My 5 1/2 yr daughter is overweight for her age. At her 5 year checkup last May, her pediatrician made some recommendations for us to improve her eating habits. The problem is, now she is sneaking food. And I don't mean she is just looking for sweets, its anything. She has eaten a half a loaf of bread, a whole package of cheese cubes, a whole bag of grapes, etc.
I am at a loss of what to do. It is not like I am depriving her of food, I let her have good portions of healthy food. Yes, SOME times I buy the occastional sweets, but its not like we always have cookies or something, those are once in awhile treats. I have been overweight my whole life and I do not want my daughter to follow in my footsteps, I am trying to do my part by limiting how much "sweets" come into our house, and making sure that she does not overeat. But obviously there is some underlying issue here. She tells me all the time "I'm still hungry" when I know that she has had enough food to eat.
I have had talks with her about this, multiple times, but it just seems to go in one ear and out the other. Punishments like taking away priviledges work on her for other things, but not this. We continue to find evidence that she does this.
I guess part of me is wondering, is the next step to call her pediatrician? Do you think that doc is just going to refer us to like a child counselor/psychologist or something?
Absolutely, her Dr. needs to know. There could be metabolic, thyroid, hormone, or other problems. She might actually feel hungry, even if her body is not. If there is nothing medically wrong, it really might be time to see a counselor. Either way, her pediatrician has to know. Good luck, I hope they are able to get to the bottom of this!
Yes, her DR should know about this.
In the meantime...
LOTS of distractions.
If she's bored/hungry, go to the park, take a bike ride, walk the dog, whatever YOU do for exercise and to get out of the house, go have some fun!
Don't keep ANY sweets/junk food in the house. She's a child, she has no money or car so the only thing she can binge on is carrots or celery or whatever other "real" food is around.
Remove the temptation, ALL of it. Food is just as addicting as drugs/alchohol and should be treated the same way. Good luck :)
This sounds like a control/security issue?? Can you give her control over other areas of her life? Like, what she wears, for example?
Also - when my daughter was little she had a 'drawer' in the fridge... filled with stuff she could have UNLIMITED amounts of.... whenever she wanted. For your daughter fill it with zero calorie veggies - cucumber slices, celery, carrots, grapes and little bottles of water. Then let her have as much as she wants. I don't think excess amounts of these foods can be toxic the way excess amount of some foods can.
Yes, I would definitely talk with her pediatrician.
Also - INCREASE her activity. Amount of activity is HALF of the battle of obesity. Have her pick a sport and enroll her. Also, look at Tae Kwon Do. This is exercise and self-esteem building all at the same time.
Good Luck.
Yes, make sure the doctor know about this. This could be a physical problem..
If they do tests and do not find a reason for this, do seek out a therapist to work with.
This could be deeper problem then just sneeking food. There could be an inbalance in her hormones, or a whole bunch of other things.
If she is sneaking grapes and bread and not just sweets!
Try to get her to eat more eggs, scrambled, unless she has a sensitivity to them.
Even though a milk is "fat free or low fat" they are worse for children, especially trying to lose weight. The fats in milk are considered high quality fats in children's diets. Whole milk or 2% is best
Fruits may seem good, but only small quantities. They are high in sugar. Try more steamed veggies.
I think talking to her doctor is best. Some children have other problems. Maybe a nutrition imbalance or something. A nutritionist or something might be able to help her a little more.
I hope everything works out for your little girl!
An acquaintance of mine has a daughter doing the same, even though there physically shouldn't be a reason to still be hungry. Mom actually tried locking cupboards of food up and put the refrigerator in the garage and locked the door between the kitchen and the garage, and her daughter would cry and scream that she was hungry. After several medical tests ruling out possible causes her pediatrician did refer them to a psychologist who they are seeing on a regular basis.
Please let her pediatrician know what's happening. If he or she does refer you to a therapist don't look at it as "just" referring you or passing the buck, look at it as a good thing that will hopefully help your daughter, and you to understand what she is going through, and to get her on a healthy track once the source of her problem is found.
God bless.
Sounds like you're doing your best. Is she eating out of boredom? Could you offer distractions? Or instead of punishments for infractions, maybe stickers or rewards for doing well? I agree with Laurie A, maybe make sure it's not physical. Good luck!
I was the girl who snuck food. When I finally found a counselor/ therapist who could help me work through the psychological stuff behind it, I was finally able to get it under control.
Why do expect her to be different than her mom?
Show her how to exercise. Show her how to maintain a healthy weight. Show her that if mommy can, she can too!
this sounds really strange too....but she might just have an issue where she wants something in her mouth. similar to how babies just have the need to suck and aren't necessarily hungry, so some parents give them a pacifier. Other parents just plop the bottle in their mouth and assume they are hungry.
what about having some sugar free gum in the house? If you know she just ate and couldn't possibly be hungry, have her chew some gum and drink an 8 oz glass of water. If she still claims to be hungry 20 minutes later...then she probably actually is hungry for some reason.
