No kids here, but if you do, I have a question for you.

macx2mommy

I only counted before to make sure they were getting enough. Both my kids were/are really under weight, and were lower than the lowest percentile lines.

We talk about about good choices. They get healthy food, and also some other not as healthy foods as treats. They get water, and milk, and the occasional real juice. We will do fast food if we almost absolutely have too, but generally they hate it.

I let them eat till they are full, and they must eat 'enough' if they want something less healthy. Never that they have to finish the plate, but they have to have minimum number of bites of veggies or meat (one loves veggies, but not meat, and other loves meat, but not veggies).

I do not count calories for them, but make sure they have balance.

LinaS1976

definately not, my twins know that junk food is an occasional food and its not healthy and will make you feel sick and fat. They are offered healthy meals and snacks, ie carrot sticks and humous, cheese, yoghurt and fruit and i always incorporate as much vegie as possible. But they do get some treats. Whats being a kid if you cant have a treat. Im lucky that if they are hungry they always tend to go for the healthier option. And water is always there number 1 choice for drink and occasionally they will have cordial or juice or softdrink but watered down and thats only half a glass then its back to water.

luvs2teachincali

Not really.

Not in the sense that I have a number in mind they should have each day or logging it.
BUT....
I do try to help them make better choices. When they want to buy ice cream, I will give them two or three options after scanning the nutrition info and choosing those that are closest to 100 calories per serving. It helps ME to not feel guilty like I'm giving them all that high-fat junk and it helps them to keep their calories reasonable.

My son is 10 and thin as heck. He wore size 8 slim pants up til recently... only getting rid of them due to the length being too short. Now I have to buy him size 9 slim which is an off size so I have to search online for them. He's in 5th grade.

My daughter is going to be 6 in three weeks and she is a little chunky. She has been wearing size 7/8 for awhile now on top and her pants are usually size 6 but need to be hemmed to fit in the length.

My daughter scares me. She is the type that seems to NEVER feel full. My mom once took both my kids to Shakey's Pizza Buffet and my daughter didn't want to leave because she kept eating. Luckily my sister was there with them and she told my mom to STOP getting her more food! Dang grandparents.... sometimes they don't know how to say no.

She is getting better and doesn't have nearly as many days like that any more.... but.... we are constantly talking to her about how it's ok to NOT eat everything on your plate. I think it helps that she now sees us leave stuff on our plate, too.

bushidowoman

We have regular doctor checkups, and their "growth curves" are monitored. Because my children are healthy, there is no need to monitor calories or feed them a special diet.
We eat mostly healthy foods, occasional treats, and are all very active. They eat when they are hungry, they stop when they are full, and I don't force anything on them. Although I do strongly encourage them to try at least a bite of foods they think they hate. Sometimes, they surprise themselves. ;-)
I try to model HEALTH for them.

annwyatt69

I would NEVER count calories of food for young children! By cooking healthy meals and encouraging them to love fruits and vegetables (both cooked and raw) you are giving them a lifetime of knowledge and good habits. Don't forbid a treat now and then. Make meals fun for kids. Reward with with good things like bike riding as a family, or hiking, swimming. Keep healthy snacks in the house. Forget the pizza rolls, spaghettio's, chips, and snack cakes. Those are for occasional times, not daily snacks. Don't buy them and they won't get them at home.

TaraKathleen5

I agree calorie obsession isn't good but food intake and choices are. We need to change society. But if you are feeding you children healthy balanced meals and they are active there is no reason to calculate calories (at least not with their knowledge) But i do think it is great that certain food chains like Mcdonalds shows calorie amounts so they can make good choices. The teens i mean.

mycrazy8splus1

Forget the pizza rolls, spaghettio's, chips, and snack cakes. Those are for occasional times, not daily snacks. Don't buy them and they won't get them at home.

so true!!!!

gjulie

Interesting here you should mention breast feeding for the first year of life to help prevent obesity I jhave 5 and breast fed for first 3 years each and also no obesity or denrtal problems!I wonder if there a connection??
Ohh-hell no! The last thing I want is for my kids to have eating disorders:( I give them healthy meals. They eat what they want from the meal. I never use the clean your plate or take another bite tactic. If they say they are full they are excused. The food goes in the trash. They are offered something healthy the next time they are hungry. I let them eat junk food too because I want them to learn how to eat it moderately now. I make sure they get a lot of exercise. We play outside a lot, go to the park, jump on the bed, and dance. Teaching them a healthy lifestyle so they don't have to learn the hard way ps My selfish reason for breastfeeding each of my children for their first year of life was to protect them from obesity. Good question. I'm interested in the other answers.

JuniperT

No way! My kids are active and eat healthy (we still have halloween candy sitting in a cupboard). When they're hungry, they eat. We also have a rule in our house that you have to try a bite of everything, if you don't like it, then you don't like it but how will you know if you don't try.

I do allow treats, they are kids, but not an excessive amount by any means. We have popcorn on movie night, a snack is a snack and kids are kids. Simple as that.

apocalypsepwnie

No but I do know how much they 'should' be eating based on their age, height and weight.
It only helps me make decisions on how much of a meal they should be eating (I think they are underfed when they go home to their mum's house as she complains if they put on any weight but they are underweight and small for their age) and better snack choices.
I've always put a lot of effort into the food that gets eaten while they are here (I've only just caught on myself lol) and read lots of labels when buying things for them.

