8 yr old son intrigued ... wants to join MFP. Opinions??

if your sons is interested in "tracking" I DO NOT think MFP is the place. But I think this would be a good place.

the PALA Challenge..... Nickelodeon has a "Move it, Log it, Earn it" program.

http://www.nick.com/nick-assets/thebighelp/rtwwdop/pdf/pala-log.pdf

Since he is 8 I am betting that he just wants to do it because he hears mom and dad doing it... Something like /\ /\ /\ this would let him feel involved but keep it on a kid level.

Also as a health teacher I think you might give him a food pyramid and track how many food groups he's eating everyday. This would be a healthy way for him "track" his food while keeping it the focus on health and not on calories. There are several teaching aides that you could buy like these http://search.constructiveplaythings.com/toys/Food Pyramid that could help him but when he becomes bored with it (which I bet he will) just let it go. I would enrich him while he's interested in a healthy way but wouldn't push him once he loses interest.

Teaching your child to count calories isn't a good idea but twisiting it into a teaching moment about good health and exercise is a great idea!

Hope this helps!!

I'm going to play devil's advocate.

I think it could be a good thing, as long as you monitor his activity on the site and talk to him about it as he logs.

In other words, direct his focus on the things he should be learning about - balancing his fat, carbs, and proteins, and making food choices that will keep his diet balanced. Let him help plan meals for the family by logging together as a family and making choices that fit into the dietary needs of all three of you. Logging activity calories is positive reinforcement for being active. And best of all, it's something you can all do together and share as a family, and will help him develop healthy eating habits as he grows into a teen, when kids have more leeway into making their own choices.

Just because he participates on MFP doesn't necessarily mean he'll be obsessed with calories or how he looks. Just help him focus on balance, moderation, and nutrition instead. Start dialogues with him about healthy snack choices and let him put some choices in his 'favorites list'.

As someone pointed out, there are other sites that are more "kid friendly" and that could be an option too. But I suspect he wants to share this with his parents, and use the 'grown up' version.

If he is getting interested in you guys doing this, he may think of it as a game you guys are not playing with him. He shouldn't be using this sort of system at his age due to the long lasting effects this could have. If he thinks of this as a game perhaps a Nintendo DS with a food game might solve his obsession.