It's time for counseling (child psychologist who deals with food issues in kids), and with a dietician (sp) who specialises in kids nutrition. Ask your pediatrician for a referral. Getting a handle on this now, and getting the help she needs now, will help keep her from developing worse food issues.
Please don't blame yourself, or fault yourself for your daughter sneaking food. Get the help you need from professionals, so that you and your daughter have the tools you need to create and build healthy attitudes toward food and food habits.
Def call her doc. I was an overweight child, not severe but I was always the heavy girl in my family. Put it this way I never wore the gorgeous bikini's like my cousins did, I was always the one wearing the one piece!!! My aunt was so vein and always commented on how much I ate and it made it WORSE!!! It only made me feel bad and want to eat more. There are other things you can do. Do not have junk food in the house, switch to lower calorie foods, get her involved in a sport, dance class, little gym, something active. Start her meal off with soup or a salad to fill her up. Turn her onto rice cakes with peanut butter for snacks, etc. Switch from ice cream to yogurt in the house. Greek yogurt with some fruit mixed up is full of protein and fills you up. For a girl it is terrible to be overweight, girls can be mean and I would not want her to be teased in school, however you have to be very careful how you handle this, because harsh comments by you can make it worse, or the opposite give her an eating disorder. Eating healthy and exercise are the message you want to send her. Get some exercise tapes and do them with her, make it fun. I know kids who do that WII fit and mom does it with them and they both benefit. I actually have a teen who works at my childcare center who does it and has lost soooo much weight. I know this is tough for you but please be gentle with her, it can really effect her self image and that is crucial to the life she will lead, and the choices she will make as she grows. Good luck!!
Is she getting enough protein/nutrients to make her full?
How often is she eating?
She could eat 6 small meals a day to keep hunger at bay yet still have healthy meals in healthy sized proportions.
Any time you "cut back on food intake to lose weight", you are hungry.
One thing that might help, is go on the same calorie/food intake restricted diet WITH her to see if you feel she could be getting full or still be MORE than a little hungry. I think that could help quite a bit & I would try it.
I'm sure she must still be hungry if she's saying that (sweets aside)....just regular food in general.
Also, be sure what she is eating is tasty, filling & change it up a lot to stave off boredom.
I know whenever I've cut back my caloric intake I am hungry & hungrier than normal. A big part of it is psychological while the other part of it is actually physcial: hunger.
In my opinion you are teaching her that food is control...she is going to have an eating disorder later in life.
Ignore the doc. Some kids are just bigger than others. As long as she is eating healthy she is fine. Add to her activities, do some group classes where she wont feel out of place. In our gym classes there are kids the teachers can't lift due to them being almost the same weight. There are 5 yr. old kids wearing adult size leo's. Doing BMX once she is able to ride a bike without training wheels, etc...keep her busy and active, join the Y and let her go swimming several times per week.
There are good ways of helping a child and not so good ways. I think building their self image and self esteem is way more important than a waist line in a 5 yr. old.
However, if she is grossly overweight then I would make an appointment with some specialists that would run blood work tests to make sure her body parts are working correctly. If her thyroid is not working correctly that will effect everything in her body. If her blood work shows anything at all then treat it like it should be treated.
I know it is hard being in this situation. My grandson has sensory issues. To him climbing in the fridge to hide is a cute idea he learned from watching the opening credits of the home video show. There is a fine line between doing just right and doing a bit too much.
I'd find a counselor for her. It seems like many people who are overweight did it as a way to cope with stress, a way to escape from something, or to be bigger so they wouldn't get picked on. I'd want to get to the bottom of the issue.
Best wishes!
When my daughter was 4, she crossed into the 96th percentile for weight. This classified her as overweight. I refused to allow the pediatrician to utter a word about her weight in front of her. The doc and I discussed it while a nurse removed her from the room and kept her occupied. We decided to tie it into the "green initiative" they were doing at school. Just as she was concerned about doing good things for the environment, she had to do good "green" things for her body. We talked about green foods and making good choice. I limited what was brought into the house and we discovered she really loved whole apples and pears. The whole family had to commit to it, though. She's 8 now and regularly makes great food choices. She's slimmed down just a bit but more importantly, she's not gaining and she has a healthy relationship with food. No one was allowed to talk about it to her unless they talked about it being green. She never associated it with her weight and always talked about being healthy.
Maybe sit her down and have her help plan meals. Let her know ahead of time if she's hungry after dinner she's welcome to grab an apple or something else. Give her clear options and make her feel comfortable with making those choices.
I can only imagine how hard this is for you right now but you have to be in this with her. If she sees food as something she has to sneak to be satisfied, then she's being setup for a lifetime of difficulties. I don't think seeing a child psychologist or a nutritionist is a bad idea either.
