WWYD re:kids weight

[mom2gs]

I have 3 little girls. The middle one will be 7 at the end of the summer. She just weighed herself today and is over 70 lbs. I'm getting a little concerned but I don't know what to do about it. She is a very solid child and really only the torso/belly region looks overweight. She was diagnosed as allergic to dairy, soy, wheat and some other stuff when she was a baby but the only reaction we noticed was eczema which she no longer gets. She doesn't eat constantly and I have been working on cutting back portion size. She also just learned how to ride a bike and is loving that but we have to travel to a place for her to ride and that's not very often convenient. We also recently joined the Y and she is loving the pool but mostly just for playing around. She does not like being outside at all and our house is rather small so not a whole lot of physical activity going on inside. I'm kind of at a loss here. It's getting difficult to find clothing that fits her well and she's getting to the age where kids are going to start being mean. Her doctor is completely useless in this area. She wrote 'overweight' on a school form 2 years ago but didn't mention one word to us about her weight. I guess a large part of the issue is that I feel like I don't have the time to cater to the physical activity that she's interested in and I don't have the money to push healthier eating (when I buy fruits and veggies and let them have unlimited access, it rarely gets touched). Any ideas or suggestions? The other 2 kids are somewhere around 50% for weight and endless balls of energy.

 

[Poohlove]

My suggestion would be to try and change her diet, if she is hungry and only healthy options are available to her that is what she will choose. You need to make her more of a priority and not view getting her the exercise she likes as a catered event. Yes, it can be pricey to shop healthier but there are many affordable options out there. Without knowing what your diets consist of its hard to offer suggestions in that area but it comes down to basics. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains cut back on the sodium, sugar and processed foods. A bag of carrots costs less than a box of crackers.

 

[abdmom]

I have struggled with weight my whole life and trace it back to my childhood. I won't bother you with details, but will just share what I've learned. At her age, it's just best to let her height grow into her weight (slow down the weight gain) rather than trying to get her to lose weight.

Don't do power struggles over food.
Don't tell her she can't have a certain food - that just makes it more desireable.
Don't use food as a reward (or a punishment).
Don't put her on a diet (unless it's doctor supervised).

Do sign her up for dance or gymnastics or any other lessons of her choice where physical activity is involved.
Do restrict liquid calories - I always allowed my kids maximum one serving of juice per day and maximum one serving of chocolate milk. They could drink all the milk or water they wanted.


As I said above, I always struggled with my weight. Recently, I was able to switch to a diet that cut out most processed foods. Basically, it took my oldest kids leaving home to be able to do this. The frozen pizza for dinner is gone, the macaroni for lunch is gone etc. Now I eat protein, veggies and fruit. Oatmeal for breakfast. Soup for lunch. Oranges for snacks. I've been losing a pound and a half per week for the past 5 months.

I still have one child at home. He's 11. No weight problem, but I found after his older siblings were gone that he had a bad snacking habit. He'd snack and then not be hungry for dinner and leave most of his dinner on his plate. We just have started having a maximum number of calories of junk food per day that he can have. It's still his choice of when and what to consume. He is making better choices - choosing the 30 calorie big pretzel rather than the 300 calorie ice cream bar. And he's eating his protein and veggies more.

Hope this helps.

 

[Shanti]

I have 3 little girls. The middle one will be 7 at the end of the summer. She just weighed herself today and is over 70 lbs. I'm getting a little concerned but I don't know what to do about it. She is a very solid child and really only the torso/belly region looks overweight. She was diagnosed as allergic to dairy, soy, wheat and some other stuff when she was a baby but the only reaction we noticed was eczema which she no longer gets. She doesn't eat constantly and I have been working on cutting back portion size. She also just learned how to ride a bike and is loving that but we have to travel to a place for her to ride and that's not very often convenient. We also recently joined the Y and she is loving the pool but mostly just for playing around. She does not like being outside at all and our house is rather small so not a whole lot of physical activity going on inside. I'm kind of at a loss here. It's getting difficult to find clothing that fits her well and she's getting to the age where kids are going to start being mean. Her doctor is completely useless in this area. She wrote 'overweight' on a school form 2 years ago but didn't mention one word to us about her weight. I guess a large part of the issue is that I feel like I don't have the time to cater to the physical activity that she's interested in and I don't have the money to push healthier eating (when I buy fruits and veggies and let them have unlimited access, it rarely gets touched). Any ideas or suggestions? The other 2 kids are somewhere around 50% for weight and endless balls of energy.

