Overthriving

[Anonymous]

My apologies in advance to all mums who have the opposite problem. But Alana is just a little porker…she’s has always been around the 90%ile for weight (but the 25th or below for height). People keep telling me she will walk it off, bla bla. But there is really no sign of that happening. Even after two weeks of being sick and eating very little she didn’t drop any pounds. I know lots of people would like to have this problem…but its a bit like boobs…if they are small you want bigger, if they are big you want smaller. But I’m just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on what I might do to potentially prevent a bigger problem later…childhood obesity.

[Anonymous]

Therese,

my niece is the same way. As a dietitician what we are taught is that really the only thing you as a parent can do is instill good eating habits and help to teach portion control. But at her age there should be no restricting of food or calories (not that I think you would do that). I can almost promise you that at some point the height will begin to catch up with the weight. Has your ped said anything to you? If they haven’t then I wouldn’t worry about it. If they have, I probably still wouldn’t worry about it. But that is just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

LOL! Love your boob analogy! This is what I have decided with Sarah…she is a bigger girl as well (stout, not very tall). However, she eats HEALTHY food. It’s not like I’m shoving fast food, cookies, cakes, brownies etc…into her mouth. I think that if Sarah gains weight the way she does, it is just how she was designed to be. I don’t feel that Sarah overeats and since she is eating a good variety of fruits, veggies, and proteins I have decided not to stress about it too much. Maybe it’s just the same for Alana. Sarah has thinned out SLIGHTLY since she started walking but it’s not a hugely noticeable difference. I’d give it time, and maybe even talk to her doctor about it if you are still concerned.

[Anonymous]

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.

Beth, does that make sense, or am I wrong about the simple carb thing? I worry a lot about Eliana because I don’t want her to grow up fat like I did. Can I pm you some questions about her diet? My dh thinks I restrict food for her, but I think I am just trying to teach her some portion control.

[Anonymous]

Christine,

That sounds right mainly b/c we metabolize the simple carbs quicker b/c they turn into sugar faster than the more complex ones b/c of the fiber. Feel free to pm me anytime with questions.

[Anonymous]

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 😉

[Anonymous]

I agree with making exercise a priority. One of the main reasons we have such an obesity epidemic (from what I’ve read) is that kids these days don’t play outside and run, etc. Our boys are VERY active (hyper actually), and they play football, baseball, etc., and they eat like horses! But, neither of them is overweight. I think enough exercise pretty much allows people to eat as much as they’d like to. We eat healthy foods too. Sometimes my boys joke about my whole wheat pasta or natural cookies without saturated fats, but I know they’re learning a healthy way to eat, so we just do what we can to instill good habits and hope they’ll pick them up from there.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. I don’t think she overeats, and she is always on the move so I will just keep crossing my fingers that her height will catch up with her weight at some point. We don’t do a heap of grains, but we do always do multigrain or wholemeal.

[Anonymous]

Therese,

I have done a lot of reading on feeding infants, toddlers, and children (pretty much out of necessity) b/c of Hailey’s issues. Of course, we have the opposite problem with Hailey BUT we have the same problem with Sarah, so I understand your worry. Sarah is by no means overweight, but she is solid, and I do worry about her preferrence for sedentary activity (reading, colouring, drama, music, creative play) as opposed to physical activity in combination with her LOVE of sweets and good eating overall.

I really can’t say enough about the book “Child of mine: feeding with love and good sense” by Ellyn Satter. She is a world acclaimed dietician, and I LOVE her approach.

Basically, her theory is the division of responsibility in feeding. She says that parents are responsible for the what, when, and where of feeding, and that children are responsible for the if and how much. She feels that parents should set out a well rounded meal, and allow children to choose from those options what is out there, and that ultimately, by good role modelling, desire to mature, and their internal mechanisms of self- regulation, over a period of time they’ll take in what they need nutritionally and to grow. She also feels that fats are important for flavour and growth in children. She suggests to “put a variety of foods onthe table with a variety of fat concentrations, and to let your child do the translating with her hunger and appetite. As with all other food, allow your child to pick and choose from the foods at the table, and let her eat as much or as little as she wants of everything that is on the table. Your child will use her own signals aof hunger, appetite, and fullness to vary the amounts of fat she eats, just as she does with everything else.”

She also talks about parents encouraging an active lifestyle and healthy balanced eating.

I personally am a big believer that each child has their own genetically determined set point, and that they really will self regulate to achieve that setpoint. As parents, we can’t force our children to eat more, in the same way that we shouldn’t restrict their portions or encourage them to eat less at set out snack and meal times. I think that if we offer good foods and good meals then the child should be able to eat what they want from that.

When I say that I’m worried about Sarah, I’m not worried about her intake at meals and snack times- if I offer good foods and healthy snacks, then she should be fine. I think that junk food and too much/unhealthy snack foods are often a large contributor. Where I am personally worried is the pattern of offering too many snacks between meals, high calorie unhealthy foods that we sometimes have to give both kids to keep Hailey’s weight up, and not enough exercise. I think that it’s snacking, unhealthy eating, and not enough exercise that are problems for obesity.

I’m not sure if you offer juice, but if you do, then that’s a good place to cut out calories. We’ve seen many feeding teams, all of who feel that juice is basically empty calories- liquid sugar.

I really wouldn’t worry too much about it at Alana’s age, but if you are, you might want to pick up the book I suggested. It talks quite a bit about this worry, and really calms fears, I think. Also, at Alana’s age, she still has what we lovingly referred to in Sarah as her “bottle blubber”. When babies are big bottle feeders, sometimes they gain really fast b/c they love the bottle, but after you wean and they grow and get more active over the next year or so, they really do lose most of it, and their proportion tends to even out.

Again, I’d try not to worry, but that’s just my opinion.

s&h’s mum2007-08-16 10:06:52

[Anonymous]

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.

The other thing I am a HUGE fan of is physical activity…even at a young age. We do offer Brianna very healthy meals, but we also allow her “fun” snacks, but almost EVERY day we are outdoors doing something…walking around the lake, clilmbing on the slides…at the pool…whatever she wants to do that is outdoors and physical. I know Alana is a bit young for some of that, but even if it is just practicing walking or whatever, keep her interested in physical activity…it will translate later on.

Again, no Dr. here, just my personal opinion. 😉

[Anonymous]

i think she is too young to even have an inkling of an idea as to what her body size might be in a few years.

[Anonymous]

We only do her formual and water and we rarely do anything other than unprocessed food because everything has milk in it and she is always on the move now she is walking. I suppose that it why I wonder why she is a bit of a “porker”. My hubby is quite slender, I’m a bit stout, and we are both shorties. I suppose I worry because I had times as a child where I was a bit of a porker and I was teased and I don’t want that for Alana. So I suppose I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can to avoid setting her up with bad habits. I think I am. So I will be happy with that.

[Anonymous]

Therese,

I think you might be being a bit hard on yourself! It sounds like you are making a big effort to teach Alana healthy habits, so really that is all you can do.

She’s still very young, and as you probably know many babies are chubby as infants/toddlers but then slim down once they get to preschool.

I was VERY chubby as a baby and toddler, but as soon as I got to school age, I was slim and never had a weight problem.

Try not to worry too much. She has plenty of time to become more active as she gets more mobile (running, playing, etc.), and with healthy eating habits and plenty of exercise she has a better chance of not becoming overweight.

Have a great weekend!

[Anonymous]

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.

[Author]

Posts