what about kids?

[mumu]

Hi everyone,
I copy paste my last post from the introduction forum, because i really need your advise.... what do you do about your kid's nutrition?

"A was also wondering about atkins and kids and how will i be able to make my kids understand that this is very important.
My son is very athletic, he plays soccer almost professionally, but he eats tons of milk with choco cereals, cookies and ice creams.
My little girl is a little overweight, entirelly my fault, i let things slip. 5 years ago, when i divorced, her dad used to take them, so they could see each other more often, to MacDonalds near our place. 2-3 times a week to have dinner plus every weekend of eating for confort. Now i can recognize an eating for comfort- boredom- frustration!
The last 2-3 years I gradually cut all the unhealthy nutrition and discussed with ex the whole thing. At home we eat large bawls of salads, fruits, semi fat diaries lean meat, chicken etc. I try to control her but it's quite difficult to deny a kid something that everyone else enjoys at school, birthday parties, vacation etc.
She plays tennis and needs to lose about 8-10 pounds. She's 10,5 years old, almost about 4'6" and 103 pounds.

Thanks again
Muriel

[not2late]

I think you should discuss this with your child's pediatrician. Atkins is an adult diet. Children have nutritional needs that adults don't. So talk to your pediatrician about this because there are other causes of obesity like thyroid problems that need to be ruled out before putting any growing child on a weight loss diet.

That said, the Atkins Center did have a diet for children and teenagers. That diet can be found in a book called Feed Your Kids Well by Fred Pescatore, MD who was the associate director of the Atkins Center during the 1990s.

[mumu]

Thank you for the info about the book,
I did see the pediatrician and we even made a total blood test and especially for thyroid and cholesterol, which by the way she had more than normal. Everything else was ok.
The doctor said she was ok, much taller than the average but also much heavier but always in the normal range for her age.
So i cut back the eggs and i added more fish and chicker rather than too much red meat.
I never meant induction for the kids, it is far too strict about no milk and fruits. I wanted to know if the general rule that too much carbs and sugars give you cravings (among all evil) that lead you to eat more and usually junk, apply to kids and what is the best way to diminish those cravings. Having solved, of course all other sources of "emotional" need that leads to food for confort.

[Elsie150]

First I would never tell her she can't have something at a birthday party..unless she goes to several a week. As an active growing kid SOME junk food is not going to be the ruin of her. If the majority of her meals are in your control it should work out. I would say that you would be feeding her more of a maintenance type of Atkins..so whole grains in a limited fashion. Brown rice instead of white. Whole wheat pasta.

You are walking such a hard line as you do not want to give her body issues. Here we have talked about food as fuel and eating healthy because of athletics. For school maybe limit her to one bought lunch a week? Or two. But maybe put the money you would have spent in a jar towards something else she wants.

But if she is only 8-10 pounds overweight I would just keep an eye on it and not panic too much. Control the snacks at home and find healthy alternatives for the lunch kits. IE: Granola bars are a glorified chocolate bar if you ask me. I switched the kids to rice cakes last year. She will be shooting up more in height yet so just keep her active.

And in my best Dr Phil voice regarding your son eating the cocoa cereal, cookies and ice cream.. "If it ain't there he ain't gonna eat it"

You buy the groceries..so you have the power.

JMO...

[quotidianlight]

Okay, just my take. Atkins is very healthy for kids, they need the fat for there brains to grow. But I would not put them on a diet. For my kids, I am low carb they are moderate carb. They eat the way I will for maintenance and at school they get some treats so they don't scam them from there friends. The word diet does not enter my home though. The last thing you need is to end up with an anorexic 12 yo. Just talk cook healthy meals. When they want treats tell them that treats are for special occasions but you want the whole family to be healthy so they grow strong and have energy for there sports. Kids adjust really quickly. BTW: Atkins is a WOL, I would never put a kid on induction but there is nothing about a kids body that suddenly makes them need crap and high carbs. My sons ADD meds are almost half what they were since I upped the fat and cut a lot of high carb foods. I would say they hover around 100 grams a day and eat a lot of high fat foods, good proteins, dairy, nuts, fruits and lots of veggies. But here is the thing, kids metabolisms haven't been as screwed up as ours are. Treats are fine, birthday cake is fine, just not everyday. I believe that however kids eat will be there natural habit that they revert to in times of stress, confusion, and boredom as adults. So make sure that your kids, "comfort foods" are healthy ones and even if they eat crap in college they brain already knows what to revert to later

[quotidianlight]

BTW: don't forget not to panic. Kids tend to grow out 5-10 pounds and then grow up a few inches and go back and forth. It's natural. I can always tell when I'm gonna need to buy my daughter clothes again real soon because her pants get tight in the waist and she usually is very skinny. Her first major spurt started this year and she's 10. She got normal looking (i.e. not skinny but not fat either) and then suddenly she was model tall, super skinny and I was buying bras.

[mumu]

Thank you so much for the replies you guys!
It's true I'm kind of panicked . You can imagine how it is to be in you teens and overweight, the other day she saw a photo that i took of her on the beach, and she was crying, saying she's fat and ugly!
And you know that kids can be very mean and hurtful with the others, calling them names about their weight. Her own brother calls her fat etc. I keep explaining to him that he is doing her serious damage...

Anyway, yes i know i should be extra careful not to lead her to anorexia. I' m constantly cheering her up, saying that she's gonna grow to be a very beautiful tall girl, that i would adore her even if she was "500pounds, ugly, with acne and no hair" and that she needs to do it for herself, not for me or anybody else. ...and I'm not using the word diet, just "a bit careful"

I already made the switch to brown rice, whole pasta and cereals, and I'm cooking as healthily as i can, really!
Thank you for the great advice