Do you count Calories for your kids?

By feeding them healthy foods, you are automatically training preferences into them.

When I was growing up, dessert at my house was strawberries. Whipped cream only sometimes. Delicious. In summer we got fresh carrots or peas from the garden, for treats. They tasted amazing. Cakes, never, except on birthdays. Meals were home-cooked meat and veg and potatoes or rice. We didn't have to finish our plates, no problem. We could have seconds, no problem. I don't remember gorging. I think it's because the meals were just basic food guide stuff, home-cooked, macros sort of naturally got hit.

In my teens, things changed, and I ate pizzas and burgers and stuff. But I didn't gain weight until my 20s as a side effect from meds, which threw everything out of whack. Until then, I had a natural appetite.

The main thing is, I am grateful I never developed a weird attitude to food. Still don't have that. I don't feel out of control or guilty or emotional about it or anything like that. I was exposed to healthy things early, so I like them. I feel for adults who have to force themselves to eat a salad.

I think teaching counting must make for a weird relationship with food. Ask people with kids who have type 1 diabetes, or my friend, who was put on a diet before kindergarten, and struggles with weight and guilt to this day.

the gardening and cooking really can help, but even if they just help pick out the fruit and veggies trying a different kind each trip, or each time the season changes, trying new foods, it's a positive experience, they want to try it and learn more about it.

I wish my mom had taught me about healthier eating or calories or whatever. I knew what they were but not how much I should be eating so when I gained a bunch of weight, I didn't know how to eat healthy and lose weight so I developed an eating disorder. I plan to teach my kids good habits though I'm not sure how much I will get into calories with them.

I didn't read your entire post just the first few sentences. It reminded me of my friend. He told me in mexico his dad didn't let him eat sweets, he had to eat some vegetables like cucumbers with salt and lemon or fruit, he wasn't allowed to eat candy. Now he doesn't like sweets, he gives them to me :0)

Lol, lucky you!

& fair enough, it was a novel. (really bad one in need of an editor)

How counts calories for their kids?

I don't personally but i have been considering it. I have been trying to teach them about healthy food choices though..the problem with counting calories is kids grow so fast and need to eat when they need to eat haha Also its hard ot put your kids on a "diet"

In my opinion, we should be taking lessons from our kids about intuitive eating, rather than teaching them how to have an unhealthy obsession about food, lol.

Seriously, the only reason why we need to count calories is to retrain ourselves how to eat healthy. But the goal is to be like a natural kid: follow our hunger and cravings (with healthy choices) so that our weight is self-regulating. I recommend the book "Intuitive Eating".

Counting calories to meaning to lose weight? no. But I'm not sure that's what the initial poster meant.

My 6 year old knows that calories are a measure of energy. That calories come from food and are used up with activity. Like a battery. You need calories and nutrients to thrive. He often asks how much protein is in something he's eating or what vitamin a specific food item has. He even knows the basics of what those things do for our bodies. He recognizes that less nutrient-dense treats are reserved for when you have eaten an adequate amount of 'real food'. Once, we counted his calories and carbs and fats and protein and he thought reaching the goals was fun. He's thin, so it makes me happy that analyzing food gets him excited to EAT it!

I think this post is fantastic! I want to educate my kids in any way that i can.

What people posting on here generally don't seem to realize is that teaching your children what calories ARE as a "value-neutral" topic shouldn't mess anyone up. I imagine if you teach the concept of calories as something to observe (without passing judgment about consuming more or less of them) you will just make your kids smarter. I wouldn't teach them calories in a vacuum though - you teach them about calories, and vitamins, and minerals, and proteins, etc. All of the wonderful things that food does for you!! What an exciting thing to learn about.

If calorie counting is some horrible/traumatic restrictive experience for you, then please do NOT pass that on to your kids. If it's a matter of learning more about how your body works, then maybe you can...

I love this post as well. It was my exact reaction to this topic and it seems to be the minority here.

I'm not sure why people think that a child knowing about calories would lead to disordered eating. To me, calories aren't "good" or "bad"... they're just a unit of energy. Maybe that's my interest in science coming out? If I ever have children, I don't think I'd wait until they are teenagers to teach them about units of energy just as I wouldn't wait to teach them what vitamins are and why they are important for their bodies.

Definitely not but my kids 'eat to survive' .... the sooner they can get down from the table to go out and play again the happier they are!! My kids are 5 and 9. I'm lucky in that they love fruit, salad and most veg (haven't quite won with Brussels sprouts yet!) and they eat healthy through their own choice. Of course they also have the odd sweet or chocolate treat but they are just as likely to ask for fruit salad as they are for ice cream. They go with what they fancy and they stop eating when full.

In terms of their weight, they are towards the lower end of their healthy weight range.

I could probably learn a lot from my kids' great relationship with food!

Ok, the ONLY reason any of us are on MFP is because we got seriously screwed up in our "programing" either as kids or young adults, and we over-eat and NOW have to count precisley in order to retrain our ways of thinking and to LOOSE the weight.

Not why I'm here at all! I joined MY FITNESS PAL. Monitoring my nutrients and intake ratios and exercise in order to facilitate improved FITNESS (and appearance, health/longevity and athletic performance). I have no weight loss or gain goals. I have strength and endurance goals though!

That's incorrect, you said you're here for appearance, health and longevity. what does that have to do with strength and endurance goals?

Incorrect? how?

No, not at all! I have 5 children. My feeling on this is if you count their calories they will have more issues later on. It will just make things worse. Your healthy changes will help your kids. My kids know that at snack time we follow the serving size if it is cookies etc.. but if they are hungry before dinner a piece of fruit is okay. My kids know I will not buy pop tarts because it is loaded with junk. My kids will talk about certain foods having junk in them. It is about teaching them about healthy eating habits. It does not mean my kids eat no snacks because I buy them cookies etc.. but it is about trying to get healthier like I will buy whoo nus instead as it is not complete junk. We love ice cream at my house too!! But the kids will get it if you teach them!! Also have them exercise with them!! It is about changing the choices. Yesterday it was cold out, but I told them I wanted them to run in a circle in the house for 10 minutes to get some energy out. It's all about change the same as us right??

Not only no but HELL NO, we set guidelines and watch what our kids eat but there is no way.

I think when I have kids I'll secretly count calories for them.. not obsessively or anything just to make sure they are getting enough of what they need and not too much junk.

I am trying to get my baby to gain weight. He is in the 5% and has been consistently since birth so yes now that he is not breastfed and doesn't like to eat a lot I am watching the calorie count carefully to insure that I am getting quality down him since quantity is not an option.

My 4yr old was the same way but he eventually grew out of it, so I am likely just being paranoid.

I don't count my kids calories. That's a little intense for me.

However, you made a great point about emotional eating. I also treat my kids when something goes array. I think that is a lazy way to resolve circumstances (on my behalf) . Good point.

No I don't I just try to cook and buy healthy foods and I try to work out with them when I can. They are younger and have a much faster metabolism so as long as they are keeping active and they are eating healthy foods for the most part I don't worry too much.

He knows I count my calories but he also knows that he doesn't have to count his own because he's 8. However he reads food labels and gets that certain things are worse than others. Like things with high sodium numbers or high sugar numbers. He's well aware that fruits and vegetables are better for him than marshmallows, for instance :-) He's a little thing so I always stress that he should eat good foods so he can get strong and big.