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What's your take on a mom putting her 7 year old daughter on strict diet?

http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/vogue-art...

I am sure most of you have read about this mom who put her 7 year old daughter on a rigid diet. If you watch the video you see the little girl now? Does she really look obese... Ok, she lost 16 lbs but I can hardly imagine that the kid was really obese before even if you add 16 lbs.

If a child is too heavy for her or his height at such a young age, isn't being overweight the parents fault for making or for allowing bad food choices for the child?

I remember when I was 6 years old, my mom and dad had to work and I was in charge of my grandma who said to me every afternoon, ''get a slice of cream cake for each of us''....which I did and when I started school I was not overweight really but I had a belly and I know there was a little boy who said to his mom ''Mom we are getting a pretty girl in our class but do you think she got knocked up, she must be pregnant, her belly looks big?" LOL that was not fun really but I lost that weight because once I started school there were just no more cream cakes in the afternoon and as a healthy 6 year old I moved and ran around a lot and lost the maybe extra 8 lbs within a short time without being put on a diet?

How did this 7 year old who looks perfectly normal weight to me get to be overweight? Doesn't the mom pick her food for her and allowed her to eat a lot of junk food before? Did the mom eat a lot of junk food herself or are some mom's just weight obsessed and want to look like the glamour celebs themselves and then go on some crazy fad diets that are not healthy...Why can't they instead change from eating bad food to healthy options and still make eating food fun and allowing the kid some sweet dessert sometimes but it can be something with half the calories?

Curtis Stone, Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray and other chefs show so many ways to cook healthy and still have a low cal dessert that is tasty but low in calories where one can indulge oneself and instead let the kid run and play with friends to lose the weight in a natural way?

What are your thoughts on this well known story? Dieting for young children yes or no or instead no diet but heathy food options.?

Thanks xl

11 Answers

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  • 9 years ago
    Favourite answer

    I read that story, too. I saw no reason that she needed to put her daughter on any sort of diet. The mother had her own eating issues and she may have passed along some bad habits to her daughter.

    When my children were younger, I let them know that I had not been eating so healthfully. That it was ME who was eating too many sweets and snacks and it was making me have less energy. I joined Weight Watchers and tried to move around more. I did not deprive them of foods, but I incorporated better food choices into meals. I gradually switched out certain snack items (pretzels for potato chips) that fostered mindless eating.

    I felt the mother could have presented it that as a family, they had been making some unhealthy eating choices. They could have worked together to find food choices that would promote a healthier lifestyle. They could have decided to be more active, too.

    I do not like the concept of diets for anybody, but in particular for children. That can just set them up for a lifetime of gaining and losing weight. Losing 16 pounds for a 7 year old could have been managed with a steady program of eating healthy foods and getting more exercise. Between growing into some of that weight, eating well and moving around more than sitting, the whole issue would have dissolved in about 6 - 8 months. No dieting should have been necessary for that young girl.

  • 9 years ago

    Heck no it's not always the parents fault. My son was always at 40 pound - a really good weight for his age - and once he started Kindergarten his weight shot to almost 60 in a year. He had absolutely no change in what he ate at home - which was good things like fruit, yoguart, a nice dinner. He's always ate healthy but they give them snacks and all this at school which made him gain weight. You can't ALWAYS blame the parents for kids being overweight. I watch what my son is eating. If I didn't he would eat constanly - he tries to sneak food and everything. I think this is because they are always giving snacks and this and that at school. I am NOT letting him get overweight and he's lost 10 pounds putting him in the 80th something percentile. His doctor even told me to get his weight down. I do not want a life of struggling for him and make him feel bad when kids put him down for being overweight. My son did not look overweight either but being over the maximum percentile for weight of children his age put me to work to get that weight off him. It's not just about looks - it's about HEALTH too. Mom's don't pick what the school gives - the STATE does.

    Usually it's not a diet that's unhealthy. If the child is overweight it's because they are eating too much or not healthy things. I think society has completely backwards to think it's okay that it's healthy to give kids cake, but put them on a diet or make them eat more healthy and then it's bad, unhealthy and a "fad". Better to take care of the problem when the child is younger than let them blow up out of control and have a lifetime of being overweigh with serious health problems, not to mention the torment they will go through at school from other kids who are judgemental.

    We take my son on walks every night - as a family. He eats good at our house. Sometimes you can't just loose the weight with those things and a diet IS needed.

    Definately yes for dieting and eating better when the child is overweight. The problem should be fixed as soon as possible.

  • 5 years ago

    The most natural and healthy diet for humans is an omnivorous diet, and not a plant based diet, or a meat-based diet per se. The Paleo Diet can be very widely varied and omnivorous for the most part, but the most important thing is that it’s unprocessed, and avoids the worst foods that agriculture brought mankind… refined inflammatory vegetable oils, refined grains (some are worse than others), and sugar! Learn here https://tr.im/kHZuO

    As you can see, the benefits of adopting a Paleo way of eating can be incredible! I’ve been eating 95% Paleo for the last 5-6 years and I’ve never felt better. I have dozens of friends that have adopted a more Paleo way of eating too, and have seen all sorts of health problems disappear, including eliminating acne and other skin problems, digestion problems, improving brain clarity, and of course, losing a lot of body fat!

  • JennyP
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    The definition of the verb "diet" is to 'restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight'. Nothing about that definition is normal or healthy for a young child. Telling your 7 year old that she is going on a diet to lose weight will do nothing but cause long-lasting food issues, which could range anywhere from anorexia (malnutrition) all the way to food hoarding/binging (obesity).

    Parents who eat healthy themselves and set a good example for their children are much less likely to have overweight children. If you are keeping soda, oreos, and bags of chips in the house and telling your child that it's okay for you to eat them but not them, then what kind of message does that send?

    Some of the best things parents can do to encourage healthy kids are: cooking WHOLESOME (not Hamburger Helper) family dinners, packing school lunches and encouraging lots of outdoor physical activity.

    Source(s): Mom of 1 (soon to be 2).
  • 5 years ago

    Catch a number of zzz’s. Lack of sleep yields the hormone ghrelin, an urge for food booster. Tiredness will almost certainly mean you’ll skip your morning swim or evening jog and commence craving sugar, bad carbs as well as caffeine. Commit to a regular sleep pattern and experience the transformation it's going to have on your ability to lean.

  • 4 years ago

    Green tea: This powerful antioxidant can adjust fat and ramp up your metabolism by 20 %.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    Right or Wrong Vera,

    It's the mothers prerogative to do so ?

    She must take responsibility for bad choices if it affects the little one ?

    Great Question.

    Best Wishes.

    Mars Mission Soon In A Galaxy Near Yours..

    Source(s):

    Studies.

    Source(s): Ethics Counselling A.C.A. 2009.
  • 5 years ago

    Warm side up please. Two eggs for breakfast is preferable to a bagel in relation to managing your weight, says a written report from the International Journal regarding Obesity.

  • 5 years ago

    Green tea: This powerful antioxidant can adjust fat and ramp up your metabolism by 20 per cent.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    thats cruel.I agree that junk food is not good for health,(adults or children )but

    its very yummy and if parents want their children to avoid junk foods and get in ''shape'',they should replace it with a better diet.like fruits..etc.

    its all about eating what's good for our health .

    Source(s): my opinion
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