My 10 yr. daughter is a bit heavy but has high cholesterol, triglicerides.
The doctor say that she needs to loose weight, or her health will even worsen.
The nurse refered to her blood as 'slush'.
Aside from being broken hearted for my little girl, i am also upset about the diet she is supossed to follow.
Very low-fat; high-fiber; low-protein; high-carb
I know from personal experience that Atkins works, but they wouldn't hear about it.

My question is; Would it be unreasonable to put a child on Atkins?
She loves all the Atkins food, except many of the veggies, of course.

Has anyone had similar experiences?

thank you for your comments,
Mary

My daughter is 9. I am on atkins. I put her on protein power a little over 1 week ago. We started her with maintence carbs. She has lost 4 lbs. Here is here sample menu
Breakfast:
1.5 eggs
bacon or sausage
1 piece low carb 5 grain bread
8oz of slender soy chocolate
Lunch:
Ham and cheese rollup on a low carb tortilla
1/2 serving macadamia nuts or a string cheese
8oz V8 diet Splash
Dinner:
1 serving meat
Veggies
Snacks:
My homemade beef jerky, string cheese, macadamia nuts, strawberries, half a apple, homemade 0 carb popsickles, a rare low carb candy treat, a piece of low carb bread with peanut butter.

She says she feels better eating this way. I
keep her carbs around 50 right now and she gets a vitamin every morning too.

What is her age?

Strict induction probably wouldn't be a good idea. Cutting out sugar and refined flour though would be wonderful. Sit down and have a talk with her. She will need to want to lose the weight and have self control at school when all her friends are having a pizza party in class, or eatin gjunk. Instead of putting her imidiatly on induction, why not first cut out all junk food. Up her lean meats and have her eat the recomended amount of veggies for induciton, plus some. Add fresh low GI fruit into her diet though. Also fresh dairy such as yogurt and cottage cheese.

You might try the Atkins for Life approach if she doesn't have much to lose, and because she is still a growing child. Cut her back to 60g of carbs a day, and make extra sure she is getting enough calories to support a body and a good mucltivitamin, and even more calcium then an adult would need. Explain to her the dangers of starving or eating to little in an attempt to lose weight.

Most of all, don't put pressure on her. Self esteem is very fragile as a child, especially when you already carry around exrtra weight. Talk to her about healthy food choices, and cook LC meals for both of you, but kind of ignore the weight loss side except when to celebrate losses with her. Remember to that muscle build can make the scale not move, so talk to her about body fat and how the scale doesn't mean everything.

Mary, if I ready your post correctly your main concern (and your doctor's) is your daughter's cholestoral and triglycerides, not her weight, right? Does she understand this concept? I'd be surprised, because I still barely understand it myself! There definitely are thin people out there with high cholesterol.

I have an overweight 15 year old son. Although we have made efforts, it seems to be impossible to keep him on Atkins--school lunches being one of the reasons. I am trying to follow the CAD diet for children--there is a whole book devoted to this. they give you strategies for making changes one at a time, including adding "insulin balancing" elements to any meal or snack. My son likes salad, so that has been an important element: he adds a salad to a slice of pizza, for example.

I think the nurse who described her blood as "slush" was cruel. That is alarmist and hurtful to a parent.

I make a lowcarb breakfast, pack a lowcarb lunch and just have them avoid sugar and flour the rest of the day-providing fruit and veggies for snacks. My 11 yo has lost his gut and is only a bit chubby in the torso after only two months, and my 9 yo, who "cheats" more, has lost 4 pounds, and lessened his gut. I don't expect them to loose quickly-but I had to put the breaks on their weight gain. the 9 yo still needs to lose about 10 more pounds and can grow into the rest, but he'll get there slowly but surely.

I am so happy for all your comments and support.
Ian, thank you for the sample menu, it is very helpful. I have been trying to show my daughter that she can eat better food and be healthier.

I agree with all of you as far as the self-esteem goes. I do not want to make this a weight issue. she is far too young to get started on this weight-loss kind of mentality.
Lady belle, my daughter doesn't eat that much junk food, as I have limited it around the house since I strated L-Cing. I think that breakfast cereal and juices are very harmful. so I agree, I will begin with a maintance level and see how it goes.

Quest, I was in tears when the nurse refered to my daughter's blood as slush. I felt guilty for the way I have fed my family, feeling that I was the one causing her health problems. I am really hpoing that Atkins will work for her, so I can go back and showed them the results. Maybe then they will change their mind.

I homeschool my children, so it is easier for me to have control over what they eat. I am also wondering if my youngest, hyperactive boy, will benefit from a low-carb style of eating.

Thanks again for your support, you guys are great!!!

