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Kids eating

highflyer88

Ok need opinions...I have a six year old son who has always been on the high end of the weight charts...from his first weigh in until now...even though he was my little baby at a little over 7lbs. Now the doc wants us to start changing his eating habits. This is where I need advice. My husband and I are both large people and even though I am trying to eat healthy and set a good example the hubby does not. When I buy fruit/veggies the hubby will find whatever junk food is in the house to feed the boys when he watches them when he is actually home. So what I have done is to watch what is packed in my sons lunch...however I am wondering if maybe I am cutting back too much on his lunches although he is not complaining about being hungry. For lunch typically he has a ham sandwich on bread that has extra fiber(due to digestive issues as a baby we have never changed this), applesauce, yogurt and jello plus a kids size container of water-usually flavored with sugar-free drink mix. Should I be giving him something else or does this seem like enough to all you other moms, dads or even those who have done nutrition courses.

It seems like he's getting a good blend of the food groups...dairy, fruit, protein and bread...but again seems like I don't give him enough food. Nothing has extra sugar, the applesauce is no sugar added, the yogurt is a squeezable snack but is on of the ones that has less sugar.

To put this in prospective...he is 6 and at the last checkup he was 64lbs and 46" according to the scales/height thing at the doctor. He has always been in at least the 75th percentile for weight. I had discussed this with his doctor for the last couple years because he has asthma that is controlled but it does sometimes come on when he runs for a long time. He has always been very active, constantly moving, running, biking, jumping on the trampoline, etc. The other thing the doc said was get him more active...I'm not sure what else I am supposed to do here since he is in school 2 or 3 times a week depending on the week and when he comes home he runs until time for homework or baths. We play around with him and his little brother on doing sit-ups, pushups, climbing stairs making it a game or competition to see who can do the most of whatever thing it is. I never want him to feel like it is "work" to exercise...which unfortunately his mama feels like when I work out. I never want it to be something he dreads doing so I try to make sure even when i don't feel like doing a workout I don't let him know that...I let him see me enjoying the workout!

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Replies

weloveourboys

It sounds like he is quite proportional. What percentile is his height?

From what you said, it sounds like you're doing the right things. It is key to keep him active, and feed him as much veggies and fruits as he will eat. Try to limit, but not deny, the candy. But I do believe that as long as he is active (as opposed to sitting in front of the TV), he will eventually stretch out. If you're giving him a healthy diet and an active lifestyle, then you've done the best you can, and the rest will follow. As he grows older, he will have gotten used to being active and eating healthy foods, and hopefully will maintain these habits!

kbanzhaf

Hi,

I think what you are packing for lunches is absolutely enough, especially if he isn't complaining of "starving" at school or when he gets home. And you have a good blend of fiber, fruit, etc. You may want to go with whole fruits (at least from time to time) instead of applesauce as it will also provide good fiber.

Continuing to make physical activity fun is also very important. Bike rides as a family, taking walks -- and even turning those into learning times (seeing street signs or billboards with words that start with certain letters and/or numbers, etc), having your son count the blocks, etc. can all be fun physical and mental exercises! (Can you tell I'm a teacher?)

I think you are on the right track.....it would be easier if you could get your husband to buy into what you are doing -- and maybe over time with gentle encouragement, you will be able to. If you need more ideas, this season of "Biggest Loser" is focusing on children's health. Both the TV show and website should be able to provide some ideas for healthy snacks, etc.

Good luck to your whole family!
Kaye

dwh77tx

My only suggestion is on the lunch- get rid of the water with the sugar free mix. Send him with one of the Horizon milk boxes instead if you can afford them. They are pricey but I think it's better to have milk with lunch than juice. Second, add in some veggies with a low fat dip. Also, maybe replace the jello with something for a treat that's a little more substantial and natural, like an oatmeal cookie or something.
I have my BS in Nutritional Science, but chose another career path after college by the way

dg09

I can only speak as a former fat kid and not as a parent.

Diet was the biggest problem for me, by far. I was always active, either in the streets or playing organized baseball... every single night. Yet I was still the larger kid in every group I was a part of (school, sports, circle of friends etc). A 6-yr old will get out there and play as much as physically capable, IMO. I wouldn't push him to do anything extra.

I think the main focus should really be on his diet. You say he doesn't complain about being hungry but you feel like you're not feeding him enough? If I was hungry, someone was going to hear about it. I wouldn't worry about that, honestly. Your husband needs to get on board with this too, the habits instilled into him now are something he will carry with him into adulthood and possibly for the rest of his life. Get rid of or hide the junk food, and don't feed it to him out of laziness. Junk food is fine, but you don't want it to become a prominent staple in his diet when it's time for dad to watch him. I think you personally, are doing the right thing by making this a concern of yours. Even more so by trying to offer him healthier food options. The meals you make for him for school sound fine, but in the end it's all about quantity. If you eat 3,000 calories worth of healthy foods, you're still going to get fat. In the end, he's going to emulate the examples you and your husband set forth. How you decide to live your life, is how he will too until he's older.

