Controlling diet of your Child!

I don’t know where this thread should be placed. Here or in Health & Fitness. Please Mods fit it where it suits best.

Coming to the point. Yes, the situation is as strange as it sounds by the title. Often mothers are more concerned about the diet of their kids in terms of less eating habits or/and sometimes Junk food over healthy food. The problem I am discussing here is entirely different and is about excessive eating.

I have come across a girl, aged 9, who eats MashAllah more than a grown up woman or like a man.
My intention here is not to nazar lagaaing her :hehe: but I really want to discuss how to overcome such a habit of a girl knowing growing kids love to eat as its the demand of their body. But this Girl, I personally feel, If she were my daughter I would have been really and I mean REALLY worried.

Fat girls don’t look good at all and yes, I am not talking about Chubby or Guppa sorta girls. She is really growing fat. One can call her a Fat Girl. If I can give you people a clue, last time when I saw her, she ate mashAllah 3 to 4 big chicken pieces in a plate of Biryani at a time, and still didn’t finish her meal even after every adult finished their meal and was stopped by her mother when she was asking more. Her mother HAD to tell her to stop now. Not only that, but after hardly ten minutes, she herself asked for the desserts saying, “now its desserts turn, where is the custard mom”, her sentence made her family quite embarrassed and because they were not an invited guests but achanak aa janay walay so I couldn’t have time to prepare any sweets. However, I already had offered some ice-cream which is always there in my freezer and her mother refused.

After being refused, she made a face and said, “ok, then how about the Cake that we brought to aunt, maybe we can eat that” and before I could stand up and offer her, her mother grabbed my hand and asked me to sit and said, no You don’t need to. I tried a lot to bring it to the girl but she was sitting in my way and I could only stand up if she could let me.

The problem is not her demand. Of course, that’s how the kids are and they don’t know what to say, when to say or where to say.
The only problem I figured was, she was eating too much. Her mother needed to stop her. Not only that, but I have always seen at different occasions that whenever her mother has asked her to help her with any chores, any minor chores like fetching her a glass of water, she would make faces like a really Lazy girl…her posture is really lazy, her eyes are always drowsy, she is always inactive, the way she walks is so indolent, she listens to her until her mother doesn’t repeat her order/direction/ request twice or sometimes thrice and …and sometimes no matter how many times, she doesn’t listen to her and directly says, I am not doing it. Not even once, I have seen her mother has scolded her that could make me think of the girl’s poor behavior, her mother has always been polite and humble to her, loving to her. But the girl is overall really lazy and eats a lot and watches the TV non-stop for hours and hours. She is always hungry.

I am just curious, how can we control such a child, when especially its a Girl and is with lot of eating habits. She might not realize but being a really Fat girl isn’t good. Girls that grow fat for no reason, is something else, and some of them even get slimmer by the time, but I am sure, this girl is fat just because she can not control her diet. More worrying is, she is at the growing stage and I am so clueless how to control her diet at such an age, is it what her body requires??? Would stopping her be a wrong decision?

How would you deal with this problem if it were your child?

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

??

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

I would obv control my child. Starts from a young age, healthy eating habits.

As for you… Stay out of it. You don’t havta control anything in regards to her diet. If you r close to the mother… You can perhaps talk it out ..IF you have that kinda relationship.

Otherwise… Shh.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Oh no… not even doooor doooor tak I plan to talk to her mother regarding this. I just discussed it here to know whether I am overreacting by thinking like this or is it really weird and if it isss weird then how a mother (any mother) can control such a habit of her child..!!!

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Queen, I’m uncomfortable with the way you are speaking about this child. Maybe I’m overly sensitive to the word “fat,” but I think it comes off as an insult, whether or not you are stating facts.

Whatever the issue, I don’t think it’s about the amount of food she is eating. There are probably other lifestyle issues that are affecting her emotionally, mentally, and physically. If you are concerned about the girl, just try to engage her in different kinds of activities whenever you are with her. I think inertia is a powerful force in our lives, and sometimes we just need help breaking out of a routine in order to really be happy/healthy/productive.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Queen, have you considered that her issue may be medical? Do you know if her mum has ever discussed any of this with the girl’s paediatrician? It’s difficult to say for certain without more information but type 1 diabetes often causes the symptoms you’ve described.

Polyphagia (excessive hunger) is often a symptom of type 1 diabetes, especially in children. This is different to the more common type of diabetes (type 2 diabetes) often seen with older people. With this type of diabetes, the body doesn’t produce insulin, which our body needs, and without insulin to move sugar into your cells, your muscles and organs become depleted of energy. This causes intense hunger. It also produces fatigue, sluggishness and irritability, which sounds rather like what you’ve described.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

How is any of this your business? She’s not your daughter, and unless hte mother were to ask you for advice…it’s none of your business.

