Long title, sorry...
This is something I've been pondering about for awhile. Trying to get to the root of my own food issues (comfort eating, boredom eating, binges), and there have also been a few threads I've been following about concerned parents wondering how to approach their kids with weight issues.
I was never really a "fat" kid, but I was always a big kid. I was 5'5 and 150lbs in 5th grade, I felt like an awkward giant. I was home alone and preparing my meals and snacks since I was 8 (single alcoholic mom...she was working or out drinking). I learned early on that food made me feel good and that mac n' cheese was yummy and easy to make. My mother, for all her shortcomings as a parent, never once made me feel bad about my weight intentionally. Sometimes she'd say I was a "big girl" or "God put your soul in a big beautiful package" and those euphemisms were pretty hurtful, even though they weren't meant to be. And she'd halfway encourage me to eat healthy foods and not eat so much junk. But no healthy foods were provided for me, and I had already learned that eating junk made me feel happy. My father also made the occasional "big girl" comments, but he'd spoil me with hot fudge sundaes and other goodies when I was with him for weekends.
I was a smart kid and I knew what healthy foods were, but I never had them available to me and never had somebody to guide me to make healthy choices or form healthy habits.
But when I think about it, I truly can't imagine what exact steps they could have taken that would have helped me develop a healthy self esteem and normal eating patterns even if I had ideal parents. I can't think of a way, no matter how sensitive, I would have wanted them to approach my weight without making me feel humiliated and incredibly resentful. I can't imagine how they would have set up a diet plan for me that wouldn't have made me develop some complex about dieting (but I suppose I kind of developed one anyways, lol).
I've been thinking about this, as I said, to help me get to the root of my own food issues. But also, I absolutely want to be a parent some day, and I desperately want my kids to have a healthy relationship with food. I know that I have an abnormal relationship with weight/food, and I don't want that to rub off on them. So I've been pondering waaaay down yonder into the future about how I'll deal with weight/self esteem/food with my future mini-Megans.
So I'd love to hear your thoughts For those of you who were overweight as children, what did your parents do about your weight issues? What helped you? What was the complete opposite of productive and helpful? What do you wish they would have done? For parents of overweight kids, what has your strategy been?