We often have talks about food and what it does to you. They understand about sugar, salt and fat. They know their first choice when they are hungry should be the meals that are made for them or fruit and veg as snacks. They know they should drink water before sugary drinks and they understand about treat food.
I think THAT'S the most important thing, food-ucation. Understanding from a young age about food choices and portion sizes. How to tell if they need more water or need more food to help them poop (apples and beans are the main ones). We don't address things as 'bad' food, just sometimes food.

JustANumber85

Nope. They dont eat McDonalds every day but they dont eat a 5 course meal with fruits and veggies every meal either.

demilade

I have a "snack" shelf in the fridge my toddler can help herself to. It has fruit and yogurt on it. She doesn't get sugary cereal for breakfast, just toast and fruit, and lunches are only occasionally nuggets or pizza, normally sandwich and fruit. Dinner is meat and veg, she doesn't get more food if she didn't eat dinner. We have some shapes, wich are baked snacks, and occasionally a Freddo.

I don't out her calories, I just don't offer junk.

Vailara

I don't. My son probably had an obese BMI when he was a baby and completely breastfed, but since then he's been slim.

lovelyladyJ21

No I do not!

I had a doctor tell me I needed to do that with my 2 year old because he's borderline obese. But they didn't take his height into consideration I am short (5'2) and his dad is short for his family (6'1) and he's very short for his age. So I refuse to start counting calories he's a very active little boy and needs all he can get. But that doesn't mean I sit here and let him eat whatever he wants. If they're still hungry I give them an option (a fruit or a vegetable) and now for snack times they only ask for fruits or vegetables. My 2 year old will bypass the junk in the fridge for the fruits in the bottom of the fridge and it makes me smile knowing that I'm doing something right to help them in the future.

Growing up my dad always made comments to me about my weight and It made things worse (He really thought he was helping) but he didn't realize that girls take things differently.
I swore that instead of putting my children down I would assist them in making the right decisions, and so far I think I'm doing the right thing!

JosephVitte

I've read every reply, thank you for the insights you've provided. Somewhere combined within all these comments, seemingly, I might find myself one day. It also sounds like depending on how your baby naturally grows, outright from birth, may determine the direction you may need to take in there nutritional growth. One universal thing I felt I got from this topic is, you all love your children, and only want the best for them!:flowerforyou:

CressidaJL

Absolutely not, but she is aware that I am exercising & eating less cr@p because I am overweight & I want to be healthier. She is at the lower end of 'normal' (8yrs old with ADHD - she has lots of sports clubs, dancing, gymnastics etc), and though we discuss healthy food vs 'bad' food (that is fine once in a while, but not all the time), I would never watch her calories.

I obsess enough about my own, why would I want to pass that on!!

mowu

Most here say no, with a side explanation that states concern about obesity.

My situation is a bit different (like a lady a little over me) - my son of 3 years is VERY active and at the same time he is a picky eater.

So while I don't rigorously count his calories I watch what he's eating to make sure his energy intake is HIGH ENOUGH to sustain his activity level and I keep tabs on how his weight/height is developing.

Furthermore I make sure that what he eats is of good nutritional quality - which isn't that hard as he's not into candy and that sorts of things (on the other hand he likes white bread very much).

apocalypsepwnie

I've read every reply, thank you for the insights you've provided. Somewhere combined within all these comments, seemingly, I might find myself one day. It also sounds like depending on how your baby naturally grows, outright from birth, may determine the direction you may need to take in there nutritional growth. One universal thing I felt I got from this topic is, you all love your children, and only want the best for them!:flowerforyou:

I also see that lots of people do not want to pass on their bad habits towards their children in regards to poor eating and counting calories.
My kids are step kids (obviously) and they do not know about my calorie counting. I keep it away from them and never mention it. They do however know I am trying to eat better so I can be healthier, run faster and live happier. It did take me a while to convince them I wasn't 'losing weight' but that was because they saw I wasn't drinking shakes or eating those bars like their mum does. When they are here I put away the scale and they never see me weigh myself.
I get them weighed at the doctor's.
My mum plays a big part in my relationship with food. She was a great cook and has a strange relationship with food herself. Her understanding of nutrition is odd in itself. My nan plays a large part too. I do not want to pass those habits onto my step kids so I cannot display them in front of them and mostly not at all.
I certainly do not want to be remembered as the step mother who was always obsessing over numbers. :laugh:

gemmalouise85

yes and no
since i been counting calories i've realised whats in foods and how much i've actually been feeding my children, sonow i'm more self aware now and in that sence mke sure feed them betterand in moderation.

they have no idea i'm counting nor do they know ive changed theirs. They just think their trying all this new food.

cgarand

My parents were always watching what I ate. And, there were a lot of power plays around food. It was a reward and a punishment. As a result I developed an eating disorder and ate one thing once a week in HS. (I drank carnation instant breakfast on the other days) And, they never even noticed. Even when friends got worried about me and told my parents they didn't believe them. My mother said she saw me eat every day. I guess as long as I was thin they were happy. Of course, I went from starving myself to gorging myself and finally I think I'm forming a healthy relationship with food.

So, I guess the moral of this story is that if you have kids, don't count their calories. Help them make healthy choices with food and everything else in their lives.