I was reading another thread over in the 100lb club about where it all started and it really got me thinking about the things we do as parents that can affect how our children see themselves and I wanted to ask you guys for some advice. I have six children, ages 9, 7, 6, 4, 2 and 9 months. One of them (the 7 year old) is slightly overweight, and one of them (the 4 year old) is underweight. The kids will often ask for seconds or thirds after meals, and I'll often tell my 7 year old "no" when she asks for seconds and there are times when I will feed my four year old extra meals or snacks in between that the other children don't get (because they don't need them.) I've tried very hard not to make this a personal thing for any of them, they all understand what metabolism is and I've explained to them that the 4yo has a higher metabolism than the rest, and the 7yo has a lower metabolism and that's why they need to eat more and less, respectively. We're also VERY diligent about NEVER making a child eat everything on their plate, and teaching them to stop eating when they're full - which they do! I've had kids stop eating cake before, because their tummies were full (that's unreal to me!)
Anyway, I just wanted to get some opinions about how I'm handling this - or if I should be doing anything differently. The children all play outside (we don't watch television), they're all active, they all eat really well (we rarely give desserts or high sugary foods), I just have one child who burns everything up super fast and another one who burns everything much, much more slowly.
What do you guys think?
Thanks!
Rina
Start weight: 250
Goal 1: 199lbs (current: 212)
Goal 2: 180
Goal 3: 150
Goal 4: 130