7-Year-Old's Diet List: Mom Amy Cheney Finds Daughter's Weight-Loss Notes

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

Cheney said she found the diet list alongside her daughter's Polly Pockets and friendship bracelets, but it is the girl's spelling that poignantly highlights just how young she is.

Among the foods the girl was allowing herself to eat were:

- "appals"
-"keewee"
-"yoget"

The exercises on the list included:

-"pooshups"
-"16 star jumps 2 time a day"
-"rid my bike 3 time a day"

In her post, Cheney noted her daughter said she had learned about dieting from a 7-year-old friend.

Though a 7-year-old conceiving of her own diet might sound unusual, a 2009 study from the University of Florida found that of 121 girls aged 3 through 6, nearly half admitted they worry about being fat.

Still, the cultural resistance to children worrying about their weight seems to remain strong. For example, after mom Dara-Lynn Weiss wrote a piece for Vogue about putting her 7-year-old on a diet, the backlash was fierce, to say the least.

No kidding - Because the schools and media, etc, have gone totally over the top trying to focus on getting the heavy kids to be skinny again . . . they're working into the brains of the not-heavy kids or the healthy-kids or even the too-skinny kids that they *need to watch what they eat and lose weight*

Not to mention the health-minded moms and dads who show this concern, behavior and even obsessive fear and compulsive activity - without considering how it might be influencing their children. You can't just assume kids will go 'ok - well that's what my Mom does' without wanting or trying to implement it or share it with friends/etc.

This article is about a mother in Australia - but I'm dealing with this issue and my kids (all four) - they all have it in their heads that they're 'fat' or 'at risk of becoming fat' - my daughter always says stuff about 'going on a diet' and 'limiting my intake' and crap. An 8 year old shouldn't even know what the word 'intake' is :roll:

Schools and media have focused on this 'childhood obesity' so much that kids have NO CLUE what is normal, healthy . . . kids shouldn't give a **** about what they LOOK LIKE. It's FINE - perfectly fine for a kid to be a little heavy or chubby, ok. OBESE is a different story altogether - and THAT should be addressed privately within the child's FAMILY and with their PEDIATRICIAN.

Honestly - I'm glad I'm not the only one . . . because I feel my kids are being exposed to thoughts they should never have - and that do *not* apply to them...I struggle to get them to eat ENOUGH food. . . All the time - getting them to consume enough food throughout the day is a arduous task I have to deal with every single day.

penn1954 · Mar 9, 2013

Aunt Spiker said:
7-Year-Old's Diet List: Mom Amy Cheney Finds Daughter's Weight-Loss Notes

No kidding - Because the schools and media, etc, have gone totally over the top trying to focus on getting the heavy kids to be skinny again . . . they're working into the brains of the not-heavy kids or the healthy-kids or even the too-skinny kids that they *need to watch what they eat and lose weight*

This article is about a mother in Australia - but I'm dealing with this issue and my kids (all four) - they all have it in their heads that they're 'fat' or 'at risk of becoming fat' - my daughter always says stuff about 'going on a diet' and 'limiting my intake' and crap. An 8 year old shouldn't even know what the word 'intake' is :roll:

Schools and media have focused on this 'childhood obesity' so much that kids have NO CLUE what is normal, healthy . . . kids shouldn't give a **** about what they LOOK LIKE. It's FINE - perfectly fine for a kid to be a little heavy or chubby, ok. OBESE is a different story altogether - and THAT should be addressed privately within the child's FAMILY and with their PEDIATRICIAN.

Honestly - I'm glad I'm not the only one . . . because I feel my kids are being exposed to thoughts they should never have - and that do *not* apply to them...I struggle to get them to eat ENOUGH food. . . All the time - getting them to consume enough food throughout the day is a arduous task I have to deal with every single day.

I agree with you!

It seems that lack of running and playing outside is more of a problem.

Also from what I remember we always had (baby fat] before puberty.

The PC police aren't letting kids be kids,or parents being parents!:twocents:

captainawesome · Mar 9, 2013

Fat kids need to be told they need to get healthy there is nothing wrong with that.

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

penn1954 said:
I agree with you!

It seems that lack of running and playing outside is more of a problem.

Also from what I remember we always had (baby fat] before puberty.

The PC police aren't letting kids be kids,or parents being parents!:twocents:

Yes - everyone's so freaked out about childhood obesity they lost their marbles and forgot that a vast majority of kids just AREN'T at risk of that sort of thing - at all.

