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

I disagree with removing junk food - I think you should have some accessible junk food in the house to show that it is not a "bad" food. If you restrict all naughty stuff she will secretly binge when out of the house. Educate as to how to enjoy in moderation but don't remove all that food entirely.

My mum never bought any junk food so I would save my pocket money and binge on sweets and I mean really binge! whereas my best friend grew up in a house full of sweets (candy) and crisps (chips) and she had them in moderation because they were always there. Guess out of the two of us who has the issues with weight? I wasn't fat as a teenager but my relationship with food was built then and progressed into adulthood.

Please don't.

But yeah, be more watchful of snacks and meals at home.

rachelr1116 wrote: »

Also, since I've been using MFP my whole family has just been eating better. I haven't purposely made my son eat less calories, I'm just fixing dinners that have less calories per serving. I've noticed in the last few months that he is starting to thin out and isn't as chubby. He was never overweight but eating healthier combined with moving more is just naturally making him thinner.

This is so true - I buy the groceries, and I cook the meals. It makes a difference.

Beaner63 wrote: »

My 11 year old daughter is in the higher side of healthy weight range for her age. However, she has the same love of food that her mother and I do.

She's not very active, more into art and music (she's not coordinated at all when it comes to sports).

I was thinking of setting up MFP for her to use as a calorie journal for a month to try and get her to see how many calories she is taking in and to start to understand food choices come with consquences.

I want her to figure out, without me just saying it, that it's fine to eat things like cheeze-it's, but when you eat a box (which she has on saturday afternoon while reading) it's more calories than if she had a big hamburger from a fast food place.

No. Do not do this. The best way to help her figure this out without saying it is to model it. She's 11. Don't let her eat a box of Cheese-its on Saturday while reading. Let her take a serving and eat that. And if she is more interested in music than in athletics then that is ok. Take some family walks. I'm losing weight just fine and the only exercises I do are walking and yoga. I have started to jog a little during my walks, but I had to do that on my own. I have also started asking my husband about lifting weights but again I had to get there on my own.

This scares me because I know so many people with eating disorders who had parents who were always saying things to make them feel like they were fat and worrying about their calories etc at a young age. My sister in law wouldn't let her daughter shop at Forever 21 because she was too big to shop there when she was 12. She was not too big to shop there almost every clothing gift I gave her came from there. They used to bribe her with things like if she lost X pounds then she could buy this or that. They wouldn't let her take violin when she was in middle school, they made her run cross country because they thought she needed the exercise. She was always a little pudgy, but she was never fat but her parents sure made sure that she knew that her weight was unacceptable.

I would suggest just making good food choices and portion sizes available. If she comes in to get the box of cheeze-its just tell her she can't have the whole box and put some on a plate. If you model it at home she will make better choices when she is out with friends. But if you get her all obsessed about counting her calories then she may think that you are ashamed of her.

You've gotten some good ideas here about increasing activities and such, but I think one thing you mentioned can be addressed without too much of a problem or conflict and that's the mindless eating where you mentioned her eating and reading. So, maybe to help everyone in the family, don't allow snacking to be done with an activity (reading, watching tv, etc.) and only be done at the table or in the kitchen so that it's no longer mindless eating.

good luck!

I think that parental behavior is important AND kids (just like adults) are different. I used to be fairly smug about how we handled eating with young children (you have to try everything once each time it is served -but don't have to have more if you don't want more). Worked like a charm with my oldest -didn't work so well with my youngest

(I joke that it was Karma paying me back for my parental smugness! )

One of my kids tends to eat for what her body needs. The other one eats for what a larger body needs. I had all sorts of issues with my Dad making snarky comments when I was younger and I don't want to do this. And it’s very tricky supporting kids through this. We live in a more obseogenic (special? ) than when we were growing up...

No answers, but lots of questions!

If she likes artistic things, you might see what is available in the way of non-competitive dance classes! I was never big on competitive ball-related sports when I was younger, and as an adult I've found that dance classes (ballet and bellydance in my case) are the only organized physical activity besides running that I actually like and stick to. There are tons of options; ballet is kind of a hard one to get into at her age (the adult just for fun classes aren't usually available yet), but there's tap, modern, hip-hop, bellydance (I'd recommend American Tribal Style for her age), etc. Dance is both a good workout and a form of artistic expression, so she might be more into it.

And is it possible that she might be eating so much because she's gearing up for a growth spurt and genuinely hungry? Either way, pleaaaaaase don't give her crap about her weight. My dad made *comments* even when I was a wee itty bitty teenager, and they definitely contributed to the festively screwed up relationship that I have with food now, which of course has contributed to me becoming a bit fat and needing to be here. So, super counterproductive there.

I would not suggest this. I'd try to encourage more activity. I was an "over weight" child with a "helpful" parent and it did me no favors. I have a bad relationship with food. I do use MFP on a separate account to track my own child's macros though. I would never show her these (she's not old enough to understand them even if I did) or judge her for them, but she has her own set of health issues and it's helpful for her nutritionist, PCP, and therapists to see what she's been eating and adjust accordingly.