Mary,

First off, don't beat yourself up. You did what you thought was right and now you're going to do what you know is right. That's the best anybody can expect. I wouldn't put your daughter on the diet the doctor recommended either. It's probably the same diet I was put on as a child to supposedly control my hypoglycemia. It didn't work then and helped to creat my eventual weight problems. Since starting Atkins, hypoglycemia is a thing of the past.

About your hyperactive son, my dh was hyperactive as a child and still has a very fast metabolism plus is still IMHO hyperactive. He has to always be doing something; sitting still is not his style. Just in case you ever wondered about your son's future, this constant need to do something (anything) has made dh very popular with his boss at work. His boss knows if there's a dirty, hard job my dh will jump right in with both feet and happily keep himself occupied.

Since I've been LC-ing, at least one meal per day (supper) is LC but dh eats horribly the rest of the day. I personally think it certainly couldn't hurt and may well help your son to get rid of all the sugars, etc in a 'normal' diet. I've suspected as much myself for a month now about my dh but since he simply won't give up the sugary, high carb meals the rest of the day so I can't be sure. I'd try it if I was you, since you have control over it all day. The worst that can happen is it won't help his hyperactivity but it certainly will be a healthier WOE.

Julie

Let me say this. When I was your daughter's age I was skin and bone. I wasn't doing Atkins but I was a kid and only liked certain things. When you are thin no one questions your meal plan. Now when it comes to carbs, I was not a fan of them. I hated spaghetti/pizz night. If I ate a doughnut, I had to gag it down. I could never finish a whole ice cream cone. What I am trying to say is, my diet was low carb at this time. I loved meat and veggies, butter and I always looked forward to Sunday dinner because it was usually meat and vegetables. We never had spaghetti on Sunday. I wish that I had had a better understanding between weight and a high carb diet 12 years ago when I began putting on weight for no apparent reason. I worked in a department that was always bringing goodies. Once I had pancakes in the cafeteria and experienced one hell of a hypoglycemic episode. I did not pin that episode to my weight gain. Now I am losing weight without symptoms of hg unless my carbs are to high for that day.

I trust the well planned and thought-out low carb diet. In my honest opinion, I would ignore the doctor's dietary advice. Go for the Atkins WOE and see if your daughter loses weight ( which she will ). I advise against the prepared foods such as shakes and bars because you want her lifestyle change to be permanent. In 2 weeks you should see outstanding results in her weightloss. Her next blood test should enhance these results. Add a gradual exercise regimen.

Read about others on the boards who astonished their doctors and pharmacists with their weightloss.

I homeschooled my hyperactive son for 3 years. I began this WOE less than a year ago. While I was researching the diet, I read that this diet is beneficial for ADHD children. I have heard many comments that there are more children who have been diagnosed as ADHD now. Could it be because of the emphasis on the high carb/low fat diet? I never did change my son's diet however we considered, years ago, eliminating sugar and flour from his diet ( never did though ).

Black57

Mary, I think it is ok to do a modified low carb plan for kids. You don't want to do strict Induction unless it is monitored by a nutritionist or medical person. My stepdaughter has done Atkins (OWL- about 50 g carbs per day) for 3 months now and gone from a Size 18 to a Size 12. She is 13 yrs old. Her major temptation is the school cafeteria so she packs most of what she will eat for lunch. We were very careful not to measure her progress in pounds and not to make it about her weight, but about her health.

look for a doctor who will work with you.

i was also a fat kid - i can remember taking behavior modification classes at age 8-9 where they tried to teach us what foods to eat etc. - i went to fat camp at around age 10-11 everything i was taught was low fat low protein in other words the all lettuce diet.

well guess what every class i took, every camp i went to - every diet i tried was wrong. and i will be pissed off at the low fat diet proponents for ever - i wasted many years doing the exactly wrong things.

if you cant find a doctor who will work with you - then i say what the others do - slowly bring her carbs down till you see that she is losing. i wouldnt put her at induction levels but i would definitely decrease them. nowadays there are so many low carb products you can substitute with - low carb bread (natures own wheat n fiber - 5 net carbs) - low carb milk (white and chocolate - 2 different brands le carb and carb countdown both have diff. amounts of carbs but they are good - tested them on my kids) - low carb pasta - sugar free candies that taste great.

just by substituting with some of these low carb products her carb levels could be decreased substantitally i'd bet.

but dont give up - find a doctor who is willing to help you and her - nobody shoudl have to be a FAT KID - kids are very mean and the taunts and meanness is something that will be hard to get over if she ever does.

we will always remember being called fatso, boom boom, fatty etc. do whatever you can to help her and her self esteemwe will always remember being called fatso, boom boom, fatty etc. do whatever you can to help her and her self esteem