Anonymous wrote:It’s not normal parenting when it’s incessant. I think the better policy is to usually not have sugary things around and change the environment.
I also think the comments land differently when a person is overweight.
Given that my husband has been making these comments incessantly for quite some time, I think that if they had been effective we would know that by now. Instead, my kid is overweight.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you want you teen to learn the ins and outs of healthy eating employ a dietitian and change what you purchase/stock at home. Encourage some type of physical activity.
I agree with you that what your DH is doing is hurtful and he’s projecting. I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool around it either b/c a) it’s obviously not producing results and yet he keeps at it, and b) it’s horribly hypocritical and I can’t see how your child would have any respect for him.
What OP wants to do, not talk about weight or food choices at all, is harmful but feels nicer to OP.
Actually, if you care about science (and I have no reason to think you do), the thing that "works" the least is pushing people to lose weight.
Works is in quotation marks because for the most part, fat people don't become thin people. But you can teach people about foods and exercise that support valid markers of good health, of which BMI is not one.
The science shows that hurts, fwiw.
Anonymous wrote:This is the OP again, in my original post I said: “Please recommend to me some kind of professional that we can go to for counseling.” Obviously this is a public comment board and people can respond with whatever they want, and maybe I didn’t phrase my initial post well enough. But what I really was hoping for is the name of some sort of counseling center, weight expert, something like that.
Hasn’t anyone on this board disagreed with a spouse about how to handle weight issues in a teenager and gone to see an objective expert? Isn’t there some kind of doctor/dietitian/psychologist who can offer science-based strategies?
Anonymous wrote:This is the OP, oh my God you all are projecting and you have absolutely no idea what is going on in my house. I *do* parent my children and I do talk to my children about healthy eating, I talk about the importance of protein and a varied diet, about “empty calories” and stress eating etc. I encourage exercise and model it through my own behavior. Once I have done all that though, I shut up!
What I don’t do is make constant little sniping judgmental/shaming comments about food as my teen is eating! You are not here to hear my husband but I can guarantee to you that it is not helpful. What it’s doing is creating a sense in my kid that he has to hide his eating and/or that he is bad for what he eats. My spouse is creating a world where there’s good versus bad food. It’s so messed up and I cannot make him stop!
Teenagers famously have huge appetites. My teen is still growing and may grow inches! The fact that he is slightly overweight now does not mean that is how he will be forever, this may be just a stage!
I think it’s interesting that some of you all assumed that my teen was a girl.
Look, everyone can enjoy their feelings of superiority and think that they are doing things correctly if their kids are not overweight, but I have one overweight kid and one normal weight/skinny kid in this house so it’s not as if I am incapable of raising a healthy-weight kid! I’m also not overweight!
Thank you to those who have actually tried to be helpful but what I really, really want is some kind of science-based expert who can talk to me and my husband and get us both on the same page about how to handle this. Off the cuff advice is not helpful although it may make you feel good! It actually reminds me very much of the comments my husband makes which may do some thing for him but are not actually helping the situation.
Does anyone have any names of counseling centers, names of dietitians or therapists, good books to suggest?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you want you teen to learn the ins and outs of healthy eating employ a dietitian and change what you purchase/stock at home. Encourage some type of physical activity.
I agree with you that what your DH is doing is hurtful and he’s projecting. I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool around it either b/c a) it’s obviously not producing results and yet he keeps at it, and b) it’s horribly hypocritical and I can’t see how your child would have any respect for him.
What OP wants to do, not talk about weight or food choices at all, is harmful but feels nicer to OP.
Actually, if you care about science (and I have no reason to think you do), the thing that "works" the least is pushing people to lose weight.
Works is in quotation marks because for the most part, fat people don't become thin people. But you can teach people about foods and exercise that support valid markers of good health, of which BMI is not one.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you want you teen to learn the ins and outs of healthy eating employ a dietitian and change what you purchase/stock at home. Encourage some type of physical activity.
I agree with you that what your DH is doing is hurtful and he’s projecting. I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool around it either b/c a) it’s obviously not producing results and yet he keeps at it, and b) it’s horribly hypocritical and I can’t see how your child would have any respect for him.
What OP wants to do, not talk about weight or food choices at all, is harmful but feels nicer to OP.
Actually, if you care about science (and I have no reason to think you do), the thing that "works" the least is pushing people to lose weight.
Works is in quotation marks because for the most part, fat people don't become thin people. But you can teach people about foods and exercise that support valid markers of good health, of which BMI is not one.
Anonymous wrote:My teen is overweight.
My spouse (who is also overweight) is not dealing with it well; makes frequent remarks about what teen is eating, vilifies sweets, criticizes kid for eating too much sugar, and on and on.
I’ve talked to my spouse about it on numerous occasions and he will. Not. Stop. This has been going on for years and I am losing it.
Please recommend to me some kind of professional that we can go to for counseling so that I can get us on the same page about how to respond to different scenarios, like if my child is eating a large amount of ice cream or something like that.
What I want to do is keep my mouth shut and model healthy eating. I don’t see why that should be so hard but apparently my spouse is not able to do it and I am really becoming very angry and sad and at a loss.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you want you teen to learn the ins and outs of healthy eating employ a dietitian and change what you purchase/stock at home. Encourage some type of physical activity.
I agree with you that what your DH is doing is hurtful and he’s projecting. I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool around it either b/c a) it’s obviously not producing results and yet he keeps at it, and b) it’s horribly hypocritical and I can’t see how your child would have any respect for him.
What OP wants to do, not talk about weight or food choices at all, is harmful but feels nicer to OP.