How do you do this? I'm just playing it by ear and teaching them the things I've learned. I've been overweight for many years, and my husband as well, but we are both getting into better shape and close to being healthy weights (YAY!). Recently our two oldest boys (10 and 7) have been putting on weight as well. I don't want to stress them out about weight but I want them to be healthy and I want to help them avoid the pain of being overweight and obese. We exercise every morning when we first start school. Usually 15 minutes of warm up and then I let them walk, run, ride their bikes, or play baseball for another 45 minutes. Over the summer they didn't spend much time being active as it was so hot outside and we were stuck at home with a broken down van. That's really when they put on the weight. Now that the weather has cooled off I send them outside for 3 or 4 hours every day. They love it! But occasionally I have to talk them into it to get started. We talk about what we eat and how to choose healthy things and why we don't keep junk in the house. I've been letting the boys help choose the meals and cook them in hopes of getting them to like healthy foods more. I have also given them instructions on when they can eat, the Kitchen is no longer open at all hours. We made a list of things they can do when they feel like eating but its not meal time or snack time. (we allow for 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day). Do you use any kind of curriculum for this? What do you do? Any suggestions?
i've never used any specific "program" for health/etc.... if i was to make one suggestion ~ keep the focus on 'healthy life' ... NOT 'weight'. your boys are very young and the LAST thing that they need to be thinking about is dieting. keep them active (be active as a family) & provide lots of healthy meal & snack options ~ but include some treats. how's it go - all things in moderation? chocolate timbits aren't evil - they just aren't an 'every day for breakfast' food.
I hear you there! We just recently took a nutrition class with one of the coops we are a part of. It was amazing. My kids learned A LOT. They did science experiments with each class. They learned about how to read a nutrition label. They had a worksheet given to them to practice, so that they could decide if the food was worth eating, etc. I'm probably in the same boat as you physically - although my kids are VERY active, and not overweight...but as you do, I want to teach them NOW how to take care of their bodies. We do have dessert once a week (and let me tell you, they really look forward to dessert!!!). And every couple days they are allowed to have a piece of candy after lunch (ONE PIECE, and it's a mini, or 10 m&m's or something like that - not a whole big honkin' candy bar). I do think that completely eliminating something they've had all their life will lead to problems later. When I was a kid we weren't allowed ANY CANDY at all. Except for Halloween. I became a serious binge eater when I was older. And later, in my high school years I was anorexic. I would say....taught how to appropriately eat (not overeat) treats is a good way. I think there are a few Kid Nutrition sites on the internet....I believe even a few of them have downloads and stuff. Another thing you could do is get each kid a pedometer and have them earn prizes for a certain number of steps each day. Just some thoughts.....
That is exactly what the Dr. Sears program does. It doesn't focus on dieting at all, but growing up into your weight. It focuses more on not gaining rather than losing. You do that by changing what you eat, what you snack on, and increasing your activity level. We are using the program and my 6 year old recently expressed dismay that his numbers on the scale weren't getting bigger anymore so he is an example that the program isn't focusing on weight loss. They have been pretty much in a holding pattern with their weight for 6 months, but they are growing in height. Love those timbits! I prefer sour cream, but chocolate ones are pretty good too.
I definitely don't want to put them on a diet to lose weight, they are still growing! I just don't want to see them continue to gain pounds faster than they gain inches. My 7 year old has gained 10 lbs in the past 6 months and I think that is a good reason to be concerned. I like the look of the Dr. Sears book! I am a fan of his anyway. I think I'll add it to my wish list. We actually eat pretty healthy in general. I think we need to work on portion sizes. My oldest and 3rd don't like veggies but the other two do. We have really cut back on dessert from what we were eating a year ago. But still, its probably twice a week. They usually get a piece of candy on Wednesday nights at AWANA and they always have cookies when we go visit a great aunt once or twice a week. I do want us to steer towards more fruits and veggies rather than crackers and chips for snacks.
I agree with all of you ladies. I have my concerned about my dds,too. I am trying to keep them healthy without nagging them about their diet as I did in the summer. I am trying to walk with them 3X a week around the neighborhood for 45 Min. they look forward to it. I try to put them in at least one sport one/session(volleyball or yoga or ice skating.) I also try to only buy healthy food for the family. we cook almost everything from scratch. they look forward for dinner time because daddy is home as well. I try to make dinner time super fun and healthy as well. They both love soda, they can't have it -of course.so a friend of mine advised me to get get club soda and add a little of it to their juice once in a while. they both love candy.they get to have 3 or 5 somepieces of hard candy once in a while after dinner. I love tea and coffee, my dds are now into herbal tea.mint,cranberry,fruit flavor tea etc. if they want juice, they get to have it after finishing a cup of water. chewing gum is sometime handy once a day. it keeps them form asking for snack often. I am trying creative with salad, sometimes bean salad, sometimes fruit salad, sometimes chicken salad. they love lentile soup. I get most of my recipe from allrecipes.com But, I need to check out Dr. sears book. I lookforward to more more from all of you.thanks for sharing it with us.
My DS went through a husky stage before he had a huge growth spurt - maybe your 7yo is getting ready for a growth spurt too. I have found that he has a pattern of putting on some weight and then growing the inches to even it out. I have a really big kid - he'll be pushing 175 lbs. soon, but he's already 5 foot 10 at 13, so it all evens out. But before he grew that last 4 inches he was looking a little pudgy.
At CurriClick there is a special $0.99 download on health/nutrition. I haven't looked at really well yet, but the description sounds pretty good, esp for the low price! It sounds like you're doing quite well, though -- focusing on activity level and healthy eating... sounds like a great plan to me!
ColoradoMom, my 7 year old has always been boarderline over weight, he puts on weight and then grows taller but only tall enough to bring him to a "just barely" healthy weight, then he gets over the top again. I think what puts fear into me is that my husband became quite obese as a boy and is only recently overcoming it. He has had to deal with health issues because of his weight and I want to help my kids avoid what he went through. My boys are apt to be tall though, their daddy is 6'2".
My son was like that as a younger child too - but he looks totally different now. I look at my friend's daughter who is the same age, as well as the next door neighbor kid (same age) and my son is a GIANT compared to these kids. He could probably go buy beer... Unfortunately genetics can sometimes overpower just about everything you do when it comes to body type but it sounds like you're on top of things and so try not to worry too much about it.
I teach my kid's about health and nutrition by how we live & eat. I tell them that the best healthy foods to eat are the ones that God put on the earth for us. Anything processed is not really how HE intended us to eat. I cook healthy and their daddy is very into exercise by working out at the gym and bike riding. I think being an example for your children by living a healthy lifestyle is really the best thing you can do.
I am trying hard to walk with the girls an hour 3 times a week. It's fun but not always doable because we're limited on time and it's getting cold. we still walk and I hope the weather won't get any colder. I think I need more ideas on what to do in winter. a friend of mine said that we should continue and provide the girls with earmuffs. As long as there is no ice and it's not super cold, she think that it should be managable. we'll see!!!
