Javier Dl

Ara Murray wrote:My tuppenceworth: take it v..e..r..y slowly. Do not get into a fight about food.

Such a very important point, I agree :)

Ara Murray wrote:
I would introduce new "healthier" foods as a "treat" to begin with.

I like the idea of turning around the negative connotation into a positive one, nice :)

Ara Murray wrote:
It would help enormously if you could get your partner on board.

Mmm, that's another project I'm working on ;)

Ara Murray wrote:
A British doctor/TV presenter (Chris Van Tulleken) made a program called "What are we Feeding our Kids?" about the effect of eating ultra processed foods (long lists of ingredients, many of which your granny wouldn't recognize). He followed an 80% highly processed food diet for a month and was shocked at the effect on his body and brain. Luckily, the effects were reversible once he returned to his usual healthier diet.

This is great! I am already looking at this, and related videos and reading sources that I can use as a reference for my project. Thank you for sharing :)

Ara Murray wrote:
I always give a wry smile at the advice to "hide" vegetables in pasta sauce. That would never have worked with my son - he only ate his pasta plain.
Good luck.

I know what you mean, unfortunately my daughter has her spaghetti plain too (rolling eyes). It's a good idea though. I'll try to implemented somehow ;)

Thank you Ara :)

Olga Booker wrote:So much good advice here, I hope you don't feel too overwhelmed and that you took some of it on board and feel supported in your endeavor!!

I am so impressed at the very generous support I have found here, beautiful people! :)

Olga Booker wrote:
If I could put my two cents worth, I think that if it were my child, I would start by using strong flavours in the new fresh food that I'd cook for her, like in salad dressing, sauces etc, to replace all the overwhelming chemical flavours, sugars, fats and MSG that she is used to in her current diet.  Otherwise everything is going to seem so blend to her palate, that she will not appreciate your effort and fight back.  Soya sauce, spices, herbs, cheese, roasted seeds come to mind.  Start with being heavy on the salt, that is what she is used to, and then overtime, decrease the amount gently until her taste buds get adjusted.

Also, all those chemicals are addictive, so it maybe be strange to you, but right now, she's a junkie of sorts, and I would wean her off gently.  Too fast, you may create digestive problems, headaches, cravings and possibly frustration and anger.  There are some good recipes here, just adapt them to your family's taste.

This is a very good thing to notice! I am so glad you pointed it out so clearly :)

Olga Booker wrote:
I wish you good luck and courage. You are in the right place to find a virtual shoulder to lean on if you need it.  

Thank you so much for your beautiful words Olga :)

Trace Oswald wrote:I don't mean this to sound harsh, but there is almost no food on the list.  

No, I don't think that was harsh, that was great! This is what I needed to confirm, so I was expecting it. Thank you :)

Trace Oswald wrote:
When I was raising my son, he ate meat, fruits, and vegetables almost exclusively, with only the very occasional desert item. Treats for him were things like macaroni and cheese, which he absolutely loved, so we had that once every couple weeks. He had some other things like that that were his favorites, so we had them once in awhile and he always got to pick what he wanted for his dinner on birthdays and the like. He ate that, because that's what his mother and I ate. He grew up healthy and strong, and I don't think he ever felt "deprived". We raised him to eat that way, so that was what he knew.

It's too bad that things like this - correctly feeding your children - are generally taken for granted. Although I knew many things already - there were many other things that I am only learning now in my mid 50s. I wish I had had this info prior to my daughter being born.

Trace Oswald wrote:
It will be harder for you I think, simply because eating bad food is already a habit, so I would implement changes slowly.

Unfortunately this is correct :(

Trace Oswald wrote:
I would very strongly limit computer  time.

Right, I am also working on that ;)

Trace Oswald wrote:
As I said, I hope none of this sounds harsh.  

Quite the contrary, and I appreciate every word :)

Trace Oswald wrote:
I applaud you for thinking about this, trying to come up with ideas, and taking time to post the question here.  Your daughter is lucky to have an involved parent that cares about her diet and exercise.  Best of luck to you both.

Thank you so much for those kind words Trace, they make the road a bit less daunting  :)

Stacy Witscher wrote:Another thing that worked for my kids was raw veggies. I still most days cut up raw veggies, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, jicama, sugar snap peas etc. depending on season and put them out for a mid afternoon snack. I do include dip whether it be dill dip or ranch or whatever, sometimes I include some potato chips. When they were young this was their after school snack, now it's just a down time snack. I don't think that dip negates the positive value of vegetables.

