Overthriving

Therese,

Hmmm….no advice really, just sympathy. I am sort of in the same boat with my middle child. She’s not overweight yet, but she fluctuates between the 84th and 89th percentile for BMI which I’ve read means that she is “at risk” of becoming overweight. It worries me. Dh and I both come from families with obesity and we are both obese ourselves. I feed my children very healty foods, limit their snacking (in fact they rarely snack between meals), and try to keep them active. I don’t know what else I can do.

My only advice is this….many people with tendencies to be overweight are insulin resistant. They crave simple carbohydrates and the more of these carbs they eat the more they crave. One doc told me that these folks don’t metabolize simple carbs as effieciently as others and so they gain weight very easily when they eat them. I see this in my girls. I’ve noticed that if I give them simple carbs they are hungry again an hour or two later and they continually ask for more. But if I stick to complex carbs (whole grains) they stay satisfied a lot longer. Eliana could gain a pound or two overnight just from having spaghetti and garlic bread for supper. Poor kid.

I too agree with just making sure you give her the “healthy” fats.. and foods instead of the empty ones like white bread..that will just turn into fat, and arent used properly by her body. My mom is a holistic health counselor..and is very skinny.. only because she eats foods in their more natural state. Her mom is heavy.. and she has heavier sisters.. But because it runs in her family..she is very careful about what she eats. I too crave simple carbs.. and if i eat them a lot i really do gain like a pound an hour later . But i agree with the excercise too.. I would try and keep her active..and interested in sports as much as possible. I guess that is all you could do as a parent. Sometimes I worry too..because dh is heavy now (he wasnt when we were teenagers..) ..and his WHOLE family is very heavy.. soo i really stay on top of shane with junk food. But Alana looks adorable, and I am sure she will grow up healthy and happy because of you caring about her health 😉

I would look at how you and your husband are made up for a guide. I am no expert, but I will tell you my personal story. I was in the 95th % for weight and the 5% for height (I was a porker..lol) until about 4th grade. And then one day…boom it was gone and I became a skinny stick. My mother and my father are both slender, but like me, my mom was plump when she was younger. I think genetics plays a huge role.

Liza was a very chubby baby. I was concerned for the same reasons as you, but she has turned out to be the leanest one in the family.