Changing her diet should be the priority, and this will likely require changing the diet for the whole family. Stop eating fast food, frozen meals, unhealthy snacks & drinks like chips, fruit roll-ups, sodas, cookies, ice cream. All of that stuff should not be at the house or in her school lunches at all. She should only eat candy on Halloween & Easter, for example. Fruit should be dessert, rather than cake or brownies. If the whole household moves towards healthier eating, she won't be singled-out or self-conscious about being on a "diet".

If making these dietary changes seems problematic, that indicates that there is an issue with the family's nutrition, and probably all of you are getting too many empty calories each day. The other kids in the family who are more active might be working it off now, but as they get older and their lives become more sedentary, bad eating habits will catch up with them & weight could become an issue for them later.

I take my hat off to you for taking action now, before things get worse and weight becomes a lifelong issue for her. It's frustrating to read about a doctor who fails to counsel patients about weight and nutrition. Those are critical parts of staying healthy.

 

[earfulofmagic]

Just a thought -- doctors mention anything medical, possibly? I don't want to encourage cherry-picking -- and nothing you've said would indicate this anyway -- but hypothyroidism in kids can get overlooked. There'd need to be a lot more to this than what you've said so far, but I get this is a snapshot more than a full medical history. Oh, and please find a new doctor if the current is useless.

BUT if this is strictly a matter of physical activity, caloric intake, etc. -- I agree that at this age, the best thing you can do is instill mostly healthy eating habits and foster a love of sports/exercise.
Bagged, frozen veggies are a lifesaver if you find that fresh vegetables are going into compost too often. If getting outside is an issue, maybe look into games like Dance Dance Revolution if that would interest her. Sad story, but I remember a bullied girl in high school who would set it to 500 calories and intensely dance for an hour everyday after school. She loved DDR, but that she felt she had to do it made her miserable.

Like others said, snaps for actually caring and trying to do something now. So many kids grow out of the "baby fat" phase as they hit puberty, so there's lots of time. And if she is just predisposed to storing fat around her belly, that's okay too. Health comes in many sizes, so as long as you can get her to eat reasonably well and move... that's a fantastic start.

 

[mummabear]

2 parts, I would work mostly on a healthy diet in portion size and items. No matter what we do excessive wise we cannot outrun our forks.
I sympathise though that you have to tread so carefully to not create any hang ups with young kids.
I would also look to find any sort of physical activity that she enjoys, hikes, runs, judo, gymnastics, tennis, team sports. All of them will have a range of costs (from nothing to expensive) and various one commitments.
She may enjoy taking part in kids triathlons and be motivated to train for them.
A friend gets her kids to go hiking by doing geocaching which interests the child and gives them a purpose to the hike more than just hiking itself.

 

[Planogirl]

What about swimming lessons? You mentioned time being an issue but these would likely be structured which might help. I was in the best shape of my life when I took swimming classes.

 

[Christine]

You've gotten some really good suggestions here and I don't have much to add, but a few things that come to mind:

1. I was like your other two children. Very thin naturally and, while not athletic at all, I did move around. I don't think there is anything medically wrong with your daughter (and you don't indicate that you think that either) but just from your description of her, we already know that she's just not active and that could be her whole problem as well as inheriting a body type that is different from the other two.

2. Knowing #1, you may want to seek ways to get her active that don't put pressure on her. I like the idea of jogging/running and working towards little marathons. Lots of those have sprung up for kids. You could even make it a goal to do one of the Disney ones. But do it with her. When she gets older she'll have that base of running and can do it alone. Lots of people who don't like athletics enjoy this. My son hated doing any sport, but in high school he forced himself to do cross country. He was also getting a little chubby from the snacking. He lost 15 lbs and now that he's 22, he still keeps at the running (although he's not what you'd call a runner).

3. I would definitely do portion control and a change of diet for the whole family. While your other kids are fine, they are eating the same stuff that makes her weigh more. Believe me, as a thin child and young adult, I developed some very poor eating/snacking habits because I didn't have to worry. It's been very hard to break those habits. Your other kids could benefit from healthy eating.

4. Sign up yourself (for your daughter) on My Fitness Pal and YOU log what she eats so you can get an idea of her calorie intake on a normal day. Then look for little ways to shave off a few. She doesn't need to know a thing about it. In reading their support boards, you'd be surprised at changes you can make in food that lessen the caloric load (even in buying convenience foods) that she wouldn't even notice.

