does your child eat all the time?

[Optionals United]

OMG i eat so much! ill eat breakfast and then little snacks each period at school. then a snack before i gym after i get home from school. something like a powerbar and gym and then dinner. i am eating all the time. i think it is ok as long as you are making healthy choices like string cheese, fruit, different types of bars etc. no chips cookies fruit snacks (depends on the kind)ect. i think lots of gymnasts tend to eat a lot because they are working out so much.also they might seem hungrey because you might eat lunch at 12:30 or 1 and then not have dinner until 9 so you just have a bunch of snacks.
mayestra something you might consider is sending her to practice with x amount of water and tell her she should be aiming to drink x amount of water throughout her practice.

 

[gymnastbeth]

OMG i eat so much! ill eat breakfast and then little snacks each period at school.

LOL you sound like me. I secretly eat snacks in all of my classes, I just get SO hungry.

 

[Dezi]

My dd is just the opposite. She does not like to eat?! Who doesn't like to eat!! I worry she does not get enough calories for her activity. Before anyone worries she is healthy and does not have an eating disorder she is strictly one of those people who eat to live not live to eat

 

[Optionals United]

gymnastbeth- bwhahhaha ya i think the people that sit next to me get annoyed with it sometimes.

 

[beamqueen313]

I am also a gymnast. As I'm 14 and train 20 hrs a week, I eat alot. I don't know about younger girls, but as you get my age it is common. All of my teammates also eat constantly. I would check with her doctor, but I'm sure she'll be fine since she is probably eating for energy to train .

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Daughter eats a lot before practice and after except in the summer when she has practice early I can not get her to eat then she practices for 41/2 hours. I worry if she decides to quit gym that she will become overweight! The other day she said I can not stop eating cookie then she proceeded to show me a worksheet of conditioning exercises she came up with so she does not get fat. Scary that a 11yo is so concerned with her weight I never bring it up but just kind of think it in my mind.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

My DD has spurts where she wants to eat eat eat and then she has times where I have to Make her eat. Luckily she usually makes good choices. She Loves veggies and fruit. As long as she is eating the right things I would not worry to much about the amount she eats! She def burns enough in gymnastics!

 

[CreateMagic]

Daughter eats a lot before practice and after except in the summer when she has practice early I can not get her to eat then she practices for 41/2 hours. I worry if she decides to quit gym that she will become overweight! The other day she said I can not stop eating cookie then she proceeded to show me a worksheet of conditioning exercises she came up with so she does not get fat. Scary that a 11yo is so concerned with her weight I never bring it up but just kind of think it in my mind.

Keep an eye on this. ED's can start presenting this way---over-exercising to compensate for "bad" food. And then its for eating "too many calories" no matter what the food. Not saying that is what is happening with your dd, but just be aware.

 

[LMV]

I’m a little afraid to respond to this because I really don’t want to offend anyone and I am well aware that I may be missing the big picture because I’m just getting a snapshot. Disclaimers offered, it would concern me if one of our kids was using exercise with the express intent of burning calories or compensating for perceived overeating. Exercise purging can, and unfortunately often does, both intersect and feed into other restrictive eating patterns. In some kids this can trigger an eating disorder, in other kids it may just be the first noted expression of the eating disorder, and for everyone else it probably isn’t the most healthy approach. I would also be concerned if they were stating they were concerned they felt unable to stop eating. This may be something to discuss further with your daughter’s pediatrician.

I do realize that society at large is sending our kids some rather mixed, and other frankly disturbing messages on this topic. However, as parents, I think our best approach is guiding our children towards learning how to interpret and listen to their own hunger and satiety signals. [We should probably also understand that some kids have a lot of difficulty with this and may need further help.] Guidance towards adequacy, balance, and variety in diet is usually a good idea as well. In general starting to label foods as “good” or “bad” can become a slippery slope and has never been something I’ve been comfortable with. Of course I made that comment at work a few days ago and one of my colleagues called me on that since he pointed out he is quite sure we don’t have soda in our fridge, or twinkies in our cupboards. We don’t so he has a point and I guess I’m not crazy about foods that seem highly artificially synthetic and or highly processed.