While I think you did a good job being wiling to hear the doctor's advice that your child was obese, you should really keep in mind if your daughter needs 90 minutes of exercise every day to maintain her weight, when she goes through a period of not exercising she will re-gain weight. My nephew eats vast quantities of fruits and vegetables and is still obese. His mother doesn't understand why.

I think at the same time you promote eating fruits and veggies, if there is a family history of obesity you must at times restrict food.Both my husband and I have obesity on both sides and have struggled with weight. By restricting I mean we don'tl let our kids eat a third slice of pizza unless we just went on a very long hike or did other exercise. We don't encourage seconds. We have always said wait 30 minutes then if you are still hungry you can eat more. If we eat a late lunch and we are all going to bed early, we don't prepare dinner and the kids only eat if they ask for food- and then it is a really light meal. Half the time they don't because we are all still full from big lunch with dessert like pie and Ice cream. If they don't want to eat breakfast, then we never encourage it or force eating. My kids are the only normal weight kids now at 12 and 14 amongst their 10 cousins on both sides of the family

I think the most important thing they have learned is that it is ok to not eat if you aren't hungry. If you have really worked up an appetite, it is ok to eat a lot of food but then it will probably be a while until you are hungry again- so listen to your body don't rely on the clock or others to tell you when to eat.

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference between cooked and processed. Clearly some people are calling cooking processing food. And they think they are oh, so smart and uppity. They just sound stupid.

No. How do you think cheese is made? Yogurt? Bread? Wine and beer? Spaghetti? Guacamole? Salsa? These are all made using processes.

What do YOU mean by “processed?” Because you aren’t using the correct word. Don’t make me go all Ingo Montoya on you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

Depends on who you are. I do a large salad everyday. Romaine and/or spinach, peppers, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, any other veggies that appeal (raw), beans (just soaked and cooked), nuts/seeds (raw, unsalted), fresh fruit (normally berry or citrus). The only “processed” things on my salad are shredded poached chicken or turkey (bought raw), eggs that I boil and peel, and cottage cheese. Breakfast is usually veggies sautéed in oil and egg. Snack is typically plain Greek yogurt with fruit and/or nuts. So, the only processed items I eat on a regular basis are cottage cheese and yogurt. I add salt to many thing I eat, since my diet doesn’t contain enough in the food (per my doctor).

When I cook for others, I cook from scratch. I don’t use anything that contains ingredients I don’t recognize, and I prefer cooking from whole, raw foods.

NP. We don't eat processed foods either. It's a sad, sad reflection on America that some people genuinely think that avoiding Cheerios, granola, pasta and puffs is "disordered eating".

Granola isn’t processed. it’s generally whole oats, fat, sweetener, and dried fruit. Very healthy in moderation.

Hi, those things don’t naturally go together in nature. There is a process in combining the ingredients and packaging it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

There is processed and then there is ultra-processed: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain

NOVA classification system: https://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf

Verdict: puffs are ultra-processed

Whatever. People who rail about “processed foods” are clueless. Nearly every meal involves a process. COOKING is a process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

Depends on who you are. I do a large salad everyday. Romaine and/or spinach, peppers, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, any other veggies that appeal (raw), beans (just soaked and cooked), nuts/seeds (raw, unsalted), fresh fruit (normally berry or citrus). The only “processed” things on my salad are shredded poached chicken or turkey (bought raw), eggs that I boil and peel, and cottage cheese. Breakfast is usually veggies sautéed in oil and egg. Snack is typically plain Greek yogurt with fruit and/or nuts. So, the only processed items I eat on a regular basis are cottage cheese and yogurt. I add salt to many thing I eat, since my diet doesn’t contain enough in the food (per my doctor).

When I cook for others, I cook from scratch. I don’t use anything that contains ingredients I don’t recognize, and I prefer cooking from whole, raw foods.

NP. We don't eat processed foods either. It's a sad, sad reflection on America that some people genuinely think that avoiding Cheerios, granola, pasta and puffs is "disordered eating".

Granola isn’t processed. it’s generally whole oats, fat, sweetener, and dried fruit. Very healthy in moderation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you people really think puffs are nutritious? Because they are actually just convenience food that's not particularly good for anyone. Just a gimmick for parents who want to feed easy snacks on the go.


Seriously, they're about as processed as you can get: puffs are produced through a process called extrusion, which involves mixing grains with water and–through high temperatures and pressure–forcing them through a tiny hole to give them their desired shape. The "vegetable" is powder, which have virutally no nutrients.

Meh. Nobody cares about puffs. They are neutral; just a fun little snack to help your kid learn to eat without choking. The point isn’t that they are nutritious, but that someone shouldn’t brag about avoiding them because they are purportedly junk food. That is a red flag for someone who has an unhealthy relationship with food.

+1,000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

There is processed and then there is ultra-processed: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain

NOVA classification system: https://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf

Verdict: puffs are ultra-processed

I saw an article awhile back about unprocessed vs processed vs ultraprocessed. Which brought to mind the question: how much cooking/baking of unprocessed or minimally processed food before the product from your kitchen counts as ultraprocessed? Granted, heavily processed foods contain a variety of stabilizers, emulsifiers, anti-clumping agents, leaveners (like baking powder??), anti-oxidants. Those are derived from various animal, plant, and mineral sources. Flour itself, simply because it is so finely ground, is a far, far cry from the grain on the stalk.