Thank you for sharing Stacy :)

Jay Angler wrote:I'm going to stick my foot waaayyy... into the swamp here.

Thank you kindly for taking the time to step into the swamp and share such beautiful memories and valuable information! That was great!

I am just missing the coffee

Olga Booker wrote:One question comes to mind though, why so much processed food?  Is it that you can't cook, won't cook or not have time or facilities?

Unfortunately my wife kind of grew up the same way. But at least my wife has a more varied diet, and definitely eats more fruits and veggies. Although my wife admits that our daughter should eat better, she still does not think that her present diet is a problem. I am the only one that cooks from scratch, and that eats as many veggies. But my daughter won't look at my diet as an example but as an odd diet.

Tereza Okava wrote:Hello there,
food and young people is a wild combination. In my experience parenting and as a teacher, I've found you get better results by offering unexpected freebies than by pushing for them to change what they're already doing.

I could not agree more. However, I have tried that already, we even went to a few cooking workshops at her school, I try to be an example myself. But about 5 years have gone by already and here we are, the same place but with more pressure on me. I just hope there'll be time to change the path in time before she develops something serious.

Tereza Okava wrote:
I'd say first of all, good on her for having some sort of physical activity for part of the year. Winter can be really limiting and you can't expect an 11-year-old to be out running laps on the track in the snow. Maybe explore some sort of activity you can do together in the winter that you both enjoy? Because parent/kid time is always good.

Well, now that you mention it... there's an indoors swimming pool here in the building! And a small gym room. I'll have to organize ourselves to go.

Tereza Okava wrote:
You could also make an effort to provide new things for her to try, don't push her to try, but just have them around. She may surprise you.
Good luck!

Right, I've got to keep trying..

Thank you Tereza

Anne Miller wrote:If she were my daughter I would want her to be eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.
I would not want my daughter eating that amount of processed food.

I am so glad you said this

Anne Miller wrote:
Here are a couple of links that will help plan a meal plan for her:

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/childrens-hospital/nutrition/feeding-your-child-10to12.aspx

https://www.livestrong.com/article/428693-a-healthy-diet-for-11-year-olds/

Thanks a bunch for these links

Anne Miller wrote:
After looking these over please ask questions that will help us advise you.

You bet I will!

Hi there!
I am not sure this is the most suitable forum...

I am concerned about my 11 year old daughter's diet.
I already know that her diet should be much better. I guess I just want to confirm it and have a better idea of how bad it is.
I do not recall her weight just now, but it is normal for her height and age.
I am mostly concerned about developing things like Diabetes.

Breakfast
Each of the following 3 numbers represent the possible breakfast for any given day.
1. 1 brown bread toast or half a croissant with strawberry jam.
Half a cup of 2% milk.
2. Half a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios with 2% milk.
3. 2 Pancakes with maple syrup, and half a cup of 2% milk. I make the 5 or 6 pancakes with 5 eggs.

Lunch & Diner
1. Chicken nuggets with french fries.
2. Fish sticks with french fries.
3. Beef or Seafood Lasagna.
4. MacDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese and ketchup only, and french fries.
5. A&W's Beyond burger with cheese and ketchup only, and french fries. She avoids the fries with skin.
6. Subway's meatball sandwich with only lettuce and cucumbers.

Desserts
1. 3 Oreo cookies.
2. 2 MacDonald's chocolate chip cookies.
3. 1 Subway chocolate chip cookie.
4. 1.5 scoop of ice-cream
5. 1 Ice-cream sandwich made from Oat milk.

Snacks before bed
1. Half a cup of 2% milk. Half a banana. A cheese stick. A bowl of Ruffles potato chips. A bowl of popcorn with Himalayan salt, sometimes with butter.

Additionally she eats a multivitamin gummy everyday.

As for physical activities, during the Winter she spends most of her time playing with her computer. During the Summer is much better of course. She typically joins a Summer Camp Monday through Friday, and I take her to the park to play Ping Pong, or just walk over the weekends.

So based on these information, how likely is she to develop diseases like Diabetes?

Any tips/suggestions/advise will be greatly appreciated.