I'm kinda worried about my little sister. She is only 5 years old, and she is already overweight for her age. She has bumps on her arms, which my mom always told me was because I wasnt eating enough veggies, when I had those. Is this true? I know that I need to be focusing on improving my health. However I am seriously concerned about my sister. I have talked to my mom about my concern before and she agrees with me, but I'm not seeing any changes being made. I dont want my sister to have to reverse 19 years of bad choices, I would rather that she be on the healthy lifestyle track before her health is jeaporized any more. Her little heart is working way to hard to keep her moving. She has lots of energy but she eats so much. My step dad feeds her all the time. So with a kid who is only 5, what would you do to improve her health? A 5 year old cant count calories, or do SB, and she cant be responsible for logging so many hours of exercise she does every week...and she really cant write down what she eats every day. Do any of you have any solutions to this problem? Like I said, I know that I need to focus on my weight loss. But I want to try to spare my baby sister all the torment that I experienced in school because of my weight. Thank you.

My three kids eat ALL THE TIME. The never stop eating... but honestly? It's a GOOD thing. My older girls dance 4 and 6 times a week respectively. My oldest (she's 8) is on the long distance running team and my younger girl does floor hockey. My little boy (3) is always on the go.

What do they eat? Healthy fruits, veggies, dairy, whole grain and lean protein 95% of the time. If there is NO JUNK IN THE HOUSE TO EAT than she can't eat it! So if you can get her parents to change what they are feeding her... they she CAN eat often and still maintain a healthy weight.

Best of luck!!!

A five year old should have her meals being prepared by an adult who can understand calories and prepares meals accordingly with fruits, veggies and healthy portions
And that same adult should be taking the girl to the park to play on slides, or encouraged to ride bikes or play tag in the front yard. At that age, its the responsibility of your mother to make better choices for her daughter.
I think your mom needs to take your sister to the doctor to have a healthy plan determined for her....and then make the changes necessary.

You are very smart, and a wonderful, thoughtful person, your little sis is very lucky to have you in her corner. Do you have any input in what foods come into the house? Maybe you could suggest no junk, being 5, she won't understand healthy verses not, but if you can limit the unhealthy stuff that comes in, that will help, and if it's not there she can't eat it.

You are doing fantastic, best wishes for you and your sister!

I agree with duckyyellowfeet: well balanced meals that are appropriate in calories and lots of play OUTSIDE. Her doctor should be able to recommend some guidelines for how much she should be eating for her size and age. If she's a tv watcher, that needs to stop or be cut way back. Running, jumping, playing on the playground, bike riding - all are good ideas. And she shouldn't have to do it alone. Children learn their living habits from their parents, particularly their mothers. It's very difficult for a child to develop good habits when the message is not being demonstrated by the parents.

http://www.bumpsonarms.com/
I see this all of the time in the medical profession.This is possibly what you and little sis have.It is hereditary.Nothing to worry about and certainly not diet related.

The best thing you can do, since you are not her parent, is to play actively with her when you can. Kids need to run around, climb, toss balls, and so on. It will help you as well.

Setting a good example with food is probably helpful, but she is too young to be "dieting." This is how people get set up to have long-term problems.

You're right, I think, to focus mostly on yourself. You can't control what happens to your sister or what she will experience in life. Just be a good influence and role model for her.

I'm guessing that your mom told you that about bumps just to get you to eat your vegetables.

Good luck!

Jay

It is up to the parents to see that she has the proper diet including fruits and vegies and limit sweets, deserts, cookies and such, And exercise is important , playing outside running, jumping, etc . More healthy food, less TV and more outside exercise .

Wow, I have had this condition on my forearms for as long as I can remember and I never knew what it was. I figured it was just weird acne! Thanks so much, harrismm, I learned something new about myself today.

possible success, I would highly recommend this book

http://www.amazon.com/Child-Obesity-...3379317&sr=8-2

It is written by a doctor who specializes in childhood obesity. He explains concrete steps that parents can take to reduce or prevent childhood obesity.

His principles are not a diet, in fact, as one of the posters mentions above, there is a lot of evidence that managing kids' weight problems by trying to control what they eat is actually harmful-- it's called "restrictive feeding practices," and it's considered one of the underlying causes of obesity.

As well as I remember, he has five basic principles:

1. no sugary drinks (including fruit juice) apparently that's a HUGE source of younger kids' excess calories.
2. At least one hour of vigorous play time every day--not organized sports, but just playing.
3. Limit TV and video games to no more than one hour per day.
4. No more than one fast food meal per week.
5. Serve meals family style. Avoid restrictive feeding practices.

Number five means that if you are going to serve dessert, you let the child decide how much to eat. You put healthy choices in front of the child, but then don't comment on how much they eat, and don't tell the fat child not to eat certain things that everyone else is eating. If you eat cake, the child gets to eat it too. If you don't want the child to have cake, don't have it in the house.

I don't think I'm explaining the whole thing perfectly-- but the book is EXCELLENT and very easy to read.

Some health organization in Omaha has commercials on right now called "The Healthy Kids Countdown":
5 fruits and veggies everyday
4 big glasses of water
3 dairy
no more than 2 hours of screen time
1 hour of physical play

It's a catchy little tune and my husband (who works with kids fitness) thinks it's a great thing to teach all kids - not just overweight kids. Also, a good thing to teach grown-ups! Even if work "screen" time doesn't count, we'd all be better off with 2 or less hours in the evening, wouldn't we?

My son is obese. It's terrifying to me, now that I know more about the complications.

It would be fantastic if you could make a one-on-one "date" with your sister and do something active together--like go bowling, or skating, or swimming, or whatever you would both enjoy.

And thanks for the book recommendation ubergirl. I've requested it from the library.