I think there has been some criticism of the study about ultra-processed foods driving weight gain, read about the study and criticisms of it in, maybe, Scientific American. But with the ultra-processed foods in the study, wouldn't it just be the salt-fat-sugar, along with (maybe) the other things to control texture and such, that drive the weight gain?

In general, if you cook it at home from "scratch" then it's hard to get to ultra processed territory.

There have been a few studies about ultra processed food and some have methodological issues, but the one discussed in the npr article was a controlled experiment, not an observational diary study, so it's better than most.

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference between cooked and processed. Clearly some people are calling cooking processing food. And they think they are oh, so smart and uppity. They just sound stupid.

I see that here on DCUM all the time. They are oh so smart.

Good for you OP.
My nephew was a fat baby, toddler, teen etc. My sister didn't do what you did and now he is around 450-500 lbs at 30. He has never had a girlfriend. I feel so sad for him. Nobody else in the family is fat. My sister would try to cook healthy and would nake meat lasagna. She didnt know how to cook healthy and was always on a diet herself which included starvation.
She was always too scared to tell him he is overweight. If that wasnmy kid i would have told him he needs to lose weight.
At 10 years.old he was 185lbs.

There is a difference between cooked and processed. Clearly some people are calling cooking processing food. And they think they are oh, so smart and uppity. They just sound stupid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

There is processed and then there is ultra-processed: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain

NOVA classification system: https://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf

Verdict: puffs are ultra-processed

I saw an article awhile back about unprocessed vs processed vs ultraprocessed. Which brought to mind the question: how much cooking/baking of unprocessed or minimally processed food before the product from your kitchen counts as ultraprocessed? Granted, heavily processed foods contain a variety of stabilizers, emulsifiers, anti-clumping agents, leaveners (like baking powder??), anti-oxidants. Those are derived from various animal, plant, and mineral sources. Flour itself, simply because it is so finely ground, is a far, far cry from the grain on the stalk.

I think there has been some criticism of the study about ultra-processed foods driving weight gain, read about the study and criticisms of it in, maybe, Scientific American. But with the ultra-processed foods in the study, wouldn't it just be the salt-fat-sugar, along with (maybe) the other things to control texture and such, that drive the weight gain?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

Depends on who you are. I do a large salad everyday. Romaine and/or spinach, peppers, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, any other veggies that appeal (raw), beans (just soaked and cooked), nuts/seeds (raw, unsalted), fresh fruit (normally berry or citrus). The only “processed” things on my salad are shredded poached chicken or turkey (bought raw), eggs that I boil and peel, and cottage cheese. Breakfast is usually veggies sautéed in oil and egg. Snack is typically plain Greek yogurt with fruit and/or nuts. So, the only processed items I eat on a regular basis are cottage cheese and yogurt. I add salt to many thing I eat, since my diet doesn’t contain enough in the food (per my doctor).

When I cook for others, I cook from scratch. I don’t use anything that contains ingredients I don’t recognize, and I prefer cooking from whole, raw foods.

NP. We don't eat processed foods either. It's a sad, sad reflection on America that some people genuinely think that avoiding Cheerios, granola, pasta and puffs is "disordered eating".

Good for you OP. But what does her birthweight have to do with it? My son was 9.5 lbs and he is a super slim guy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with you people? Avoiding giving her child processed foods like puffs doesn't mean she's obsessed or that her eating is disordered. There is so much misinformation out there about diet and nutrition. OP admitted that had bought into some of that misinformation like believing that fruits that are higher in sugar aren't healthy. She has now changed her thinking after following the advice of her doctor. Jeez, give her a break. Good job OP. It's not easy to change habits and beliefs around diet and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with your daughter.

Most foods are processed.

Yogurt is processed. Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Granola is processed. Pasta is processed. Nearly everything we eat is produced using a process.

There is processed and then there is ultra-processed: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain

NOVA classification system: https://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf

Verdict: puffs are ultra-processed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP—So what were the sports and activities that were a match for your kid?

I don’t want to say because they’re a little obscure and she’s getting very involved with them, but we tried a few before finding one that clicked (dance, swimming, gymnastics, ice and roller skating, tennis).

Would love other sports and activity ideas if anyone has them - not just from OP.

I’ll give you some: field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, crew, speed skating, martial arts, kickboxing, Tough Mudders

Thanks! Always looking for more sports/activities for my kid who doesn’t like basic soccer & basketball.

Flag football, cheerleading, ultimate frisbee, cross country skiing (or downhill), snowboarding, sledding (the fraction of time sliding vs climbing back up makes it great!), dog walking (great for earning money too!), playing with kids, weight lifting, relays, horseback riding (posting during trot and leg squeezes!), tumbling, scooter, bike, pogo stick, unicycle, lacrosse, rugby, cricket, baseball, softball, wrestling, swimming, diving, etc.