.. but her father is a very big guy. His side of the family seems to be on the much heavier side. I always worry that my daughter might eventually take after his side. I hate to see children pick on other children for being over weight. Her older brother (her fathers older son) was a very over weight child and got picked on all the time. My daughter is active but can see that she is starting to get bulky. I will love my child no matter what she looks like.. but was just wondering if this is something that you think about?

Every responsible parent should be concerned with their children's weight, eating habits, & overall health. That's parenting. My son is now 20lbs overweight, and I've been talking with him (when I have him) about how overweight I was. He's seem the changes and me, and hopefully it will make him more interested in caring about his body.