NIU

The right nutrition for kids

Posted by Stacy on Monday, September 29, 2008 1:34 PM

Having a child who is overweight can be a really difficult thing. I keep trying to get my son to lose weight, and have cut out buying any junk food, but nothing seems to work. I have consulted with his doctor, and he has tried to educate me about nutrition for kids, but it just seems like all the changes I am making are not helping my son. I want to help him, I can see that he is getting depressed and frustrated. We have signed him up for soccer, but even on the soccer field he looks sluggish compared to his peers and he always has his head down, which just makes him look so sad. A friend of mine is always telling me that it is my husbands influence that is causing him the most grief. She has spent a lot of time researching parenting skills and says that it is my husband who is making him fat. Well, I don't think that I really saw it until we had to bring snack for the soccer game, and I sent my husband out for a snack for the game and he brought back these little marshmallow all sugar hamburgers and fries with candy ketchup. I was so embarrassed that I found myself apologizing to the coaches for bringing such garbage to the field and feeding to the kids at 10am immediately following their game. It was then that I realized that I needed to do something. I spoke to my son's doctor and he suggested that perhaps next year I should send him to one of these summer kids camps for kids who are overweight. He said that doing this will teach him good eating and exercise habits, and will get him out of his home environment and away from my husband for a little while. The doctor feels this is probably the best way to help him break the cycle and learn about his own eating habits. I really just want to have a happy, healthy, and well adjusted son. I don't want him to hate himself and us, and I really don't want him to get picked on at school. I guess if he was over weight and happy, it wouldn't bother me, but I can see his pain, and I really just want to help him feel good about himself. Hopefully, I will be able to get him to lose some weight now, and then I will definitely send him to camp over next summer. I hope this is the answer I am looking for.