From donna, Child's Age 14 - 06/21/02 - IP#: 24.132.61.xxx  Click here to reply  
i am posting this message cause i dont know what to do with my 14 year old daughter melissa. i have always considered her as a large kid up until she was 12 at 13 i considered her as fat and know she is extremely fat, she kepps geting bigger and bigger. i have no idea how much she weighs cause she wont let me weigh her any time i try to bring up the subject we have a huge fight and she screams and runs up to her room and cries. i cant find any clothes to fit her she has outgrown everything so she only wears sweatpants and t-shirs. Her stomach is really large and full of roles of fat, she has a triple chin and huge thights. i am really worried about her and i feel hurt when she gets called names at school or by any of my other children she gets called names like fat blubbery pig, elephant and miss piggy. i am very slim so is my husband and my other children and we eat healthy buth melissa outeats everyone in the house last niht i caught her eating leftover chicken from the fridge an i got really angry and said some hurtfull things wich really made her upset but its so frustating to see her getting fatter and fatter and not say nothing. please help
Reply from Sue, Child's Age 13 - 06/22/02  - IP#: 62.64.206.xxx
It sounds like your daughter does have a problem and not just with her weight but with her self-esteem too. Maybe she is comfort eating because she is getting bullied at school and she has got herself into a vicious circle. Is it possible that her over-eating could be a form of attention-seeking, making everyone worry about her and take notice of her?
Very difficult and I do feel for you but you have to be very, very firm with her. Try the soft approach first, talking to her about sensible eating, maybe getting advice from a dietician, although it sounds like you probably don't need it from what you said about the rest of your family being slim. Puberty is a very hungry age and often weight put on at that time falls off so that could account for some of the weight gain. She does sound like an unhappy girl. The good news is that if she is very overweight and she starts to eat less then she will see results fairly quickly. I would advise you just to keep on trying to get through to her and warn her about the danger she is putting her health in if she continues over-eating. Inevitably when someone overweight starts eating less they go through the pain of feeling hungry because the stomach is getting less food than it expects but there are foods i.e. soups, fruit, that can make her feel less hungry. I wish you luck and hope my comments are constructive.
 
Reply from Mia, Child's Age 15 - 06/20/02  - IP#: 68.3.44.xxx

I feel the same way about my daughter amy. She is the same way as your daghter. But the worst part is that she's been like this all her life. And plus the fact that i can barely give her any support because i'm 200 pounds overweight.