Whatever happened to just encouraging HEALTHY eating and physical activity? It's not extreme one way or another . . . healthy advice is what they should focus on. Not body fat and so forth.

captainawesome said:
Fat kids need to be told they need to get healthy there is nothing wrong with that.

Being a little heavy doesn't mean you're UNHEALTHY . . . just like being skinny doesn't mean you're HEALTHY - in fact - from my personal experiences it can be quite the opposite.

If a child is OBESE then that should be handled on a personal level - and not with a nation-wide/world-wide brainwashing focus . . . young kids obviously don't understand when THEY are the target of all this 'advice' and when they are not.

Ask my daughter if she's A) underweight. B) normal weight. C) overweight . . . she'll tell you she's overweight when the exact opposite is true. She is underweight.

I didn't put that ****ed up thought in her head.

Goshin · Mar 9, 2013

Aunt Spiker said:
7-Year-Old's Diet List: Mom Amy Cheney Finds Daughter's Weight-Loss Notes

No kidding - Because the schools and media, etc, have gone totally over the top trying to focus on getting the heavy kids to be skinny again . . . they're working into the brains of the not-heavy kids or the healthy-kids or even the too-skinny kids that they *need to watch what they eat and lose weight*

Not to mention the health-minded moms and dads who show this concern, behavior and even obsessive fear and compulsive activity - without considering how it might be influencing their children. You can't just assume kids will go 'ok - well that's what my Mom does' without wanting or trying to implement it or share it with friends/etc.

This article is about a mother in Australia - but I'm dealing with this issue and my kids (all four) - they all have it in their heads that they're 'fat' or 'at risk of becoming fat' - my daughter always says stuff about 'going on a diet' and 'limiting my intake' and crap. An 8 year old shouldn't even know what the word 'intake' is :roll:

Schools and media have focused on this 'childhood obesity' so much that kids have NO CLUE what is normal, healthy . . . kids shouldn't give a **** about what they LOOK LIKE. It's FINE - perfectly fine for a kid to be a little heavy or chubby, ok. OBESE is a different story altogether - and THAT should be addressed privately within the child's FAMILY and with their PEDIATRICIAN.

Honestly - I'm glad I'm not the only one . . . because I feel my kids are being exposed to thoughts they should never have - and that do *not* apply to them...I struggle to get them to eat ENOUGH food. . . All the time - getting them to consume enough food throughout the day is a arduous task I have to deal with every single day.

part of the problem is "obese" has been re-defined to mean "not skinny".

When I was 17 I was all lean muscle, 195 lbs... and a re-organization of the Health Class height-weight tables said I was "obese". :roll:

captainawesome · Mar 9, 2013

Goshin said:
part of the problem is "obese" has been re-defined to mean "not skinny".

When I was 17 I was all lean muscle, 195 lbs... and a re-organization of the Health Class height-weight tables said I was "obese". :roll:

That's why we use body fat percentage now.

We don't do the obese any favors by telling them it's healthy.

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

Goshin said:
part of the problem is "obese" has been re-defined to mean "not skinny".

When I was 17 I was all lean muscle, 195 lbs... and a re-organization of the Health Class height-weight tables said I was "obese". :roll:

Yes - exactly . . . Obese seems to mean anyone's who's *not normal-weight* . . . medically it still retains it's true meaning but socially it's changed.

It's ok to be a little on the heavy side / chubby / thick / a bit much . . . Obese is the excess - a lot of people are forgetting there's a difference.

Josie · Mar 9, 2013

Actually I cannot remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with my weight. Pretty sad.

Goshin · Mar 9, 2013

captainawesome said:
That's why we use body fat percentage now.

We don't do the obese any favors by telling them it's healthy.

Yeah, I tried one of those too.... said I should weigh 179 pounds ideally.

I weighed 185 at age 15 and had a 28 inch waist, and was still a bit shy of my full growth. Color me less than impressed.

calamity · Mar 9, 2013

When I was a kid, there wasn't much opportunity to get fat. We played outside a lot, and we ate food that probably no kid today would touch.

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

captainawesome said:
That's why we use body fat percentage now.

