Hi Moms! Once again I am on here asking for some advise. Here is the situation, I am new to the Aurora/Plainfield area. I am currently looking for a dietician or for a gym exercise program for kids. I searched online and found some at the Edwards Hosp in Naperville. I wanted to see if any other moms out there can recommend a program or maybe point me in the right direction. My 10 year old daughter is over weight and while so far it is not a health issue, I don't want it to become a self esteem issue either. I want to try and help her as best as I can before the problem gets worse. We removed pop from our diet and junk food. But it's hard. I don't know what else to do or where to turn. The doctor we currently have has not really been of any help. I would really appreciate any advise of suggestions and thanks again!
HI! I am studying to be a Naturopath and I would be happy to lend my advise. I have a 10yr. old daughter too and your daughter can come over and "play" (excercise) with my kids-I have 4. Let me know if this option sounds good to you. Good for you for getting rid of pop and Junk food. We did this years ago and it has made a big difference. Good Luck, Maria
First I want to say That Edward health and fitness is wonderful for chilrens programs. The one off of rt 53 is a bit further but offers many, many classes at different days and times.
As for a dietician, I would HIGHLY reccommend Diane Bubeck of diane bubeck and assoc. She is out of Naperville and specializes in girls/women w/eating disorders. Not that your child has an eating disorder, but she would be highly sensitive to her needs w/out making it a self esteem issue.
Good luck. If you need additional info, please let me know. (I am a counselor at a local hospt. that also specializes in eating disorders so can point you in the right direction)
I'm not sure about finding any of those I just wanted you to keep in mind that because she is still so young she isn't done growing. So whatever you do don't try to make her lose weight just maintain it. So try to keep healthy with less processed foods and more exercise. You don't want to end up hurting her because she isn't getting what she needs during a growth spurt.
Good Luck!
I am opinionated about doctors, sorry about this but I will go there first. I think any physician in this day of kids having a problem with weight would jump right on it. So first I'd be looking for a new physician to help you. Look for a solid general family doctor that can give you guidance and do testing for Thyroid, hormones, diabetes, cholesterol and any other things that could be influencing her weight. Have the physican just talk to you so that your daughter doesn't take on any more food related issues.
Then have talks with your daughter on a regular basis. Find out without talking about weight if anything is on her mind, worries her, making her angry, is she bored, is she having trouble with kids at school or is she having problems academically and you haven't seen the struggle come through in grades yet. My neighbors child was struggling in math, got a tutor and backtracked 3 years in math and was retaught it all and the weight and stress quickly melted. Mom and daughter talks can be done while taking long walks or bike rides.
Make sure she doesn't have more inside time than outside time. Keep the junk out of the house except for special occasions, if she want to know why. Tell her special occasions don't seem so special anymore because we have this stuff all the time. Give her the park district book, or Y book and have her pick 3 activities to do. One could be a class in art or acting or science and the other 2 could be a sport, swimming, soccer, whatever to get her moving more without saying anything about actual weight loss to her.
Remove any dairy or meat grown with hormones. Don't heat or serve warm foods in plastic containers. Use glass or metal. Read up about how hormones can disrupt the bodies metabolism and help you keep on or gain weight and go into early puberty.
Good luck, it's hard to keep a chld with the mindset of a good body image, keep them happy and stress free and learn a lifetime of exercise. I wish you and her well.
