Hi! I've never posted on this board before, but I'm the mother of a 4 year old. Yesterday I took her for a health unit checkup. I had to share this here:

My daughter receives WIC. They do a lot of counseling on nutrition here, teaching parents how kids "should" eat to be healthy. My little girl is short for her age (her dad and I are not tall people, 5'4" and 5'8"!) She'd been on the high end of the
weight range, but steadily evening out.

Then, three months ago, the WIC dietician gave me food charts to fill out about her eating. The charts were based on the FDA food pyramid for preschoolers. Eating this way was supposed to hold her weight steady.

I made sure the serving sizes were accurate, made sure she had the recommended serving amounts from each category. I was very careful because I thought that the dietician knew what was best for my child. Never once did my child exceed the calorie recommendation. Most days she fell 100-200 calories short.

Great. But...

Now, my daughter has gone from the "at risk of becoming overweight" category to "overweight". She's gained two pounds in the last three months and only half an inch in height.

I am a stay-at-home mom. I know for a fact my child doesn't eat junk food. The WIC dietician said I needed to stick to the pyramid and make her exercise more! Okay, whatever! She is already very active!

I am so peeved. I cannot help but think that the high carbohydrate content was to blame. I went to the library and checked out "carbohydrate addicted kids" and I'm going to start reading it today.

Just venting,
Kalico

Carbs aren' nessecarly bad, but refined sugars and flours can be. Even if your child isn't a carb addict cutting white sugar and flour from her diet can be a great step in health. Stone ground breads, eggs in the morning instead of cereal, and so on are great. Start reading lables. You will be amazed at how many everyday items have sugar or corn syrup as one of the first ingredients.

My children also recive wIC. When my 3 year old was a baby he had alot of trouble gaining weight. After months of trying my pediatrician recomended strongly that it was time to start supplimenting formula. At the time I was extreamly upset. I had had it drilled into me that breast feeding was the only way to go. I made the change to formula and saw great results with my son. He started to grow more evenly and thrive.

The WIC office was much less supportive. They told me all kinds of stories about how he would have nipple confusion the moment a bottle touched his mouth. That feeding him formula would lead to obesity and poor eating habits, ect ect. I've never had any of these problems. I've learned to take recomendations as just that, "recomendations".

While I still recive the wic, much of what they offer goes unbought. I get my son multigrain cheerios, but he eats so little I went from getting the full amount each month to maybe one if that. Milk consumption has also gone way down. My infant eats formula and veggies. After talking to the pediatrician I saw no reason to give her baby cereal as it has no nutricional value.

Sorry to rant. Do what is best for your daughter and don't let them try to guilt or bully you into anything less

On the flip side of that coin...
I breast fed my daughter but "supplemented" her with formula. She always had trouble gaining weight...not just below normal range--but off the chart. She also had many colds and ear infections. She wound up needing a tonsillectomy at age 4.
My next two children had only breastmilk. Both were healthy weights with my middle child being a little "pork chop". Neither one of them had to visit the doctor except for well child checks until age 3. My middle child is now 5 and has only been on antibiotics twice. My younger child (age 4) has never been on any.

My two older children NEVER got nipple confusion. However....after my younger one was given bottles of breast milk in the hospital it took me 6 long weeks to teach him how to nurse again.
(Once he caught on he didn't quit until he was 2 1/2!)

My daughter is now a terrible eater-carb & sugar addiction. I have to constantly watch her and remind her to eat her veggies.
My middle son dislikes most sugary snacks, and my younger son prefers veggies to any other food.

Do any of these outcomes depend on what and how they ate as babies? Most experts would say yes. But I don't think "experts" are really as smart as we make them out to be. Look at what they all said about the food pyramid. While it is a good model for some, it's detrimental to others.

I guess we can come to any conclusion we choose from all the information that's out there. But no matter what style of eating you choose, it makes good sense to me that natural foods are better than processed foods.

Good luck finding a healthy way of eating for your daughter.

We worry so much about our babies don't we?
I have two exclusively breast fed kids, my daughter is six and very, very thin (like I need to alter all her pants thin), though she eats every 2 hours, cleans her plate at every meal. It's just her body type. She's so proud that her bike riding all summer has filled out her legs a bit.
My son is 3 and a complete sugar addict. refined carbs affect him very visibley. He steals food and hides it under his bed. He's normal in the weight charts and height (if there is a normal) I worry about one child not getting enough calories and the other destined to be fighting food issues all his life.
I think the food pyramid is bunk. I do. I think that kids need whole grains and fruit but in much smaller amounts that we normally give them. They need lots of good mono-unsaturated fat, nuts, olive oil. We get a margarine from the co-op made from olive oil- good fat no saturated stuff (melts at room temp though) I use whole wheat and spelt pasta for their starches with dinner. I make barley, lentils, quinoa. They miss cookies, but I figure this is the only time I'll have control over their diets so I need to make these foods something they find normal and enjoyable. We don't eat red meat or pork. We eat a lot of tofu and TVP, soy hot dogs, veggie "meat" slices with whole milk cheeses and yogurts. On the days I can keep the sugar intake low to zero, everyone is so even keeled. It makes a huge difference esp. in my son.
I am well aware that much of this food is expensive. When we are having a tight month, we end up eating rice and beans, it's just how it goes.