4 Year old that reads nutrition facts

So a while back I noticed that my daughter, who is rather bright, started reading nutrition facts.  At first I thought it was cute, but then she started refusing to eat!  She actually lost about 4 lbs and I took her to the dr. to see what was up.  I guess she had decided she didn't want to be overweight like all her grand parents, and that was the way to prevent that.

She has NEVER been anything other than a healthy weight for her size/age.  I make sure that there are only healthy foods available in the house, and we eat healthy portions.  I have never ever been one to stress fat content, or caloires from fat, so I was surprised when she started rattling off the calories from fat in EVERY THING we ate.

I was able to get her back to eating normally after having a talk with her about HEALTHY heating, and we actually watched the biggest loser together last season, and that helped ALOT, because they instill the importance of ACTUALLY eating, and that you need to eat to lose weight.....

has anyone else had problems like this?!

My husband's paternal grandmother is anorexic, and a very close friend of the family of mine passed away at the beginning of this year due to complications due to Anorexia/Bulemia so I'm all hypersensative to it....but I was just curious if anyone else had this issue?

She's back to normal eating, as I said, but she refuses to eat fried things (and i'm not going to force her either!), and always askes me "is that healthy?" before ordering things at the restruant.

Wow.  That is pretty scary.  I'm glad to hear she's eating again!  Hopefully it's just a little phase or something.  I don't have an answer for you, but I'm just curious - what did the doctor say about this?

Original Post by alle0299:

Wow.  That is pretty scary.  I'm glad to hear she's eating again!  Hopefully it's just a little phase or something.  I don't have an answer for you, but I'm just curious - what did the doctor say about this?

 her pediatrician was just as puzzled as we were.  She told us to just try to get her to eat a little at each meal, but dont make a big deal out of food.  Oh, and I had to ban her from using the scale also (she always asks permission).

My 4 year old is also interested in "good foods" and "not so good foods".  We don't call anything a "bad" food at our house.  Even the most decadent piece of chocolate cake has a place in my diet.  lol  We stress that one should eat mostly good foods and only eat the not so good foods every once in a while.

It sounds like you have made some progress.  I would just try to drive the point home that choosing the right foods isn't as black and white as she seems to think.  A 4 year old body needs lots of good fats to build brain tissue.  If she avoids all the fats, her body won't work right.

In the meantime, maybe try to push more plants that are also rich in fat, like avocado.

My son got interested in sugar content when he was that age because the dentist showed him the "sugar bugs" on his teeth. He almost stopped drinking milk as a result. But he wasn't much of a sweet eater before that anyway.

Find an outsider to talk to your daughter about basic nutrition during this critical growth time in her life. You can listen in and say things like I didn't know that! Your daughter may be able to tell this person why she is afraid of getting fat. Then, if she can log some of her food, she can get more comfortable about what she is eating. Why an outsider? You and your family members already have a relationship with her and she will read into the comments things from that relationship. Having another adult sit down and talk to her in an intelligent manner will boost her self esteem and help her to really take in what they are talking about.  We recently had a nurse borrow items from the dietary department to give a presentation to 6&7th grade boys. Some of it was really eye opening to them. Also for them to understand their calorie needs and fat needs are higher than adults.

She is going to be going to school soon and the choices, although healthier today, will not be so great. It may be that she is going to obscess about her eating, at least for now, and she sounds capable of understanding much more than I did at that age. Help her direct her energy into a healthy balance and to incorporate my favorite quote "Everything in Moderation Including Moderation."  

I have a daughter who is watching her weight as well but in the opposite fashion.  She doesn't need to lose weight.  She just needs to not gain anymore.  At 7 years old shes alread 4 foot 5 inches tall.  Unfortunatly she weights 104 lbs.  She was my pre mature baby.  She was born at 28 weeks gestation, and she is my only child out of 6 that is over weight. 

For the most part she has always been fine with it.   She has a healthy self esteem.  She says shes like pooh and aunt kate.  Pooh is cuddly and aunt kate is beautiful, so she must be cuddly and beautiful too.  And she is.  But, now that Im on a diet, I can't get her off the scales.  If I weigh or her father weighs she has to too.   She says, mom did I gain any weight?  With a look of dread on her face.   This started because two things happened.  I started having problems finding clothes to fit her and my father died of heart desease complicated by type II diabietes.  He was only 55.   Everyone knows he was way to young.  She is now scared if she doesn't get skinny that she will end up like her Papa.

Its hard to say, hon its about health not size.  What that scale says doesn't really matter.  But for her it does because she knows that the way she gets skinny as young as she is, is to maintain the weight she is at while letting her height catch up to it.   So she has become obsessed with not gaining weight. 

My husband and I both need to lose weight.  Ive put off dieting because, I didn't want Stephie to feel pressured to be thin,  But, we can't put it off anymore for our own healths sake. 

Wheather your a mother with a skinny child that is starting to worry about getting fat or an overweight child, trying to figure out the best way to get skinny, when they are that young, its tough.  Saying and doing the right thing is critical yet your never quite sure what the right thing to say or do really is.

Original Post by ladykelien:

I have a daughter who is watching her weight as well but in the opposite fashion. She doesn't need to lose weight. She just needs to not gain anymore. At 7 years old shes alread 4 foot 5 inches tall. Unfortunatly she weights 104 lbs. She was my pre mature baby. She was born at 28 weeks gestation, and she is my only child out of 6 that is over weight.

For the most part she has always been fine with it. She has a healthy self esteem. She says shes like pooh and aunt kate. Pooh is cuddly and aunt kate is beautiful, so she must be cuddly and beautiful too. And she is. But, now that Im on a diet, I can't get her off the scales. If I weigh or her father weighs she has to too. She says, mom did I gain any weight? With a look of dread on her face. This started because two things happened. I started having problems finding clothes to fit her and my father died of heart desease complicated by type II diabietes. He was only 55. Everyone knows he was way to young. She is now scared if she doesn't get skinny that she will end up like her Papa.

Its hard to say, hon its about health not size. What that scale says doesn't really matter. But for her it does because she knows that the way she gets skinny as young as she is, is to maintain the weight she is at while letting her height catch up to it. So she has become obsessed with not gaining weight.

My husband and I both need to lose weight. Ive put off dieting because, I didn't want Stephie to feel pressured to be thin, But, we can't put it off anymore for our own healths sake.

Wheather your a mother with a skinny child that is starting to worry about getting fat or an overweight child, trying to figure out the best way to get skinny, when they are that young, its tough. Saying and doing the right thing is critical yet your never quite sure what the right thing to say or do really is.

the best advice i recieved was actually from my sister.  She said:

"try to focus on everything being healthy.  That you want to be healthy, that you want your husband to be healthy, and that she wants to be healthy too.  Focus on the relative healthiness of foods, and helping her make healthy choices."

As soon as we did that (we eliminated the terms 'fat' and 'overweight' from our vocabularies), and started focusing on making healthy choices (positive reinforcement) she changed too.

we go to a restraunt, and she doesn't know what she wants, so I'll find something healthy and tell her "this is healthy, and that is healthy, and there is also this this and that" so she is making the choice on her own to be healthy, and I make healthy choices too.

now she doesn't even try to hop on the scale, except once in a great while.  she does love to go to the gym with me to walk on the treadmill.  she does "one lap" and then sits on the floor next to my treadmill and colors the rest of the time.  " I have to get ready to go hiking when we're camping mama" she tells me.