I'm not sure if that helps any, maybe more encouragement to find the answer if anything. For his sake I hope you figure it out, being the heaviest kids in every setting sucks so much.

weird_me2

Ok need opinions...I have a six year old son who has always been on the high end of the weight charts...from his first weigh in until now...even though he was my little baby at a little over 7lbs. Now the doc wants us to start changing his eating habits. This is where I need advice. My husband and I are both large people and even though I am trying to eat healthy and set a good example the hubby does not. When I buy fruit/veggies the hubby will find whatever junk food is in the house to feed the boys when he watches them when he is actually home. So what I have done is to watch what is packed in my sons lunch...however I am wondering if maybe I am cutting back too much on his lunches although he is not complaining about being hungry. For lunch typically he has a ham sandwich on bread that has extra fiber(due to digestive issues as a baby we have never changed this), applesauce, yogurt and jello plus a kids size container of water-usually flavored with sugar-free drink mix. Should I be giving him something else or does this seem like enough to all you other moms, dads or even those who have done nutrition courses.

It seems like he's getting a good blend of the food groups...dairy, fruit, protein and bread...but again seems like I don't give him enough food. Nothing has extra sugar, the applesauce is no sugar added, the yogurt is a squeezable snack but is on of the ones that has less sugar.

To put this in prospective...he is 6 and at the last checkup he was 64lbs and 46" according to the scales/height thing at the doctor. He has always been in at least the 75th percentile for weight. I had discussed this with his doctor for the last couple years because he has asthma that is controlled but it does sometimes come on when he runs for a long time. He has always been very active, constantly moving, running, biking, jumping on the trampoline, etc. The other thing the doc said was get him more active...I'm not sure what else I am supposed to do here since he is in school 2 or 3 times a week depending on the week and when he comes home he runs until time for homework or baths. We play around with him and his little brother on doing sit-ups, pushups, climbing stairs making it a game or competition to see who can do the most of whatever thing it is. I never want him to feel like it is "work" to exercise...which unfortunately his mama feels like when I work out. I never want it to be something he dreads doing so I try to make sure even when i don't feel like doing a workout I don't let him know that...I let him see me enjoying the workout!

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I have a 6 yo DD who's 52" and 65 lbs and my first thought when I saw what you were packing him was "that's a lot of food"! I definitely think it's more than enough. Personally, I would eliminate the pudding and probably the yogurt and add extra fresh fruits or veggies and a cheese stick or something. While the squeeze tube of yogurt is lower in sugar, it's still got a lot of added sugars and won't keep him as satisfied as the cheese stick would. DD gets those yogurt tubes, but usually she will have them for "dessert" instead of to balance out a meal.

DD's typical lunch is a cup of soup or beans (she loves beans and I almost always have some type of beans/bean soup made up), a fruit and some cheese & or crackers. She doesn't really have a lot of time to eat, so she often brings leftovers home. Sometimes she'll get a small cookie or candy as a treat, but generally I save those for after dinner in the evenings.

Another option to consider would be to seriously limit the amount of junk food in the house each week. Buy enough servings that each person can have one serving per day or 4 per week, whatever you decide on, and make it know that those foods are meant to last a week and when they are gone they are gone. This can help eliminate your DH giving the kids so much junk. We also keep a snack cabinet available to the kids and DD is allowed to get a piece of cheese, fruits or veggies whenever she's hungry. If you allow your son more control over making his own snacks, maybe your DH won't have as much opportunity to give him so much junk.

Dreamerlove

hey! I work in the school system and I think that those meals are just fine. I don't think he needs more, My students never eat all their food. Most parents pack the same stuff, a lot have sandwiches with Lettuce, tom,mayo etc...

As a teacher one thing I have noticed is the kids that are involved in after school activities like football, dance, BBall, are much happier, energetic and more social.

joyfulteach

Maybe try switching the applesauce for raw fruit occasionally, apple slices with yogurt dip or a banana, berries, grapes. And add some veggies with some low fat ranch. I'm surprised at what my kids will eat!! they love tomatoes, olives, lettuce, peas, bell peppers... the list goes on. I shop with them and they like to try new things. I say expose him to lots of healthy foods and let him find his favorites. My son is only 20 mo and doesn't eat a lot of veggies yet, but I keep giving him a little here or there to try. Last night he saw his sister eating peas and she gave him one. That's all it took!! He liked them and ate all on his plate plus some of hers. :-) Just keep trying and being a good role model really makes a difference. I'm sure he'll want to start eating like mom soon enough.

