Advice for overweight toddler

I have a fairly new daycare child who is clearly obese for her age. I haven’t addressed it with the parents, as they never brought it up as an issue? They are a little over weight as well and I truly don’t want to offend anyone’s lifestyle. I offer healthy snacks and meals but the odd time I will offer a “sweet” treat on Fridays. Is that a bad thing for this child?

My motto is everything in moderation but I don’t want to be adding to her problem especially if her parents are feeding her junk for dinner? What do I do?

She is getting lots of exercise with me and is struggling to keep up on walks but I’m sure by the end of the summer she will be at everyone else’s pace. She even lacks the basic core strength to be able to get up if she falls down and shes 2. I don’t help her up if she falls (when she’s not hurt) but I am her biggest cheerleader. I feel like a hard a$$ but I know it is for her own good.

I don't think you have to worry about offering her a sweet once a week. This is not going to make or break any weight issue she may have.

Keep in mind too that sometimes the baby pudge is greater in some children, and this will often linger into toddlerhood. My own son was VERY fat until he was about 20 months. He was in the 95th percentile for weight, and only 50th for height. All he ate was breast milk! He's 7 now, and is kind of on the wiry, slender side. ;)

I would venture a guess that unless her parents are very obese, or unless this toddler has a health issue, the weight will come off now that she's active with your program, and the summer months are coming.

I agree with Alphaghetti, but I would also say it depends how overweight she actually is and what kind of food her parents are giving her at home. She may not outgrow it if she eats at McDonalds 4 times a week and eats doughnuts for breakfast etc. However, aside from what you are already doing (encouraging her to be active, serving healthy foods), I am not sure what else you can do...the rest is up to the parents. I agree that serving a treat once a week will probably not make any major difference...it is what she is eating at home that will make the difference.

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Originally Posted by kangaroomama

I agree with Alphaghetti, but I would also say it depends how overweight she actually is and what kind of food her parents are giving her at home. She may not outgrow it if she eats at McDonalds 4 times a week and eats doughnuts for breakfast etc. However, aside from what you are already doing (encouraging her to be active, serving healthy foods), I am not sure what else you can do...the rest is up to the parents. I agree that serving a treat once a week will probably not make any major difference...it is what she is eating at home that will make the difference.

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I know but how would I ever be able to approach it! :(

Considering she is now with you a lot of her waking hours and eating healthy portion controlled amounts of food and getting exercise over time it should help her to at least not gain any more and more probably actually slim down some. Toddlers often look very overweight if their height/weight/size isn't in sync yet. The toddler belly disappears for most kids when they learn to run and climb and be more physical. I see nothing wrong with sweets. Portion control would be the biggest thing in the sense of I give you up to a canada food guide serving of a food and have to be convinced for any more than that and never of the starch part of the meal. If you are still hungry I'm sure I can find a fruit or veggie for you to eat. I wouldn't bring it up with the parents at this point and especially since any weight discussion is going to be seen as you making accusations about them not just their child. How much experience the child has had to be able to move will be a factor too in the sense if the parents aren't inclined to go for a walk after dinner the child isn't either. If in 6 months she is no better or gets worse then I would for sure bring it up with the idea of you want the parents to speak with the doctor so you can get a nutrition assessment to know how much and what to serve - what you really want is the parents to get that info.

Oooh, I don't think that this is an issue that I would bring up with parents. Presuming that they take the child to the doctor for well check-ups, etc I would say that if there are any medical concerns, they will come out.
I would continue doing what you are doing. Serving healthy foods in the right portions. I would NOT disallow her the treats etc that everyone else is eating. At two, she isn't going to understand why others get a cupcake and she doesn't. I would just stick to that portion control, as in "you can have ONE cupcake, not three" but I am sure you aren't giving all the kids 3 cupcakes, hahaha.
If mom/dad aren't in the most fit physical shape, then she probably isn't getting a lot of excercise at home, especially if she's an only child. Being at your house, playing with all the kids, can only benefit her!

No, I wouldn't say anything to the parents, that's the doctor's job when they do the height and weight charts at the well baby checkups. You sound like you are doing a great job cheering her on for her accomplishments and feeding healthy foods.

I also have a treat once a week after lunch, either for a birthday, holiday celebration or special day. I always make it a special thing so the children know it is not to be expected all the time. My treats are one cookie or 2 gummie worms, always very small.

Personally, sweets are my downfall and I crave them every evening and I don't want to contribute to any child running into my bad habits.

I agree I would not comment on something this sensitive to the parent unless it is impacting her development in your program ... aka the child is demanding 'excessive amounts of food' in the program and does not seem to be able to 'gauge' when she has had what Canada's Food Guide considers an average serving size for her age group or she is so obese she is incapable of doing physical activity, getting out of breath or something and therefore 'struggling' in the program - I would feel compelled to double check and just say 'I am noticing that during outside play X becomes easily winded and struggles to keep up with the others her age - just wondering if you have observed this at home?' or "At meals and snack times I am noticing that X will easily eat 3-4 servings more than the other children and want to make sure I am being consistent between expectations at home and in program - do you keep her portion sizes at meals reflective of Canada's Food Guide for her age group or do you follow the belief that children should just eat until they feel they decide they are full even if that occasionally means they eat 4 hamburgers ... so you are approaching the subject in a round about way without saying 'hey I think your kid is obese cause she is over eating'???

BTW that hamburger comment is because I worked with a family whose 4 yer old child was obese .... weighed over 85 pounds and 3 feet tall and they did not think anything wrong with allowing the child to eat 4 full adult size hamburgers in a sitting and chasing that down with a litre of chocolate milk and some fries too boot at home ... cause he is a growing boy and knows when he is full .... seriously that child's stomach must have been stretched to the size of a duffel bag and he was NEVER full .... he would have eaten more we honestly had to cut him off at meal times and make him WAIT for others to have seconds before giving him seconds or he would eat it ALL before the other children had finished their first serving!

I personally allow my crew to 'self guage' their fullness here .... today my 6 year old had four bowls of taco salad however I do limit 'sweets' to in moderation .... aka you can eat meat, fruits, vegetables until your hearts content .... but high count carbs that break down in the body into high glucose sugars you get ONE Canada Food Guide's serving at a sitting .... pasta, rice, potato, breads, muffins, arrowroot or graham cracker cookies and so forth all one serving only!