I feel so sorry for my lovely granddaughter

This thread is from june and the op hasnt been back, why bring it back to life if the op is no longer around?

Slimming World do loads of family friendly recipes in their magazines, books and online. I no longer tell my son whether a recipe is SW. The main thing is plenty of vegetables and some fruit each day.
The boarding school menu a poster mentioned earlier sounds a bit carb heavy but maybe the pieces of cake are small!

Ask for a referral to a paediatric dietician. This is not an unusual problem with pre-term children, and they can give sensible, up-to-dat advice.

I think that it is necessary to care of child eating habits from younger age because later on when child grows up can remain unhealthy and week as compared to others, that can be dangerous so you should better take care of your little one from now onwards.

thingmajig

I agree with smaller plates....maybe for most of us adults too. Lol
Ive "gone on" M&S ready made chunky salads and small boxs of melon chunks and grapes. My appetite has gone for "normal" dinners due to many meds that I take. But that salad meal with a small portion of M&S potato salad and small portion from a small pork pie is lovely.
I could eat it every day.

I wasn't sure if this organisation still existed, so looked it up and it does. There may be one near you. When my boys were born, I already belonged to a health club and they all learnt to swim there as babies and when a bit older they went to FitKids every Saturday morning. They did an hour of swimming, followed by an hour outside if the weather was good, in the hall if it wasn't. They did all sorts of activities and loved it there.

www.fitkid.co.uk/

I had forgotten about it until I was chatting with my husband about your dilemma earlier. He also said that sometimes when you are a parent, you're too close to a situation to see it clearly. So could be your daughter is so focused on the pleasure of seeing her daughter eating well, that she hasn't noticed the pendulum has gone a little bit in the other direction. Good luck.

We were discovered over a (very rare) visit to MacDonalds with GD, when she pointed it out to her mother and then dropped us in the soup. Took ages to live that one down with DD , since we dislike MacDonalds, but it was the only place for chips one day with a hungry, grumpy child.

Can you bike and swim with your GD sometimes? That is such fun, and as a not very fit grandma they're the two things I can still do more easily. Any fairly flat cycle trails nearby you can get to?

A swingball is also a good attraction in the garden, no hint of losing weight, just for fun, specially since their parents often had one when they were young.

Both of my children became overweight despite my ensuring they ate healthy food in reasonable portions. They binged outside of the house where I had no control. Neither of them liked exercise either, again, despite the fact that they were at sporty schools which gave them P.E. and exercise sessions every day.

Their father, who has only just, after 59 years, started putting on a little too much weight, came from a very large family on his mother's side. She, her brother and both parents were stones overweight and when the brother died prematurely he had bowel cancer, diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, all though overindulgence.

I wonder whether the offspings' embonpoint is a result of DNA since I am relatively skinny and also tried to fight my children's weight gain.

Still, weight gain is not totally irreversible though it is difficult. My DD lost all her puppy fat when she was in the sixth form though she is yo-yoing again now. The DS went up to about 16 stone but has lost a couple of stone through an interest in cooking 'proper' food from scratch.

I would try to do something about the GD's weight now while you have the influence and it's not too late.

Our DGD (born at 32 weeks but seriously underweight/growth restricted)is a wee skelf too, and hardly eats a thing.
DD was horrified to come home from her weekend away to find a chicken nugget and sauce from McD's lurking on the carpet. SIL was equally horrified that he'd been found out!

Hopefully your wee GD will enjoy your healthy eating summer and enjoy activities again.

My GC love the trampoline. That'll burn the far off.

And less TV and tablets.

Agree with you there Bobby cut out the sugary treats and drink, except occasionally, likewise the McDonalds and get her interested in moving more - girls enjoy dancing, so get out the disco ball and dust off your CD collection.

Agree entirely. I hate to see overweight children. Stuffing sweets and crisps and sedentary in front of the tv. In Bobby's case it seems it's not like that at all, as it appears Mum was so worried about her poor eating in her first years, that she's over compensated and feels relieved she's now eating. So may have turned into a little bit of a food obsession. But unlike irresponsible families, Bobby's on the case and will gently turn things around I think but without making her daughter or granddaughter feel bad about themselves. She is organising activities for her already and considering how to encourage her to eat healthily. I know puppy fat exists though as I had it and so did my eldest son. Around age 10, so a year or so before my periods, I suddenly gained a lot of weight. I lost it so fast around age 11, that I had stretch marks across my back and was questioned by a teacher had I been whipped! My son is 6ft tall and he sprang up so fast around a similar age (he spent his first couple of years at secondary school looking like Michael Jackson! with his trouser legs flapping around his ankles!) He also has stretch marks across his lower back, same as mine, due to the sudden reduction in weight and going upwards. Didn't happen with my other two though, so it's not the same for all children it seems. And you are right, that a lot of parents will use puppy fat as an excuse when they're actually over feeding their kids.

I stand corrected but I find people refer to overweight children as it is only puppy fat when there is a weight problem

I suggest you google 'puppy fat'. The definition is 'fat on the body of a child which disappears around adolescence.

and persuade her to cut out the McDonalds!

You have to be careful with children's food as they need at least semi skimmed milk and good fats for growth. Not sure if low fat is the way to go. Maybe smaller portions and plenty of exercise.

I did go to Weightwatchers for a couple of years, but I am not sure about some of the recipes being suitable for a 7 year old, as I think they need more fat in the diet than they would recommend, although that may all have changed over the last couple of years. They also try to sell their own products which may not be suitable for a child imo.
However, I agree, there will be some very good recipes for nutritious meals in the magazines, it's just a case of being aware of the nutritional needs (as opposed to the calorific value of a meal) of a 7 year old which may be different from those of an adult trying to lose weight.

Most lower calorie recipes, and this is what most magazine recipes are, are usually far better nutritionally balanced than more traditional recipes. Like everything you nee to assess each recipe on its merits.

I have never belonged to the Slimming World club or any other weight loss group but I buy the magazine for the recipes because they are very good and nutritionally balanced.

I'm not sure about low calorie recipes - I would look up the number of calories a child that age needs and devise some healthy recipes accordingly; hopefully the extra plumpness will disappear with more exercise and she may suddenly shoot up too!

They may put on weight then have a growth spurt so appear to slim down but if they carry on eating in the same manor after the growth spurt they will become over weight again especially when they reach their full height.

Bobby you seem to be doing well and I can understand your daughters delight to see her daughter enjoying her food. My grandson eats a limited range of foods but very few sweets etc.but when he is hungry he eats and won't eat when he is not. When we looked at his diet it covers his needs but we do insist on a small amount of veg and fruit every day.

Finally there is no such thing as puppy fat!

Your idea about bycling lessons and swimming sounds great. If you can, build in active time when you see her. An 'I spy' game on a walk might be an idea. Ours go to an indoor play area, when the weather is not good, it's exhausting, full on running around and climbing.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I will look at some low calorie recipes and perhaps do two and pass other to daughter for meal to freeze for another time. We'll get there.

Ooh, I love Fish pie. I make mine with semi skimmed milk and Stork, instead of butter and full fat. I also, unless a special occasion, bulk it out with veg, like broccoli/leeks. And you can put a sprinkle of cheese on the top instead of half a ton of cheddar; or grate a lower fat one like Edam. I seem to have turned into Fanny Craddock, so I'll go! but I hope you've had some support today re the problem and can find a 'not too extreme' solution to this. With such a caring Nana, she'll be just fine I'm sure.