Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I never thought my child was overweight. I thought she had “baby fat.” I delighted in her fat babyhood and assumed she would lean out, so I was shocked when she received a diagnosis of childhood obesity that was severe enough the MD called for this intervention. I don’t personally suffer from any eating disorders but I had picked up “diet advice” about sugary fruits and how to lose weight just from being a media consuming American. But I tried to ignore/unlearn what I thought I knew and focus on what the medical recommendations were.

How did you not know that your child was obese? Did you not track BMI/percentages at every annual check-up?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cured????

Your poor child.

OP took action to address her child's obesity. That's better than denial. Right?

No not really when she thinks she "cured" her child.

She's obsessed with how much her child weighs, how she looks to others. 90 minutes of exercise every day? Seriously something wrong with her thought process. Of course we all want our children at a healthy weight. Of course we all want our children to be healthy eaters. Who starts out thinking an apple or grape is bad? Sorry not buying her post as being healthy for her child. This will backfire later for sure.

Ugh. -1. Did you not see the quotation marks around the word cured? Or her follow up post saying she chose this word to focus on weight as a medical condition and not character flaw? OP sounds much more emotionally healthy than you do, based on your need to twist her posts into something you can criticize. Good grief.

OP, this is probably the most helpful and common-sense post I’ve ever seen about childhood obesity. I come from a family of eating disorder sufferers and your post doesn’t have that tone to me at all. Hope the backlash you’re getting isn’t stinging too bad. OPs get attacked on virtually any topic on this site for some reason. Best wishes to you and your child. Great work.

Can you share a bit more regarding how long it took, how you explained it to your child, etc? This is such great info about a problem that is really common.

Awesome OP! Some people do have to work harder to maintain a healthy weight (I do). It was very hard to figure this out when I was in high school. Some people are slim very easily, but some have to work at it. You did your DD a great service.

We also do A LOT of physical activity as a family. We walk together, hike together and always did a daily playground. At the end of the day, though, I have to restrict calories for myself and DH and our kids don't. They're just naturally slim.

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).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cured????

Your poor child.

OP took action to address her child's obesity. That's better than denial. Right?

No not really when she thinks she "cured" her child.

She's obsessed with how much her child weighs, how she looks to others. 90 minutes of exercise every day? Seriously something wrong with her thought process. Of course we all want our children at a healthy weight. Of course we all want our children to be healthy eaters. Who starts out thinking an apple or grape is bad? Sorry not buying her post as being healthy for her child. This will backfire later for sure.

Me: MD raised issue and diagnosis of childhood obesity
You: OP is obsessed with child’s weight

Me: I was shocked since I didn’t see a problem
You: OP is obsessed with how child looks to others

Me: MD suggested 90 minutes of active play per day as an evidenced based part of treatment so we signed DD up for sports
You: OP is making her kid exercise 90 minutes a day

And this is why I posted. Actually treating a child’s diagnosed obesity is so taboo people literally think you’re abusing your child by implementing the evidence based treatments under the supervision of a pediatrician.

Congratulation to you and your daughter, OP. Healthy living feels good!

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

I did not read most of the replies but I see you are getting a lot of pushback OP. Ridiculous.

Good for you OP!!!!! You have done your daughter a tremendous favor and exercising and eating fruit/veggies is hardly extreme. This is healthy! Even if your DD has a tendency towards being larger, these habits will serve her well both health-wise and weight-wise. More parents should do the same.

Anonymous wrote:I may try this for myself. Thanks for posting op

Same! Very helpful post, OP. Happy New Year to you and your family!

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.

Perhaps cured was a wrong choice of words by op, but come on. Obesity is a disease, it causes insane health issues, from diabetes, to arteries being blocked, to strokes, to high blood pressure, to shorter life span. Obesity is exactly called a chronic disease in medicine. If doctors call it a disease, why is that one pp going nuts that it is not?
"The Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) applauds the American Medical Association (AMA) for its decision on June 18 to adopt policy that recognizes obesity as a chronic disease state." (from 2013) If we treat it as such, it comes out of shadows and corners and stops being a taboo that affects millions of people and children.
Now, maybe OP had some food issues herself, perhaps she was too skinny of obese herself? We don't know unless she posts. But, she realized that veggies and fruits are healthy and good for us humans. Kudos to her for that. My SIL never took action, and never helped her dd until doctors put her teen in an inpatient treatments for bulimia, anorexia, binge eating and yes, childhood obesity. We all exercised a ton when I was a kid. As in rode our bikes and played outside. I doubt OP put her dd on a thread mill for 90 minutes per day. But, if she does, I agree that OP should not do that. If she signed her up for soccer or gymnastics of goes on walk with her dd, I see it as wonderful time when on walks mom and dd can bond and have a great time and make memories forever.

Curious to hear what sports worked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cured????

Your poor child.

OP took action to address her child's obesity. That's better than denial. Right?

No not really when she thinks she "cured" her child.

She's obsessed with how much her child weighs, how she looks to others. 90 minutes of exercise every day? Seriously something wrong with her thought process. Of course we all want our children at a healthy weight. Of course we all want our children to be healthy eaters. Who starts out thinking an apple or grape is bad? Sorry not buying her post as being healthy for her child. This will backfire later for sure.

Anonymous wrote:Cured????

Your poor child.

My child was diagnosed with a medical condition. She no longer qualifies for that diagnosis. I personally found it helpful to think of it in those terms. Being “fat” is something we criticize as unaesthetic or a moral failing. Those are things I would obviously reject when applied to my child. But I accept that she qualified for the medical diagnosis of having childhood obesity and I also understand that it is treatable. Maybe this framing will help other parents whose children receive this diagnosis. That’s why I offer our story: in hopes that it helps.