Worried about 9 year old exercising and not eating enough!!

divadee

little miss divadee has always had a very healthy appetite and loves fruit, veggies etc... so not a fussy normal picky eater in anyway.

the past 2-3 weeks everything has changed she will still eat anything but hardly any of it. for example today she had a tiny bowl of cereal for brekkie, then for packed lunch she only ate the roll (which was a small one) and a tiny oreo cookie. she left the salad, piece of fruit and crisps.

for tea tonight we had spag bol she had about 5 mouthfulls and then said she was full. thats it for today. but she had 1 hour running club 3-4pm and 1 hour swimming training tonight 6.30-7.30 this is obviously not enough to sustain that sort of exercise,

so the spag bol tonight we had at about 4.45 as she swimming later on but after nearly an hours running she must of been hungry but she didnt want anything.

problem with all that is she is exercising like mad, she has always loved swimming and does that 3 times a week, but last week she joined the running club (cross country type thing after school) and has been saying i must practice i must practice.

she was weighed a couple of weeks ago at the hospital and she was 30kg ish. I weighed her today and she is just under 29kg!!

i have asked her quietly if anyone has said anything to her at school about being fat or anything (not that she is she a skinny little thing!!) and she says not, and i would hope not at 9 also!!!

I have asked her why shes not eating her lunch and tea, and she says when she eats she gets tummy ache

i feel i should take her to the gp tomorrow asap, but mr divadee disagrees he thinks its just a phase and we should just ignore it, but im worried she will faint or something with all this exercise and not enough food to sustain it!!

i really dont know what to do!!

southernscouser

Has it coincided with the running club? A coach or someone isn't putting pressure on her to not eat are they?

Or and I know nowt about this! :rotfl:

What about periods? Can this affect kids appetites?

Angel777

Hi, maybe get some child friendly leaflets about how good fruit and veg are for her?

I guess its difficult as you dont want her to think there is a problem and make her aware of it if there isnt.

My 11 year old niece is so aware of 'getting fat' and eating too much fatty food saying she doesnt want to be fat. Its frustrating trying to explain to her that her little body needs different types of foods to help her with growing up!

Good luck im sure you will get her sorted.

conradmum

I would take her to the GP. Sometimes tummy ache when eating can be related to stress - she may also feel sick. She may benefit from some kind of anti-acid medication. Even if the GP says there's nothing wrong it'll set your mind at ease.

divadee

Angel777 wrote:

Hi, maybe get some child friendly leaflets about how good fruit and veg are for her?

I guess its difficult as you dont want her to think there is a problem and make her aware of it if there isnt.

My 11 year old niece is so aware of 'getting fat' and eating too much fatty food saying she doesnt want to be fat. Its frustrating trying to explain to her that her little body needs different types of foods to help her with growing up!

Good luck im sure you will get her sorted.

she loves fruit and veg but has even cut down on that recently!!! Its hard cos i said to mr divadee tonight oh maybe tomorrow let her choose a take away or something just to get her to eat, and then i thought no im not treating her just cos she aint eating!!!

i thought if she ever wants a treat in the future she just wont eat, knowing i would give her a chinese or kfc or whatever!!

divadee

conradmum wrote:

I would take her to the GP. Sometimes tummy ache when eating can be related to stress - she may also feel sick. She may benefit from some kind of anti-acid medication. Even if the GP says there's nothing wrong it'll set your mind at ease.

she does get tummy ache with stress, i know that one well!!!! if she has a big big worry she gets herself in such a state she can even get the squits!!!

but we have had various talks over the past couple of weeks and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. I have even asked her friend quietly if everything is ok and she swears it is!! and her friend would tell me the truth i know her so well!!

Justie

don't panic

it's good you're aware and keep an eye on it but there's no need to rush off immediately to get help when it could be the initial rush of running or something passing.

Give it a bit of time - maybe speak to the running coach and ask that the importance of nutrition is explained to the whole club. try not to make a big deal about what she's eating or not eating and just try to encourage her to eat something. It could be that the running has unleashed a competitive edge that she's then losing perspective over everything else. It could be that she's worried about other things and is using running and food as displacement/ coping mechanisms but if she is it's likely that she's doing it at least partially subconsciously so don't try and rush in and diagnose her.

Reinforce all the positives - give her praise and show interest in how her training's going, how her school work is going etc and praise what she does eat rather than pointing out what she doesn't eat.

If you can check discreetly with the school that there's no bullying then that wouldn't be a bad thing but schools don't always know and that may well not be the cause anyway.
How well developed is she? She may only be 9 but some girls begin to go through puberty then and changes in her body may cause her concern especially if she doesn't see them in her friends.

There are so many things it could be and you may never know what the cause is. It may pass swiftly or it may be the beginning of something but if it is the start of something it's going to be a slow process to get to the bottom of it and you need to try and give her some autonomy over her body or it may exacerbate things. Food issues are rarely about food so try not to focus on that side of it.

If you want help dealing with it then go and see your GP without her or see if you can talk to someone at the school - someone may have training in things like eating issues. But if you focus on it too much with her and push the issue it may make it worse in the short term and may make her hide her behaviour which would be harder for you then to keep an eye out. You're right to be concerned - but try not to worry, hard I know.

Angel777

mmmmmmmmmm i know what you mean and i would feel the same as you.

Maybe she is feeling tired from all the exercise?

Is she coming down with a cold or anything as that can lessen your appetite?

Try not to worry though, if it lasts much longer then talk to her again about it and take it from there?

Rachie_B

girls mature faster / sooner than boys and they are more "aware" of their bodies

with unrealistic models etc in the news / magazines / papers its no wonder young girls worry about their weight / looks

you are obviously a very concerned and loving mum and it must be hard to see your daughter do this

Just continue to be a positive role model,be approachable so if something is wrong she will feel able to tell you about it .

Its good that she has an interest in exercise / running club etc but maybe she just needs to be aware that in order to function properly her body need the right amount of "fuel" like a car lol

maybe go to the library together / look on the net for info etc

Jay-Jay_4

A few things here...

Excercise can stop you from feeling overly hungry, also you metabolise food faster when you do a lot of exercise so this 'could' explain the weight loss although I would only expect this physical reaction in a more mature person.

If she's worried about getting a tummy ache she may just be at the stage where she's paranoid about using the loo. My daughter gets stress tummy aches, she worries about getting a tummy ache which GIVES her a tummy ache :rolleyes: and I always send two Settlers Tums in her bag just in case. Just having them there seems to make her feel better.

Children go through stages of having no appetite. I was dragged to the docs at 11 for not eating. It wasn't a conscious thing, I just wasn't hungry .

Smashing

If she's not eating enough to sustain exercise, then she shouldn't be doing so much.
If she like exercising and enjoys it then she needs to appreciate the importance of good nutrition. If she isn't willing to do this, then she shouldn't be running/swimming to such an extent.