Despite my problems with weight--and DH is no string bean!--none of my kids have ever really had a weight problem. Most of them have done the filling out before shooting up so the chubby pictures are usually followed a few months later with slimmed down pictures. 1DS gained weight after he started a sit down job and had to have his laptop with him at home and work so couldn't ride his bike to work (at a bike shop that promotes biking to work! Go figure!) It got worse during his stint of truck driving because he stopped at fast food places all the time. I spoke to him a few times, particularly about the "fit" of his clothes (He is kind of vain on that subject!) but he would just say "I know! I know!" But since Christmas he has been watching what he eats and has been doing a fair amount of fasting for spritual reasons and has lost about 15# and looks a lot better. 2DS biggest problem that will come back to bite him I believe is that very often he only really eats once a day and late at night at that. He also probably has the biggest sweet tooth of the bunch. His "Mini Me", 5DS is a sweets lover, too, but doesn't have a weight problem--yet! My rule about sweets is that whatever comes in is shared equally and woe unto him who eats his brother's treat! My daughter is not a big carb eater unless it is sweet but those are limited so eggs and meat are her mainstay. Has been since she started eating!

For my part, my mom knew that I had a problem but felt helpless to do anything about it. She always said that I couldn't be made to do anything I didn't want to do but I wish that she had stood her ground more and had given me more direction but her parents pretty much dictated her life so she was darned if she was going to do that to HER kids! Unfortunately, some of us needed it!

One issue that I think needs to be addressed is making kids, or anyone for that matter, do low carb when they don't need it. Some of us have known for a long time that carbs themselves were our problem whereas others probably developed the problem along the way as they developed insulin resistance with weight gain triggered by a variety of other factors--pregnancy, life style changes, job changes, etc. Things that lower activity levels and/or decreases calorie needs. There are those for whom increasing activity and decreasing calories without a severe restriction of carbs works just fine. We need to understand that and not be high and mighty about LCing when facing someone for whom it is not the answer!

I feel that unduly restricting carbs for children who don't need it can be just as harmful as restricting fat! The thing to restrict is white sugar and flour, transfats and harmful additives, don't make a big issue about what they eat (but be careful of what YOU bring into the house), starches don't need to be served at every meal, don't force them to finish their food, and separate treats from meal consumption--treats around here are usually their afternoon snack. As we have learned about food substitutions you can make a lot of things healthier. Pizza on a whole grain crust is a good example. Make baked things with half the sugar because most of them are too sweet anyway. Encourage them to drink water. Most importantly, KEEP THEM MOVING!!! Elimination of recess and downplaying gym are two of the worst things the schools have been doing of recent years!

One final note: DON'T make food a battle ground between Mom and Dad because the kids will just play the two of you off of each other. If you can't agree on whether or not something comes into the house at least try to make some ground rules about when it is ok to eat the things. One rule in our house is no sugar before lunch....Well, except for Easter! Hope everyone's Easter was blessed!

Connie