BCSMama

It sounds like you're doing a great job! For the lunches, I think it's enough food, but I'd add some variety in texture too as most of it seems to be soft foods. Try some raw veggie sticks or apple slices with a little dip. Or a cheese stick instead of yogurt some days. My kids are 8 and some of the things we pack on a rotating basis are:

cheese sticks
clementines
apples
apple sauce
raisins
grape tomatoes
baby carrots
soup in a thermos
pita chips and hummus or guacamole
sandwiches with meat or pb and j
granola bars
crackers and cheese
boiled eggs

These are things that can also be kept around the house for him to snack on. You can also teach him about the benefits of healthy eating. My kids learned "Go foods, slow foods and woah foods". Go foods are healthy foods that should make up most of what you eat; slow foods are okay to eat some of, but not a lot of each day (pretzels, popcorn, juice); and woah foods are occasional treats like cake, cookies, chips, etc.

You husband does need to get on board too. If he wants to eat a lot of junk, he needs to do it when the kids aren't around and when they are around, he needs to model healthy eating.

blu_meanie_ca

Will power is leaving the junk food at the store. Setting yourself (or someone else) up for failure is bringing it home and expecting no one to eat it.
No one needs jello, cookies, chips ect every day. Especially kids. It sends a confusing message... eat healthy, but here's your daily "treat". Plus, your husband is unlikely to feed it to your kids if it's not there...... could you see him going to the store for junk, or just handing your kids the apples that are already there.
If you are concerned about underfeeding your child, I would hazzard a guess that his serving sizes for the rest of his meals are over proportioned. A child size portion is roughly half of an adults. That also means their food pyramid is built on half sizes (so, 7 servings of carbs is actually 3.5 adult servings). If that is confusing, I just found a guide that has the number of full sized portions for children.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/quantit-eng.php

Check your choices of breakfast cereal as well. "Kids" chocolate-marshmellow cereal is loaded with sugar, fat, and all sorts of strange non food substances.

blu_meanie_ca

It sounds like you're doing a great job! For the lunches, I think it's enough food, but I'd add some variety in texture too as most of it seems to be soft foods. Try some raw veggie sticks or apple slices with a little dip. Or a cheese stick instead of yogurt some days. My kids are 8 and some of the things we pack on a rotating basis are:

cheese sticks
clementines
apples
apple sauce
raisins
grape tomatoes
baby carrots
soup in a thermos
pita chips and hummus or guacamole
sandwiches with meat or pb and j
granola bars
crackers and cheese
boiled eggs

These are things that can also be kept around the house for him to snack on. You can also teach him about the benefits of healthy eating. My kids learned "Go foods, slow foods and woah foods". Go foods are healthy foods that should make up most of what you eat; slow foods are okay to eat some of, but not a lot of each day (pretzels, popcorn, juice); and woah foods are occasional treats like cake, cookies, chips, etc.

You husband does need to get on board too. If he wants to eat a lot of junk, he needs to do it when the kids aren't around and when they are around, he needs to model healthy eating.

I like that.. go, slow and woah. I think I'll have to steal it and use it with my kids.

witchy_wife

personally in your shoes I would be going ballistic at your hubby. He's an adult and if he wants to eat rubbish then fine, but he should not be feeding your boy it.

I hold my hand up and say in the past I have been quick to give treats to the point it got to a daily habbit, every evening. My 6 year old is pretty solid but got to the point where his clothes were getting tight around the waist so I had a big shake up.

I only ever have fruit and yoghurts in the house during the week now. There is always plenty of choice from bananas, raisins, apples, pineapple, strawberries etc. They now get a weekend treat. They get £1 on a Friday night to buy some sweets to have while we watch a film on a Friday. And then on a Saturday morning we bake together, something like a small batch of buns or a few flapjacks which they get to have a couple over the weekend. So although a higher calorie snack they are made from scratch and I know exactly what is in it.

Definitely try and get your hubby on board, if he has to have junk food, have it when the kids are in bed. Once your kid grows up he can eat exactly what he wants, but if you give him a good foundation so he learns to love healthier food he will thank you for it (eventually lol).

highflyer88

Than you everyone for the input...I am still trying to make sure I eat correctly and have problems with it so trying to make sure my son is eating healthy is even harder. We are slowly weeding out junk food in the house and replacing it with healthier foods. I could not go and get rid of it all at once because then I get cravings and buy a bag of chips and eat the whole thing...or cookies, candy etc. Also thanks for the websites to check into. If I had more money I would set up an appointment with a nutritionist and have them teach me what I should be eating and what they should be eating portion wise. However for now I have to learn it myself with the input of all my MFP friends! Thanks again everyone!