is it wrong to put a child on a diet

I think first bring him to the dr. see how much weight he needs to loose. See if there is a nutrisionist you can talk to. Snacks, I would give him fruit to snack on or fruit chews or even ice pops that are low in calories. I would put him on a 1400 calorie a day diet.....this way he will loose, but not too much too soon. This is what my sister is on. I just put myself on a diet. I have fruit and yogurt for snacks. I have salad for lunch and then I will have a meal for dinner. I am hoping this works. Good Luck with your son, I agree he has to loose, just be careful and check with the doctor first. ~Icy~

I do not find it at all wrong to put a child on a diet. I actually think that if it is beneficial to the child then do it. As long as you do not put them on a very low calorie and disgusting diet which it sounds as if you are not than there are no problems. I know plenty of parents that have been thanked in later years for making their child diet early on. I personally think that it is good for the child in the long run Techfreak

I would have no problem putting my child on a diet if it would help them and they needed it. I know it is hard to restrict a child from eating some things though because they love to snack alot. I would just limit the amount of snacks and junk food each day.

Let me tell you what I think about this. First off, your cousin is in denial because if she has an 11yr that is pushing 200 pounds she is killing that child! She shoud be the one putting her daughter on some sort of healthy eating program. I think it is the parents responsibility to make sure they child is healthy. Being overweight is not healthy at all. I don't see anything wrong with limiting what your son eats. I do think it is great that he wants to snack on apples~ I probably would let him eat all he wants of fruits and veggies, but would watch the cereal and snacks. My daughter is 7 and weights almost 80 pounds. I feel that this is way too much! I have struggled with staying thin my whole life and don't want my daughter to have this struggle. I have just recently started to monitor what my daughter eats also. She would come home from school and want a can of spighetti and meatballs and then 30 minutes later eat a full dinner. I think your cousin is wrong on this matter and you are right.

I think its a good idea. Its not like you're doing this for a punishment, its for his health. And she needs to do something with her daughter. 200 lbs at 11 is alot.

Well, I'm kind of activity-oriented, so I'll give you an idea that your children can be involved in! First, make a list (one night after kids' bedtime) of approved foods and snacks and amounts of each, especially snacks. Tell the kids that there is going to be a new schedule coming up soon and then work on phasing out the bad stuff. Then make a well-thought out schedule of when it's ok to eat. For example - 8am - breakfast with fruit and milk (with water) 10a - snack and juice (with water) 12p - lunch/veggie/milk (with water) 3pm - snack (with water) 6pm - dinner/milk or juice (with water) 7pm - fruit (with water) Now, here's where it gets fun: Sit down with the kids one afternoon and present them with your list. Let them decide the next day's eats from the list you give them, just like them picking out their clothes for the next day - easy. It looks to them like they get to eat a whole bunch of times during the day, but it also will teach them to restrain themselves by having a time restriction. They will know exactly what they'll be getting, so there won't be any disappointments when you have to say "No." If you can incorporate using their help in the kitchen, even just setting the table or mixing the corn, they might even start to develop a healthy relationship with food, especially since you say they get good food! They may learn to appreciate how food is prepared and how it should taste, and most importantly - how it's so much better than snacks! Teach them through example and inclusion! I also think it's handy to have sugar free peppermints around - it kind of kills the appetite, and they take a good 20 minutes to dissolve - a good chunk of 'busy-time' :-D It's going to be important that the "in-between" time is filled - so maybe you could plan some fun activities when it's not time to eat! If the kids are bored, they're gonna wanna eat, much like we adults do. Hope you have fun if you decide to try this!

Not at all. I can tell you this much my Mom sure regrets not putting my little brother in a diet or you know cutting him back. Now my Mom is struggling to make him lose weight. As a matter of fact reading this reminded me of him when he was little. It's alomst uncanny. Getting a little off the subject but no it is not wrong to put your child on a diet. It is for his best interest right? You're not doing wrong if anything you're improving. Don't let people tell you it's bad. It's bad if you ignore the problem. Look bottom line it is for his best interest and you are his mother so you know best. I suggest you do it. Some tips would be just to give him a lot of water to drink, eat fruits and vegetables instead of sweets, cut back on soda for sure! You know the basics. But cutting bvack on soda is a most. You bet I would put my child on a diet.

An important reason why you need to watch your son's weight is the potential to contract diabetes. As I understand it, once a person becomes diabetic, it's a lifelong and life threatening disease. Perhaps you can make your son understand that it's not just a matter of clothes or size or that one day he may have a lot of trouble attracting girls, but that there can come a point that he might have to inject himself with insulin several times a day with the potential of losing his vision or losing a limb. Obviously your son feels hungry a lot. Instead of cutting back, you may need to serve him six smaller meals a day to help cover his cravings. You might need to add a lot of bulk to his diet to fill him up, like Grape Nuts Cereal with soy milk and bananas in the the morning, adding lots of chopped celery to a tuna salad sandwich made with whole grain bread for lunch, a big bowl of salad waiting for him when he gets home from school, soup as the opening course of dinner... And there is the activity component. If he gets lots of exercise, eating will be less of an issue. You may need to get the whole family involved in long walks, bike riding and one of the best, swimming laps. He's still young enough for you to correct the problem. I wish you lots of luck!

My son is 9, and was very chunky, and he was eating good stuff also (not much junk food), so I just started monitoring his portion sizes. Within a couple of months, he was starting to slim down. So, yes.....monitoring your child's food intake and correcting it before it gets totally out of control is a good thing.