Which needs a serious update and overhaul as well . . . I was pegged as "obese" according to such various scales and formulas . . . when I was 144 lbs . . . I looked like this:

Harry Guerrilla · Mar 9, 2013

Aunt Spiker said:
7-Year-Old's Diet List: Mom Amy Cheney Finds Daughter's Weight-Loss Notes

No kidding - Because the schools and media, etc, have gone totally over the top trying to focus on getting the heavy kids to be skinny again . . . they're working into the brains of the not-heavy kids or the healthy-kids or even the too-skinny kids that they *need to watch what they eat and lose weight*

Not to mention the health-minded moms and dads who show this concern, behavior and even obsessive fear and compulsive activity - without considering how it might be influencing their children. You can't just assume kids will go 'ok - well that's what my Mom does' without wanting or trying to implement it or share it with friends/etc.

This article is about a mother in Australia - but I'm dealing with this issue and my kids (all four) - they all have it in their heads that they're 'fat' or 'at risk of becoming fat' - my daughter always says stuff about 'going on a diet' and 'limiting my intake' and crap. An 8 year old shouldn't even know what the word 'intake' is :roll:

Schools and media have focused on this 'childhood obesity' so much that kids have NO CLUE what is normal, healthy . . . kids shouldn't give a **** about what they LOOK LIKE. It's FINE - perfectly fine for a kid to be a little heavy or chubby, ok. OBESE is a different story altogether - and THAT should be addressed privately within the child's FAMILY and with their PEDIATRICIAN.

Honestly - I'm glad I'm not the only one . . . because I feel my kids are being exposed to thoughts they should never have - and that do *not* apply to them...I struggle to get them to eat ENOUGH food. . . All the time - getting them to consume enough food throughout the day is a arduous task I have to deal with every single day.

Part of the problem is that schools and too much emphasis of similar aged peer socialization has taken over from parents, parenting their kids.
That's part of what welfare schools get you.

Just my opinion, of course.

Bethlehem Bill · Mar 9, 2013

nothing wrong with kids being smart about what they eat

even at age 7

if i knew then what i know now, i would have probably saved myself half a dozen cavities from eating too much candy

even mcdonalds now puts apples and milk in their happy meals

we as a country can save ourselves a ton of money by getting kids to eat healthy as early as possible

we spend too much money treating illnesses that stem from entirely preventable circumstances

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

calamity said:
When I was a kid, there wasn't much opportunity to get fat. We played outside a lot, and we ate food that probably no kid today would touch.

You know - my daughter's in karate . . . she needs to eat more than if she just had a normal activity-level going on because she burns off so many calories. She's a hard nut to crack, that's for sure - and she's usually logical and perfectly accepting of reason and such. Not on this issue, though - she's as stubborn as a wild cat.

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

Bethlehem Bill said:
nothing wrong with kids being smart about what they eat

even at age 7

if i knew then what i know now, i would have probably saved myself half a dozen cavities from eating too much candy

even mcdonalds now puts apples and milk in their happy meals

we as a country can save ourselves a ton of money by getting kids to eat healthy as early as possible

we spend too much money treating illnesses that stem from entirely preventable circumstances

Healthy - is fine . . . that is what should be emphasized. "Eat your fruits and veggies. . ." You know -the classic advice.

Bethlehem Bill · Mar 9, 2013

Aunt Spiker said:
Not to mention the health-minded moms and dads who show this concern, behavior and even obsessive fear and compulsive activity - without considering how it might be influencing their children. You can't just assume kids will go 'ok - well that's what my Mom does' without wanting or trying to implement it or share it with friends/etc.

better they share/implement a healthy diet with their friends than implementing and sharing a junk food diet with their friends

Aunt Spiker said:
An 8 year old shouldn't even know what the word 'intake' is :roll:

Aunt Spiker said:
and THAT should be addressed privately within the child's FAMILY and with their PEDIATRICIAN.

Aunt Spiker said:
being exposed to thoughts they should never have

this is actually kind of scary in my opinion. not only are you advocating for total control over your child's diet, but control over their very thoughts?

wow...

Harry Guerrilla · Mar 9, 2013

Bethlehem Bill said:
better they share/implement a healthy diet with their friends than implementing and sharing a junk food diet with their friends

7 year olds shouldn't be worrying about diets, they're kids.
Parents should be managing the what food the kids consume.

Bethlehem Bill said:
this is actually kind of scary in my opinion. not only are you advocating for total control over your child's diet, but control over their very thoughts?

wow...

No, it's completely appropriate to not expose child to crap that's not meant for their age like dieting and worrying about weight.
They don't have the mental capacity to manage such things.

