I was an overweight child and saw " plum can't eat sweets, she's too fat " as criticism. Never allowed sweets as a kid. It was done with love and the best of intentions...but.

My "dieting" started when I was about 9, and doctor-supervised at 11. I do feel, if I had been left alone without these restrictions, life would have been easier. I would have naturally lost my puppy fat. Instead,Food became dangerous. By the time I was 18 I was at WW and then the real weight issues started !

My children have inherited their fathers physique thank goodness. But, still, I never want food to become an issue for them. DD and DD have one carby evening snack a day and nothing is restricted.. anything, and I always have nuts/ and a healthy snackbox for them to help themselves anytimeof day. To my surprise, because nothing is off limits, they are self regulating....when they were very young I would go as far as to say, eat the protein first, then you can have the doughnut..... then they will just take one doughnut instead of two , as they are satisfied. They have no idea food can be problematical Im so proud of that. I hope you can be reassured thet a mum with foodie issues can produce two well-balanced kids

My opinion with your DD is that she has a lot of growing to do, you already did the right thing by cutting out the junk, she'll be fine, specially if shes starting school soon, her physical activity may well increase. I bet it works out fine by itself. I think its fine for you to give her occasional cookies/sweets as part of a meal.

if in the future, you are still worried I have read Sugarbusters book and I know if I had a kid with weight problems I would read their Sugarbusters for Kids. It seems so balanced.

good luck to you and your family