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree with others, change the eating habits of your family. My kids range from normal to skinny (dd16 finally reached 100 pounds), but their dad was underweight as a child, now probably 20 pounds overweight. Dd20 needs to lose about 15 pounds (college student), and will, because she is generally a healthy eater (loves veggies and fruit, lean protein, not a big carb or dairy fan), and knows she has to go to the gym (she never participated in sports, used to say she would just enjoy her great metabolism until it was gone). Naturally skinny kids generally outgrow that as adults (not all).

Swimming lessons/team is great for getting/staying in shape. My other kids play soccer/run D.C. and track/dance. They love sports, but even if they didn't, they have to pick something.

 

[luvsJack]

My oldest dgd is a bit overweight. DS and her mom have mostly tried to limit in between meal snacks and portion controlled meals. They don't limit any particular foods except candy and chips and neither keeps them in the house.

They originally had a hard time with activity because time and money is limited for both of them and organized sports or lessons were hard for all of them. But encouraging bike riding (and they have to go to a local park for this), family games of soccer in the yard, taking a walk together, etc really amped up activity for her and the family. Even just putting a DVD on with music and everyone dancing around the living room encouraged activity she wasn't getting before. And they were able to fit al that in around their schedules without having a practice or lesson schedule they couldn't keep up with.

 

[Klayfish]

No, I would not worry about it at all, and outside of using common sense, nor would I alter her nutrition a ton. She's too young to really know if it's just part of her development or not yet. DW and I are exercise/nutrition nuts and we have 3 kids. My oldest son, who is 13 now, was a bit "pudgy" when he was about that age. We did common sense things...such as make sure he is active in sports, etc... and don't let him eat nothing but junk food. At the same time, we didn't do any kind of extreme health diet either...he's a kid, we're not going to deprive him of things kids like to eat. Balance is the key. Around age 9 or so, he really started to grow. As I said, he's 13 now, and we actually have him on weight gainer shakes and other things to try to help him put weight on. The kid is a bean pole. He's a football player, and plays on the offensive and defensive line. He's only 130lbs, which is actually an improvement because last year he was only 110 at the most.

DD9 is now struggling with the same issues your daughter is. We're not all that worried. We certainly have made a few changes and geared her diet more toward healthy, but nothing extreme. She's very active in sports and we're confident she will slim out some too. Everyone has a different body type to some degree, and that's OK. As long as she isn't overweight/obese when she gets to be full grown, then she'll be what she'll be.

Like I said, use simple common sense...a well balanced diet (I see no reason it can't include some junk food), stay active...and don't worry about it right now.

 

[MSLRAC]

My youngest has always been at the top or above the growth charts and us nor her doctor have ever been concerned with it until recently. We got a very rude awakening about 6 months ago when routine blood work indicated that she was pre-diabetic. We immediately changed all of our diets and eating habits and enrolled her in karate 3 days a week with her brother (her choice over dance and gymnastics). We didn't give her an option and we made it a priority for our entire family because I refused to have a medication dependent child due to poor eating and exercise habits. We allow her all of the fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats and water that she wants. We limit simple carbs, sugar, etc. We also bought her a Fitbit and made it a game of beating us on steps. She's dropped 15 pounds and has quickly realized that food is a fuel for her body and she feels better now. She also will be the first to tell you that if she eats junk or an unhealthy meal that it makes her feel yucky. So now she's choosing to eat healthy on her own.

 

[wenrob]

I have struggled with weight my whole life and trace it back to my childhood. I won't bother you with details, but will just share what I've learned. At her age, it's just best to let her height grow into her weight (slow down the weight gain) rather than trying to get her to lose weight.

Don't do power struggles over food.
Don't tell her she can't have a certain food - that just makes it more desireable.
Don't use food as a reward (or a punishment).
Don't put her on a diet (unless it's doctor supervised).

Do sign her up for dance or gymnastics or any other lessons of her choice where physical activity is involved.
Do restrict liquid calories - I always allowed my kids maximum one serving of juice per day and maximum one serving of chocolate milk. They could drink all the milk or water they wanted.


As I said above, I always struggled with my weight. Recently, I was able to switch to a diet that cut out most processed foods. Basically, it took my oldest kids leaving home to be able to do this. The frozen pizza for dinner is gone, the macaroni for lunch is gone etc. Now I eat protein, veggies and fruit. Oatmeal for breakfast. Soup for lunch. Oranges for snacks. I've been losing a pound and a half per week for the past 5 months.