It looks like at least the mother is conscious of it, but again…it’s none of your business.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

following steps might help:

-don’t bring any junk in the house
-don’t let her sit in front of the TV like a couch potato
-give her some house chore responsibility
-take her to a walk everyday and make that part of her routine
-cook healthy food in the house [less fat, less red meat, less of potatoes and rice]

Sorry but I disagree, we dont always have to immediately jump to severe medical diagnoses.. I’ve seen very similar behaviour in a child very close to me and a few others. The child close to me was raised with lotsss of love, which at times meant being unable to say no and later developed into unhealthy habits as youve described.

Also I’d like to mention people who are in habit of overeating, their brains reach a point at which it can no longer recognise and send out the hormone instructing the body to stop as the stomach is full. (this can be overcome if the individual loses weight and/or starts exercise)

If a child is at this age and stage as you mentioned, then one should not underestimate the power of words. Simply speak to them at their level, staying composed and keeping it simple for them is key. That does include involving a scare factor or two but also talking to them about the benefits of improving their health. They should know youre concerned not being judgemental or angry.. afterall with such an upbringing, its not their fault..

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

forget the kid - were there any vegetables involved in your dinner? why not?

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

I didn’t state that her issues were absolutely, without a doubt, caused by a medical issue. I stated that it was a possibility based on the symptoms Queen described, which I have also seen in my job in children with the disorder I described. I understand that not being able to say no to children often leads to unhealthy habits, and thus, weight gain. However, the reason I suggested type 1 diabetes as a possibility is the presence of several symptoms together, which are often indicative of the disease. Also, Queen did mention that the child’s mother has attempted to speak to the girl about her behaviour with no luck.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

S02, I certainly don’t mean to sound rude or insulting towards anyone or discomfort anyone. I really don’t know with what can I replace the word “fat” without sounding it insulting. If you can suggest, please tell me and I will take care of it in future.

Oh yar please, this is not a life1 thread. I will not appreciate any kind of misjudgments towards my thread. You can avoid commenting in any thread that seems weird to you, the way I do!! Thanks.

To answer you both, no this is the problem, the Mom has not discussed with me about it BUT I now feel her uncomfortable and embarrassed due to her girl’s behavior. She is a good and bit closer friend of mine. I myself, don’t want her to feel that way in front of me because I usually don’t like someone getting embarrassed in front of me. But because she hasn’t yet chosen to discuss it with me, I don’t feel right to discuss with her too may this can make her feel more uncomfortable. And yes, being a closer friend, I feel for the kid and I would literally don’t want her to ruin her health like this, I am not insensitive to think like “staying out of the businesses”.

Thanks Mzghan, you raised a valid point but I can not be sure of it until this issue is discussed with me & if that’s the case, then I feel really bad :frowning: I hope this can be treated too.

nfs92, thanks to you too, you are right too, especially I agree with your last paragraph too much. Would you suggest how can one talk to such kids about improving their health without bringing it into their notice and not sounding judgmental?
The girl listens to me a lot, most of the times, she isn’t listening to her mother but me. She is quite friendly with me. Maybe I can teach her in some other way how she should quit certain habits without making her realize that I am trying to rule her but being her friend :slight_smile:

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

chicken is a vegetable.

on a less serious note, 90% of the times, extreme eating habbits of kids are learned behaviors.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Biryani had Potatoes too :smiley:

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Elaborate :@:

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

If kids are over weight, 90% of the times, at least one parent is over weight too.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

if not this, it is gheebah !! stay away from it and bachi kay niwaalay ginn-na bund karo :smiley:

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Okay, I suppose your question was “how to prevent childhood obesity?” And “how to deal with a child who is over weight and/or obese?”

The word is taken as an insult so try not to use it in future reference.

I agree with queer and TLK.

Seems like you have met this child before at other occasions as well and were aware of her eating habits, however you did not make an effort for a healthier menu.
If you are concerned about an issue then take some steps to make some difference.

  • healthy child friendly menu
  • constructive activities that will engage the children

Like TLK said, it is not just that child overheating, the big issue is her environment.

If her environment promotes unhealthy eating, too much tv/computer, lack of physical activity, then that is behavior the child will display in other environment. The only way it can be changed is by changing the home environment..

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

Fat girls don’t look good at all? Ouch. Pick your words a little more carefully please. Your post comes across as mean and hurtful and gossipy.

i know of a couple who have an overweight child and she’s tried to kill herself twice because she knows how people talk about her behind her back. (comments similar to yours).

she’s also 9 years old.

Re: Controlling diet of your Child!

First , I found these comments as very harsh** “Fat girls don’t look good at all and yes, I am not talking about Chubby or Guppa sorta girls. She is really growing fat. One can call her a Fat Girl.”**

Second , if the way you have described her eating is true then she definitely has a problem (medical) if it not diagnosed then i doesn’t mean that it exist. That much hunger/appetite is not normal at all.

Lastly , I think the only way you can help is by motivating her to get more physically active and by developing her interest in games involving physical activities.