Connecting moms in Polk County, Fla.

Mom who put 7-year-old on a diet: Girl now a ‘healthy weight’

Although this story has been ridiculed and received in past as extreme, I can't help but feel I can't be the only mom that feels a connection to this story in some way.

By no means is my daughter on a diet but one has been suggested. I would prefer a title of, eating-life-style-restructuring.

Lillian sees Dr. Tsu-Hui K. Lin in Tampa (whom I love) and she told Lillian it is okay to feel a little hungry and if we feel full, then we've eaten too much. She was very patient with Lillian in telling her how important it is to make wise choices in what we consume.

Lillian is doing much better in her choices on her own, but she does, from time to time, want to eat junk.

Overall, I'm very proud of her.

What do you think of the update of this story of this mom and daughter that went national a couple years ago?

Has your child's doctor suggested dieting for them?

Do you find it hard to teach children to make good food choices?

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Permalink Reply by Jmarr on January 28, 2013 at 5:12pm

My daughter had a lot of belly fat and I know that can be unhealthy later in life, to have that body type. I don't think she ever fell into an obese category, but her weight was always a higher percentile than her height. She was a preemie baby. I probably should have taken her off of the high-calorie formula after a couple of months when she was almost caught up on her weight, but she stayed on it for a while. I really think that had something to do with the big belly. It was flabby too, like almost cellulite. She wore bigger sizes and I always had to hem the pants or buy capri's so they would fit in the length. I asked her pediatrician about it when she was about 4 and still didn't lose the belly and she mentioned cutting back on sugar. I always watered down her juices (still do and she's 6), but she mentioned trying stevia in real fruit juice instead. We hated it, so we are back on regular watered down juices. We switched from whole milk to 2% by the time she was 2 or so. We switched to 1% when she was about 5. She occasionally gets 2% because that's what the rest of us like. Finally, she is thinning out at age 6. She still has no waste and a bit of a belly, but I figure that will change when she starts to develop.

I do find it hard to get my kids to make healthy choices sometimes, but my daughter is more into veggies and trying new foods than my son. I find the easiest thing to do with young kids is to not introduce the junk at all, or at least hold off. My kids don't know that apple dippers come with sauce because I always ask for no sauce or hide it. We never let my daughter try soda until she was 4 and she can't stand it. My husband gave my son coke when he was a toddler and he loves it to this day. This can be hard when parents (or grandparents or other caregivers) are not on the same page. I couldn't stand it when my kids were so little and would come home from day care/pre-k with candy, etc. for every holiday and birthday!!

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Permalink Reply by Jmarr on January 28, 2013 at 5:38pm

I think this mom did the right thing by helping her daughter, but talking about it in private or even before the party would have been a better approach. "Lets remember to make good food choices at the party. If there are several types of desserts, you can have just a taste of each, instead of a whole piece of each...and with all that sugar, we should drink water instead of soda.

I had a friend growing up who wasn't allowed to eat at other people's houses (and she was tiny). I always felt bad for her at parties, but at the same time, I am impressed that she followed the rules of her parents! I'm thinking they had a bad experience, or they may have had a kosher kitchen at home.

There is a girl in my neighborhood who is starting to be conscious of her weight. She will often ask for a "healthy snack" when she comes over to play and will choose water over juice. I love it!

I often say "lets drink milk with dinner tonight since we will probably be having dessert" when we eat out, because my son always asks for soda. I also ask for veggies or fruit over fries the majority of the time, which the kids hate. Even if they barely touch the greens...at least they didn't eat fries again! My kids aren't obese, and my son is actually thin and lanky like me, but I don't want to reinforce bad habits.