I have neices whose diet consists of:
Cheetos
cereal, only prepared with whipped topping instead of milk.
crackers/chips
granola bars
cheese
Spaghetti
hotdogs and chicken nuggets are the only meat they eat
and an occasional banana.
Not exagerrating. We have Sunday dinner most Sunday's at my IL's house and the girls "already ate before we came over" or "won't eat that, can I get them cheetos?" Its horrible.
And my BIL and SIL refuse to do anything about it. One Sunday the meal my MIL prepared was Spaghetti...one that they eat. But they aren't used to eating the actual meal there, so they both threw a fit until they got Cheetos. When BIL said to SIL "no, don't let them eat Cheetos. They like Spaghetti...they can eat that first. They need real food sometimes too." SIL responsed with "Cheetos ARE real food." uh huh! awesome.
Also--BOTH girls have learning and behavioral issues. Wonder why.....
Re: Speaking of horrible eating.....
I love Cheetos as much as anyone, but there is no way they are real food.
I had a revelation recently when I cut down on DS's after-school snack. All of a sudden he wasn't as picky about his dinner. Amazing.
I believe that kids are eating so many snacks these days that their bodies/brains can't tell when they are really hungry anymore.
Sounds EXACTLY like Cam's food list.
Sucks!
I agree with Elise.
I've implected a two-snack a day policy with my kids (one between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and dinner) and it's worked out wonderfully. My kids are actually eating their meals and the snacks are fruit, dried fruit, yogurt and maybe a granola bar.
Me with my littlest.
That's terrible!
I have a friend who put diet coke in a sippy cup for her 2 year old because "she only likes diet coke and chinese food." It's amazing to me what people do.
It is so hard to eat at someone's house with a picky eater but it isn't impossible to find a healthier snack food to bring. If J won't or can't eat what is offered she gets cheese cubes and carrot sticks, not cheetos.
kinda like Michelle's food list only she eats cereal with milk and I rarely give her stuff like cheetos and potato chips.
I stopped letting her graze all day now that she is eating more kinds of foods and her eating is getting better. However she still eating 4-5 smaller meals because I can get her to eat more that way. But the perpetual bowl of goldfishies and/or whole grain crackers are a thing of the past.
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
Annelise 3.22.2007 Norah 10.24.2009 Amelia 8.7.2011
Are we related?
My cousin has 2 daughters, they are 10 and 11, both very overweight and have food issues.
Daughter #1 has a diet like your nieces'. Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos (if it ends in -itos she eats it), donuts, chocolate milk, soda, cakes, Twinkies, Pop-Tarts. It's foul. She eats lots of cheese but I've never seen her touch a vegetable. Ever. And my cousin has only enabled this by bringing whatever this DD eats wherever they go. We invited them to Easter dinner and she brought along Cheetos, hot dogs, and something else for her 11-year-old to eat!
Daughter #2 eats CONSTANTLY. "I'm hungry" is every other statement out of her mouth. Yes, she'll eat veggies and dip, or fruit, unlike her older sister... but she just eats all. the. time. Spend 2 hours at their house and she'll eat 8 or 9 snacks... no kidding.
And as they get older, their self-esteem decreases. They get it now. They're bigger than most kids. They shop in the "pretty plus" section--or the older one sometimes has to go with Women's sizes. And they have no education on how they can turn things around.