I still have one child at home. He's 11. No weight problem, but I found after his older siblings were gone that he had a bad snacking habit. He'd snack and then not be hungry for dinner and leave most of his dinner on his plate. We just have started having a maximum number of calories of junk food per day that he can have. It's still his choice of when and what to consume. He is making better choices - choosing the 30 calorie big pretzel rather than the 300 calorie ice cream bar. And he's eating his protein and veggies more.

Hope this helps.

Agree! Great advice.

Changing her diet should be the priority, and this will likely require changing the diet for the whole family. Stop eating fast food, frozen meals, unhealthy snacks & drinks like chips, fruit roll-ups, sodas, cookies, ice cream. All of that stuff should not be at the house or in her school lunches at all. She should only eat candy on Halloween & Easter, for example. Fruit should be dessert, rather than cake or brownies. If the whole household moves towards healthier eating, she won't be singled-out or self-conscious about being on a "diet".

If making these dietary changes seems problematic, that indicates that there is an issue with the family's nutrition, and probably all of you are getting too many empty calories each day. The other kids in the family who are more active might be working it off now, but as they get older and their lives become more sedentary, bad eating habits will catch up with them & weight could become an issue for them later.

I take my hat off to you for taking action now, before things get worse and weight becomes a lifelong issue for her. It's frustrating to read about a doctor who fails to counsel patients about weight and nutrition. Those are critical parts of staying healthy.

I know your intentions are well meant to the bold but this will only create a rebound effect. Moderation is key. You can eat 100% healthy, whole foods, never touch sugar or bacon and still be overweight. Don't believe me head over to My Fitness Pal and read some of the stories over there. Your weight is determined by how many calories you consume vs how many calories you burn. Kids should absolutely be eating wholesome food but teaching them self moderation and portion control will serve them far better than never letting them have treats.

No, I would not worry about it at all, and outside of using common sense, nor would I alter her nutrition a ton. She's too young to really know if it's just part of her development or not yet. DW and I are exercise/nutrition nuts and we have 3 kids. My oldest son, who is 13 now, was a bit "pudgy" when he was about that age. We did common sense things...such as make sure he is active in sports, etc... and don't let him eat nothing but junk food. At the same time, we didn't do any kind of extreme health diet either...he's a kid, we're not going to deprive him of things kids like to eat. Balance is the key. Around age 9 or so, he really started to grow. As I said, he's 13 now, and we actually have him on weight gainer shakes and other things to try to help him put weight on. The kid is a bean pole. He's a football player, and plays on the offensive and defensive line. He's only 130lbs, which is actually an improvement because last year he was only 110 at the most.

DD9 is now struggling with the same issues your daughter is. We're not all that worried. We certainly have made a few changes and geared her diet more toward healthy, but nothing extreme. She's very active in sports and we're confident she will slim out some too. Everyone has a different body type to some degree, and that's OK. As long as she isn't overweight/obese when she gets to be full grown, then she'll be what she'll be.

Like I said, use simple common sense...a well balanced diet (I see no reason it can't include some junk food), stay active...and don't worry about it right now.

Yes, yes, yes!

No offense to the OP but it makes me crazy when people claim they can't afford to eat healthy. Eating healthy does not mean having to eat all fresh, organic food. A bag of frozen, steam in the bag veggies is about $1.49 for name brand, generic .88-1.00. A two pound bag of frozen, boneless, skinless, chicken breast is about $11.00. A bag of rice/beans/whole grain pasta all less than $2.00 a pound. Fifty bucks and you can feed a family of five for a week on this. Eating healthy, well balanced meals does not need to be expensive.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

What about swimming lessons? You mentioned time being an issue but these would likely be structured which might help. I was in the best shape of my life when I took swimming classes.

This was my first thought when you mentioned swimming at the Y. Great exercise and an important life skill.

 

[PollyannaMom]

At her age, it's just best to let her height grow into her weight (slow down the weight gain) rather than trying to get her to lose weight.

Absolutely!!!

I agree with small tweaks rather than big power struggles. It think even occasional biking and the pool time will help. They're just new activities, so you haven't seen huge results yet. We gain weight slowly, so it's OK to lose it slowly. (In fact, I've actually heard that's healthier than losing a lot at once.)

She does not like being outside at all and our house is rather small so not a whole lot of physical activity going on inside.