It's completely idiotic to make suggestions that they could.

captainawesome · Mar 9, 2013

Harry Guerrilla said:
7 year olds shouldn't be worrying about diets, they're kids.
Parents should be managing the what food the kids consume.

No, it's completely appropriate to not expose child to crap that's not meant for their age like dieting and worrying about weight.
They don't have the mental capacity to manage such things.

It's completely idiotic to make suggestions that they could.

If they are too fat put them on a diet that being responsible.

Harry Guerrilla · Mar 9, 2013

captainawesome said:
If they are too fat put them on a diet that being responsible.

A parent can do that, but a 7 year old child isn't really in the position to judge, what is and is not fat.

Bethlehem Bill · Mar 9, 2013

Harry Guerrilla said:
7 year olds shouldn't be worrying about diets, they're kids.
Parents should be managing the what food the kids consume.

No, it's completely appropriate to not expose child to crap that's not meant for their age like dieting and worrying about weight.
They don't have the mental capacity to manage such things.

It's completely idiotic to make suggestions that they could.

apples and carrots = healthy

too many cookies and candy = not healthy

you dont think a 7 year old has the mental capacity to manage that?

thats not a very bright 7 year old

Aunt Spiker · Mar 9, 2013

Bethlehem Bill said:
better they share/implement a healthy diet with their friends than implementing and sharing a junk food diet with their friends

this is actually kind of scary in my opinion. not only are you advocating for total control over your child's diet, but control over their very thoughts?

wow...

Don't be so dramatic - I'm concerned for her; how she feels about herself and how she sees herself. You're trying to turn that into a bad thing? Don't make me laugh at the absurdity of a concerned parent being a BAD thing when it comes to the health of their child.

Harry Guerrilla · Mar 9, 2013

Bethlehem Bill said:
apples and carrots = healthy

too many cookies and candy = not healthy

you dont think a 7 year old has the mental capacity to manage that?

thats not a very bright 7 year old

I don't think 7 year old children should be dieting to lose weight.
It shouldn't be in their thought process.

Gipper · Mar 9, 2013

Keewee and pooshups. So she fails in 2 aspects of life. Terrific.

Helix · Mar 9, 2013

i don't think a kid should be given a complex about his or her weight. however, the list in the OP looks like a smart idea. there's no risk in moving more, eating healthier, and developing good habits. i'm not a parent yet, but if i were, i would definitely try to build a routine of good eating habits.

i should also mention that i'm a former fat guy who is now a thin exercise proponent, so this is a major topic of interest for me. i might be biased.

justabubba · Mar 9, 2013

Harry Guerrilla said:
I don't think 7 year old children should be dieting to lose weight.
It shouldn't be in their thought process.

apparently, you do not live in my neck of the woods
here, many people, especially lower income, live to eat
and it shows
unfortunately, it also shows in their kids

Today, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963. ...

Among American children ages 2–19, the following are overweight or obese, using the 95th percentile or higher of body mass index (BMI) values on the CDC growth chart:

For non-Hispanic whites, 31.9 percent of males and 29.5 percent of females.
For non-Hispanic blacks, 30.8 percent of males and 39.2 percent of females.
For Mexican Americans, 40.8 percent of males and 35.0 percent of females.

[emphasis added by bubba in each category]

so, yes harry, that seven year old obese kid needs to go on a diet
and kudos to Michelle Obama for making this one of her outreach issues. our kids need to learn how to maintain a healthy weight thru diet and exercise

i was a fat boy growing up. Mom had donuts and soda waiting for me when i came home from school every day. Dad kept saying, son, you're getting fat ... and my Mom would come right behind him and insist that i was just pleasantly plump, to leave me alone. and i wanted to believe her but in my heart i knew Dad was right
i absolutely hated being a fat boy. to this day, that is who i see when i look in the mirror. but i also did not want to give up those high calorie foods i was used to eating. neither did i want to remain fat. Mom - who was very well intended - enabled my bad food habit. thank goodness i had a PE coach (& JFK's fitness program) who came to the rescue and ran my lard ass off. it took that kind of intervention by the school to set me on the right course

so, spiker, while i agree that healthy kids (girls, mostly), should not worry about their weight, that does not mean you cannot still have a continuing dialogue about what constitutes a healthy diet for them. and if your kids are too heavy, you are doing them no favors condoning it

7-Year-Old's Diet List: Mom Amy Cheney Finds Daughter's Weight-Loss Notes

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