Having a Hard Time Getting My 11Yr Old to Eat

I had an eating disorder at a young age like that. I was convinced I was fat (I was really very thin) I even had kids walk up to me at school and ask if I was anorexic! I didn't eat breakfast, ate 1 small roll for lunch, at dinner with the family but only and small amount and that was it! All day everyday. So yes it can happen young. If she continues to eat like this you should first just take her to a dietitian, they can educate her on eating right for her body. Then if they also think there is a deeper issue then they can recommend a Therapist.

Not typical.
My daughter just turned 11, and she weighs somewhere around 85 lbs (I think... she always likes to get on the scales at Publix and announce to me how much she weighs). She is also somewhere around 56 inches tall, I believe. And she's definitely NOT overweight.

She does martial arts and is pretty solid, but wears a large or size 10-12 in most of her clothes. She hasn't really started puberty yet, so no "roundness" yet either.

I would talk to your doctor. Has your daughter given you any reason for not wanting to eat? Does she have favorite foods that you could prepare, and then see what her reaction is? I would be very concerned if suddenly (you said "just recently") my daughter stopped eating except for breakfast, or if I had to "fight" to get her to eat lunch or dinner, let alone BOTH. That is def. NOT normal.

Have her doctor check her out and run some blood tests (CBC) to rule out any medical problems. Have her keep hydrated whether she eats or not, enlist her as your sous chef in the kitchen and get her involved in preparing meals and coming up with ideas and recipes. Talk to her and explain how important it is for her to eat for her developing and growing body, and don't let her off with "I'm not hungry," ask her why and what would make her want to eat, nonconfrontationally, of course. Don't back down, it's for her health.

Have you been hit with the horrible heat wave like we have here?

I was just wondering because nobody in our house has barely been eating.. we have to pretty much force the kids to eat lately also.

Did she just get over a growth spurt? I know my kids after one don't eat very much for a little while.

If that's not the case then I would bring it up to her Dr. maybe if the Dr brings it up on how important it is to be eating sometimes it helps better than just mom telling her. I would for sure try to find a way to nip this now so it doesn't turn into an eating disorder for her.

I feel your pain. My daughter is the same way and sounds like she will be about your daughter's size when she gets to be her age. My daughter is going to be 8 this week and is 47 inches tall and 38 pounds. We have ALWAYS struggled to get her to eat, sometimes we are more successful than others. As long as my daughter is healthy and active, I don't worry about it too much. She is just going to be petite as an adult.

Why not contact her doctor just to be sure? At least it will make you feel better. I know how stressful it can be.

My Dd just went through a growth spurt and wanted to eat all the time and i didn't recognize it fora growth spurt at the time, now she doesn't want to eat much either.

Has she been hanging out with other friends that might be influencing her? are you dieting?

Maybe see if she wants to pick a recipie to fix, it's a good skill and kids ususally love to cook, and it might encourage her to eat.

When you say recently, do you mean the last several days, or weeks or months?
Is she actually losing weight?
She does sound small, so I'd be concerned too, but more details would be helpful.
My daughter has had food/eating issues this past year, she just turned 13, so I think I could help if I had a bit more background!

Since it's been so hot, instead of giving her hot foods to eat, try cold things, like salads and such. I know when it's hot out, I don't want to eat hot foods too.

If she continues not eating, I would call her doc and get her in.

*hugs*

KS doesn't lend itself to this, but I remember being a poor eater when I was younger. Mom would take us to the beach as much as possible. She was convinced the salt air would open our appetites.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Plugging her numbers into a child BMI calculator - she comes in below the 5th percentile - and that's low - but only by 4 lbs.
To be AT the 5th percentile she'd have to weigh 55 lbs.
Take her to the doctor and see what they say.

My son at 4 yrs old was 42 inches tall and weighed 42 lbs which put him at the 82nd percentile - which was great.
Right now, he 13 yrs and 9 months old, 5 ft 11 in tall and 180 lbs - which puts him over the 85 percentile and we need to watch his weight.
He still shoots up in height every so often and at 13 he's not done growing yet.
The doctor thinks he'll be 6 ft 4 in or slightly taller by the time he reaches his adult height.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/growthcharts2/l/bl_ibw_cal...

When it is really hot, we are not very hungry.. Instead we drink a lot more, water, tea or maybe fruit smoothies.

We make lettuce wraps.
Pasta salads.

We snack on a ton of cold fresh fruit. We can eat a huge watermelon in 2 days along with peaches, plums, grapes, cherries, frozen bananas.
Lots of raw sliced vegetables.

Cold sandwiches for dinner. Our daughter makes great sub sandwiches.

Cold fried chicken, potato salad.

And many, many times, just cold cereal, yes, bowls of cereal for dinner, with strawberries or blueberries!

The heat just saps out our appetites.

But what we noticed is at dinner, we are just not as hungry as we started out in the morning.

Has your daughter started her period yet? That is sometimes another thing that happens to me and our daughter. We lose our appetite before we start, but the moment it starts we are starving.

Have you asked her if she is feeling ok? Does she have any pains, a fever?
If she cannot give you a reason and feels like she is just not hungry, let her know you feel like she should see the doctor, just to get a check up.

How active is she during the day? Is she going swimming every day, is she playing any sports? The more active she is the more she will have an appetite. .

I do the same thing when it is hot-always eat breakfast but I can go all day without eating again. My kids do it too although not to the extent I do. Some people just aren't hungry in the heat-sometimes the thought of eating when I am boiling makes me nauseous. I still would take her in for a checkup just to be safe and give her those ensure shakes or make her a smoothie with protein powder for lunch or dinner.

Is she taking any type of medication?

I was teeny tiny at that age too. Just ensure that she has plenty available, and tell her she HAS to eat something. Children go through stages of growing/eating/resting. She might not be growing much right now.