I like the idea of active video games that she can play indoors, then. The dance or sports ones would give her a chance to do those things without being uncomfortable outside. (And our Game Stop sells the older systems second-hand.)

You might also let her "catch you" doing a yoga video or something on TV. Maybe she'll join in.

Or get a little sneaky with encouraging "imbedded exercise" - natural movement throughout the day:
* If you need something fetched from upstairs, for instance, and your hands are busy, ask nicely if she can get it for you.
* Praise her when she helps out with her more active younger sister.
* Offer an allowance bonus for some bit of housework that "you don't have time to do today" but that involves a lot of movement.
* Next time the kids say they're bored, have the older one design a treasure hunt for this one "to practice her reading"...but that will also have her running all over the house in a fun way.

Or try some games with her siblings:

http://www.beingconfidentofthis.com/parenting-2/energy-burning-indoor-fun-for-kids/

http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/indoor-limited-space-games

You can also Google "______ exercise" for a movie or TV show she likes. People make them up for all sorts of things, and you do certain moves when the character says this or that. The kids might find it fun. (Be careful, though - people make up drinking games in a similar way, so proofread!)


The point is not to get overwhelmed! You're catching this early enough that you don't need to make it into something that takes over her or your family's life. If you (or she) feel like everything is revolving around this project, it will be resented quickly! Just pick and choose a few ideas, throw them in when you can (and don't feel guilty when you can't) and let the results come slowly.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, I do understand that all kids are different!
But, I do want to throw this in.
The fact that she, at her age, the middle child, seems to be the only one experiencing these issues, in the same household, food availability offered, level of outside activity, etc... Does really concern me.

Her age is not too young for any issues (medical or otherwise) to begin to manifest.

I always was the 'chubby child'.
This was before anorexic-thin was in... And, I even won a local girls pageant!!!
But, I have always had to be concerned with my weight.
I do work at it.
Come to find out that I have always had multiple health issues going on.
These have definitely caused/contributed to my struggles with weight.

Again, this age is not too young for any issues to begin to manifest.
I would def. keep this in mind.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I agree with having healthy options available and limiting the calories kids drink. Choclate milk, juice, soda, it all adds up quickly! And even for myself, if I keep the junk food in the house, I will devour it, so I just try not to buy it.

As for physical activity, we make it a family affair. We bought cheap mini trampolines at walmart and jump on them together. We have family dance parties, play tag or hide and seek, go on walks together, have sak races, hula hoop, jump rope, hop skotch. DD is an only child so we do lots of activities with her. It doesn't take a lot of time or money to do these things, and if you make it fun, kids will enjoy it more.

 

[2Kds2K9]

You have gotten some great advice here. Keeping her active and for all to eat healthy is the way to go. At age 7, if you try to put her on a special diet, it could really be detrimental to her. She's also still very young, so it's a great time to teach her healthy habits.

By today's standards and charts, my 21 year old DD is overweight. She is 5'9" and weighs 170 lbs. BUT, she's an athlete. There is not a pound of fat on her. She is solid muscle. However, if she were to show her stats to a doctor just on paper, they would say she was fat and to go on a diet. The first time she saw those numbers on a scale, she freaked out. The doctor took the time to explain to her that muscle weighs more than fat and that my DD was in fact healthy and in great shape. She even measured her for fat content and it was negligible. For reference, she wears a size 8.


So my advice is to please, please, don't look at the numbers all the time. Look at the child and the lifestyle. Teach her to make healthy choices and the rest will fall into place.

 

[Monykalyn]

I have struggled with weight my whole life and trace it back to my childhood. I won't bother you with details, but will just share what I've learned. At her age, it's just best to let her height grow into her weight (slow down the weight gain) rather than trying to get her to lose weight.

Don't do power struggles over food.
Don't tell her she can't have a certain food - that just makes it more desireable.
Don't use food as a reward (or a punishment).
Don't put her on a diet (unless it's doctor supervised).

Do sign her up for dance or gymnastics or any other lessons of her choice where physical activity is involved.
Do restrict liquid calories - I always allowed my kids maximum one serving of juice per day and maximum one serving of chocolate milk. They could drink all the milk or water they wanted.


As I said above, I always struggled with my weight. Recently, I was able to switch to a diet that cut out most processed foods. Basically, it took my oldest kids leaving home to be able to do this. The frozen pizza for dinner is gone, the macaroni for lunch is gone etc. Now I eat protein, veggies and fruit. Oatmeal for breakfast. Soup for lunch. Oranges for snacks. I've been losing a pound and a half per week for the past 5 months.

