Continued from Wally, Child's Age 12 - 8/19/02We have fast-food only occasionally, say once or twice a month. There is social eating but again only say twice a month. She goes to school with a cut lunch which we assume is all she eats there. She does not have a lot of pocket money to spend on food. On this regime slim brother (8) and slim dad are looking great but overweight mum and daughter seem unaffected. Neither child will willingly eat fruit, although consumed by both parents, except one or two varieties and then only reluctantly although lots are made available. They will eat vegetables only under threat. We have sought professional advice but have received the same information, at great cost, available from sources such as this website for free. I am now thinking of banning white sugar, honey, biscuits, replacing red meat with fish and chicken, replacing white bread (which they prefer) with wholemeal and so on, leaving lots of (only) healthy foods in the fridge and the pantry. I figure the starving inmates of a concentration camp would have consumed lots of carrots and celery if they were available! We learn the Brits were healthier during war-ration time than now. If we severely restrict TV, computer games etc. this would encourage more physical activities but the whole family will be affected. A program given by a third party, especially an authoritative source, is easier to impose than one given by the parents ("I know it's hard dear, but this is what the experts say."). Are there any formal programs proven and recommended doing something similar? Has anyone out there tried this spartan approach and what has been the result? |