I agree with both sides of the fence here... but more so with Goatstar. When I feed my 3 yr old niece, I don't give her the same amount of food I would eat - I give her what I think is what she will need to be full, and if she gets really close to finishing, and I will ask her to eat one more bite then she's done. Usually, if she doesn't want to eat, it's because it's not crap like mac n' cheese or candy, not because she's full.


If we're out and they give her more food then she could possibly ever need to eat in a week, I won't ask her to eat more then what will fill her. If she's done, then she's done.


I think WHAT you feed a child is faaaaaaaaar more important then how much of it you ask them to eat. How many kids need to be forced to finish a plate of McD's? Most kids need to be pushed to finish a proper portion of good foods, they ARE kids.. and who wouldn't prefer candy and junkfood to veggies at that age? I think it's just another step towards teaching good eating habits.

 

-----signature-----

I'm sorry, but I completely disagree. My sister makes her two girls eat some of everything (even stuff they think is gross) and she makes them clean their plates. The eldest (she's almost 17) is pudgy and bordering on slightly overweight. The youngest (she's almost 12) isn't fat yet, but I can tell she will be if her habits don't change.


OTOH, my daughter is almost 11 and I have never made her eat more than she wanted aside from the "two more bites" kinda thing. She now eats almost anything you can think of and she knows when she is full versus me forcing her to finish everything. She's thin and trim - a far cry from her cousins.

 

-----signature-----

The only issue I have with people saying they know the proper portion for their kid is only this: not every day is the same. They don't necessarily need to eat the same amount every time, and hunger is variable. I trust my 2 skinny minnies to tell me when they've had enough, and that's fine. I thought it was a given that we all give the kids what we think they will/should eat on their plates in the first place.

 

-----signature-----

lmao if at 17 you dont' let yer kids think for themselves when it comes to food, that's just sad.


I'd never force my 17 year old to finish their plate. I'd just be happy as a pig in stuff that they're eating with the family!


And of course yer daughter does just fine, she's 11. That whole forcing yer kid to eat what you give them, at least imo and seems obvious to me, is for kids who don't know better. I can't say when the age is that they will as i'm sure it varies from kid to kid, but i'd imagine it happens before they're 10.

 

-----signature-----

I think you're missing the point, Goat. If you force them to overeat when they are little, it leads to a life-long habit of overeating. If you teach them to eat what they feel they need, they are less likely to overeat as adults.

 

-----signature-----

I think if parents were more conscious of what their kids ate between meals, there would be more hungry kids at the table. It was a pet peeve of mine, when the kids were growing up. I always had fresh fruit and veggies cut up. There were always 3 healthy meals served. I tried and experimented a lot with different foods to settle on the things that were healthy and they liked. I always had juices and sugar free koolaid for them and most of the time, they wanted water. To this day, neither are big soda drinkers. Hardly any. I never "kept" anything from them. We had our share of fast food and crap, because of all the sports. I wanted to make sure I had healthy stuff at home to make up for it. They got their fair share of junk at Halloween, Christmas stockings, easter baskets.


And with virtually every household being a 2 working parent house, do the kids really get the exercise they need? It's one area I cannot stress enough with parents. Find a sport your kids like and enroll them. Or experiment!


It really really takes effort to raise happy, healthy kids.

 

-----signature-----

No, i fully understand that point. I just don't agree with it. Habits can be broken and eventually people have to take responsibility for what they do, like being disgusting fatasses.

What can be done today by parents, is teaching their kids portion control. Also what varece just said, being mindful of what they eat all day long as well.

 

-----signature-----

Well, good for you, then. I'm glad it's so simple and easy to break life-long bad habits instead of actually instilling good habits in the first place.

 

-----signature-----

I find the best way of teaching portion control is to allow the kids to tell you when they've had enough.

 

-----signature-----

touche

 

-----signature-----