I still have one child at home. He's 11. No weight problem, but I found after his older siblings were gone that he had a bad snacking habit. He'd snack and then not be hungry for dinner and leave most of his dinner on his plate. We just have started having a maximum number of calories of junk food per day that he can have. It's still his choice of when and what to consume. He is making better choices - choosing the 30 calorie big pretzel rather than the 300 calorie ice cream bar. And he's eating his protein and veggies more.

Hope this helps.

AS a Registered Dietitian for over 20 years THIS x1000!!!! I would add do not fall into the "low fat" or fat free trap. Fat is a necessary part of our diet-and some vitamins/minerals are better absorbed with fat presence, and fat lends to long term satiety. Doesn't mean eat spoonfuls of coconut oil, but do not go out of way to avoid it.

Moderation is key.

OH how I DESPISE that phrase!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is "moderation"? how many times per day/week of what food for what activity level??
"Moderation" is a food company advertising slogan. period.

BEST ADVICE-seek out a pediatric Registered Dietitian (NOT a health store gimmicky "nutritionist") for SOUND nutrition advice.

I also recommend Ellen Satter
http://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/dor/divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding.php

Sound advice for not starting feeding problems. This is initially VERY difficult for parents to do-realize only THEIR division of responsibility. And if she loves swimming - installing a love for a healthy activity now is the key to lifelong health - notice I didn't say "weight" or BMI (and do not get me started on the complete inappropriateness of using BMI for kids!!!)

Yes I have strong feelings about this-99% of weight/health issues as adults can be traced to childhood issues (clean plate club anyone? no, those starving kids in Africa aren't magically getting fed if you don't wipe plate clean). And Food company and "nutritionist" click-bait slogans and phrases exacerbate the issue.

How was she "diagnosed" as wheat (very serious), milk, soy allergy as a baby?? I would seriously reconsider this and seek out a qualified allergy MD who does the blood work (NOT a skin prick-good gravy people with sensitive skin are going to falsely react as a positive to nearly everything.) True wheat allergy (celiac) is relatively rare (unlike the gluten free fad that is going around now-yes I am sure some who have cut "wheat" feel better but that is mainly due to other changes at the time-like cutting processed carb). also most kids outgrow a mild milk intolerance.

 

[mjkacmom]

AS a Registered Dietitian for over 20 years THIS x1000!!!! I would add do not fall into the "low fat" or fat free trap. Fat is a necessary part of our diet-and some vitamins/minerals are better absorbed with fat presence, and fat lends to long term satiety. Doesn't mean eat spoonfuls of coconut oil, but do not go out of way to avoid it.



OH how I DESPISE that phrase!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is "moderation"? how many times per day/week of what food for what activity level??
"Moderation" is a food company advertising slogan. period.

BEST ADVICE-seek out a pediatric Registered Dietitian (NOT a health store gimmicky "nutritionist") for SOUND nutrition advice.

I also recommend Ellen Satter
http://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/dor/divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding.php

Sound advice for not starting feeding problems. This is initially VERY difficult for parents to do-realize only THEIR division of responsibility. And if she loves swimming - installing a love for a healthy activity now is the key to lifelong health - notice I didn't say "weight" or BMI (and do not get me started on the complete inappropriateness of using BMI for kids!!!)

Yes I have strong feelings about this-99% of weight/health issues as adults can be traced to childhood issues (clean plate club anyone? no, those starving kids in Africa aren't magically getting fed if you don't wipe plate clean). And Food company and "nutritionist" click-bait slogans and phrases exacerbate the issue.

How was she "diagnosed" as wheat (very serious), milk, soy allergy as a baby?? I would seriously reconsider this and seek out a qualified allergy MD who does the blood work (NOT a skin prick-good gravy people with sensitive skin are going to falsely react as a positive to nearly everything.) True wheat allergy (celiac) is relatively rare (unlike the gluten free fad that is going around now-yes I am sure some who have cut "wheat" feel better but that is mainly due to other changes at the time-like cutting processed carb). also most kids outgrow a mild milk intolerance.

There is also a difference between celiac and a wheat allergy. My dd has celiac, my nephew is allergic to wheat. If he eats wheat, he has an allergic reaction and needs his epipen. Dd gets sick.