My daughte was very chunky when she was little,I just fed her what I thought would be enough to fill her up to make til snack time or maybe lunch time,after awhile she caught on that she wasn;t getting more than I gave her.And no matter how healthy a food is you eat alot of anything and you will gain weight.My daughter is in school she gets a a small bowl of cereal before school and eats lunch at school and gets 1 snack when she comes home and then dinner.I suggest you slowly decrease the amount of food he is getting.

i think it's a good idea.. but i suggest that it be a healthy diet and not just weight loss diet.. let him eat - he'll need that to go.. but lessen the junk food, the sugars, the unhealthy stuff.. educate him to make wise choices in food.. then after this slight lifestyle change, don't fret anymore about the food.. just try to encourage him to be more physically active instead.. and things will balance out..

You are not wrong to monitor his food intake at all. You want your child to be healthy and if food is becoming an issue you have every right to modify his diet. I think it is great that he snacks on some healthy stuff - it is just the other stuff that could be cut out a little more. I was a stocky child growing up and I was labeled as fat by my peers. I was a very active little girl - I played every sport I could join and did very well at all of them. However my parents didn't feed me the best diet and that counteracted all of the physical activity I was doing. I wish my parents would have monitored my food a little more. I did grow into my weight and turned out just fine but it would have been nice to avoid the years of being teased. Your cousin is completely wrong. I would suggest not listening to any advice she gives you when it comes to children and eating habits - 200 lbs at the age of 11 is insane. If anything you should suggest to her that she gets some help for her daughter before major medical problems set in. 200 lbs is usually not healthy for any woman let alone a child.

Put a zipper to his mouth; before he get to be a ton. Then it will be to late; must teach him good habits.

I understand this is a very tough decision. I am going to school to be an R.D. and have a lot of personal experience with this. I think there is absolutley nothing wrong with making sure your son eats healtheir. However, i wouldn't use the word "diet" with him since he is only seven years My mother has had me on various diets from a young age but I was never overweight. That's what makes your situation different. In no way is it wrong for you to look out for your sons health if he is at risk. Obesity is a growing epidemic and it's growing twice as bad with children. Parents are expected to outlive their children, children are developing type II diabetes by the age of only 10 which was only thought to be adult onset before, and they are even becoming blind by the age of 25 just due to obesity. If you're son is overweight you want to stop it before it gets worse. The best thing to do is teach him portions. You don't want to forbid him from eating foods at the age of 7 but do promote healthier foods. Kids learn from example so if you eat healthy too, he'll probably want to do the same. Also, you can make exercise fun for him. Play sports with him, take him on walk, etc even if it's just 20 minutes out of your day. It's better than nothing.

no it sounds like a good idea but talk to his doctor about it first, he may still be of normal weight for his size. And you don't want him to be hungry all the time.

I actually am divided in this. i think its better to take the doctor's advice before putting a child into diet. may be you can limit the consumption of fat for him. But just strictly putting him on diet without the doctor's advice would be wrong.

I think that if you as a parent feel that your child needs to be on a diet, that is the best reason to put him on one. Parents are usually the last to admit/realize that their children need to diet. I have even heard parents being accused of abuse because they keep feeding and feeding the child and do nothing to help them.

I commend you for wanting to DO SOMETHING for your son before it gets completely out of control. I don't think it is wrong AT ALL to feed him healthy foods and to limit unhealthy ones. How wonderful that he eats fruit and veggies- I say let him eat all he wants of that sort of stuff...buy all you can and try new ones. The nutrients and fiber in them will fill him up with FAR fewer calories and fat than processed foods, enriched breads or pasta, or animal products. Will he eat salad? Use romaine, green leaf lettuce, red leaf, spinach, etc...he can eat all he wants of those thing especially- just watch the amount of dressing- it adds fat and calories faster than you think! Keep snack food out of the house (and sugar cereal, too) and let him have it only once in a while. ALSO- I would encourage you to not tell your child this is due to his WEIGHT...it is due to the fact that you are concerned about his HEALTH. Period. His weight is secondary- and with a healthy diet, it will come down. But if you make it all about his weight, you do risk, as at least one poster mentioned, scarring him for life and creating eating issues that will plague him for years. Make it a family thing- then EVERYONE is eating healthier...kwim? I apologize if I sound like a snobby know-it-all in my wording of this response...I do not intend it to be that way at all, I am still in the learning process myself, but this is one topic I am very passionate about and I get excited when sharing what I have learned so far.

I really think that s a good idea.My daughter is a little over weight also and I have also cut back on the things she eats.I was buying clothes every 2 months for her.She has a bigger build also.She has lost some pounds.I have cut back on how many snacks she has during the day.Maybe try that and see what happens.Obesity is the most common among children.Her daughter is only 11 and almost 200 lbs maybe you should try to get your cousin to try that with her child.Many children get picked on at school and at home by other children about their weight.That makes a child have low self esteem and many other issues.So I am pleased that you are willing to try to help your son before its to late.Don't mind what your cousin says you are doing what you feel is best for your son.

As long as he understands your reasoning to do so. I suggest going to a doctor and getting there opinion. Lots of diets don't work so don't expect miraculous results.. you may have to try a few things. When i was 15 i weighed 255 pounds.. Now being 21 years old Im only 175. Im still about 35 pounds over weight for my height but Im alot smaller then i ever remember being. If only my parents would have told me to loose weight or even helped I would have never gotten so big. Now a days theres is lots of pressure to be thin due to the media. I think it would be a good idea.. but dieting only works along with exercise. It's all about team work, support and the right choices. Stay healthy and I hope everything works out well for you!