Anyone have experiences with eating disorders in little boys?

[jayh1119]

I don’t think my nephew 100 per cent qualifies, but he just said “I don’t like fat... l and went went on to say something about how he doesn’t want to be fat, or that’s how I interpreted it, he doesn’t want to eat fat etc. This kid has nearly 0 body fat. He is a picky eater. When he gets up in the morning he struggles to eat, or show interest in food. Just before dinner at home he eats something sugary. He went through a long period with no growth or weight gain, like a year I think. He is in grade 3. Is this a thing with kids now?

 

[vanitysmurf]

@jayh1119 Yes and I would say that someone somewhere has told him he’s fat or has expressed their own concerns about their weight in an unhealthy way whilst he has been around. Kids pick up a lot. I hope you can get some help for him or you can raise it with his family in a way that is sincere and heartfelt, and that it is received with concern. Best of luck x

 

[jayh1119]

@vanitysmurf I tried to bring it up with my hubby and he was just angry, saying I was being mean, judgemental, jumping to crazy conclusions. It scared me because there was a huge fat shaming thing going on when my son was in elementary school. Kids that young shouldn’t be worried about stuff like this, it’s sad. Usually when I bring up concerns to my hubby he insinuates I’m a judgemental unsympathetic witch. It’s frustrating.

 

[vanitysmurf]

@jayh1119 Can you chat to the parents of your nephew, or the grandparent you have in common? It is a huge problem in schools so I think that you’re right to be concerned. And as the age for puberty starting is lower, the issues will arise at a younger age.

Sorry that your husband is being a dick about his nephews issues. You are not a witch for being concerned. You’re looking out for a minor.

 

[tylynn]

@jayh1119 Please pay attention to this as much as you would with a girl his age. Get books, talk honestly about balancing healthy foods and treats, and love him so hard he has to love himself.

 

[psalmwarrior]

@jayh1119 Sort of. My brother is autistic and has frequently said he is afraid of being fat, ever since he was a kid. He's an extremely picky eater too with sensory issues and would rather starve than eat outside his comfort zone. Not sure if that helps.

I also had an eating disorder as a child (maybe like 6 years old). I was scared that I would choke on anything and just wouldn't eat. I told everyone I didn't want to be fat too but I just felt embarrassed about the whole thing. I ended up going to a doctor once I finally admitted why I was scared to eat.

 

[jesussoldier]

@jayh1119 My young daughter has made comments like this (she is not fat at all) so I started teaching her about nutrition. Good fats vs bad fats, sugar, quantities, carbs, balancing, etc.... It has helped her overcome a lot.

It's really hard when we go grocery shopping and to see so many other poeple with carts full of cases of soda, chips, candy, cookies, junk food, instant foods, etc... Then you have to try and explain that to your kids.

 

[jayh1119]

@jesussoldier His family eats lots of what I consider junk, but there’s home made stuff too, to Help balance it out. I am not a Puritan about food, we have junky stuff here too. I mostly have an issue with snacking on candy or sugary crap all the time. He seems to have slowed down on that, but if given a choice between a good plain cookie, or a crappy one loaded with sprinkles, you can guess what he would pick. I took him to an ice cream truck for a treat and I realized he had never been to one before, he didn’t want the plain ice cream, just wanted the slushies. I am trying to roll with things. It was a bit perturbing he thought his calf muscle was “fat”. I keep trying to steer him to stuff that’s more nutritious, he’s the sort of kid who used to eat fried batter and not what was inside. He’ll eat the white of the egg not the yolk, although I think that’s changing. He has a lot of no go food items, there’s maybe 3 fruits and 3 veggies he will willingly and knowingly eat. We have been looking after him for a few days and are trying to exercise him a lot to get the hunger built up. I was able to sneak in veg he has maybe never eaten before into a burrito, by dicing it super fine. I think a lot of it is a mental resistance to something he perceives as wrong or bad.

 

[jesussoldier]

@jayh1119 I started fine dicing or straight up blending veggies. There are lots of ways to sneak them in until they start getting used to the idea. Try baking them, stir fry, blanching, raw. Sometimes my kids won't eat something unless it cut into bite size pieces. Hey, if that's what it takes sometimes, I'll do it! I had some veggies delivered recently (Imperfect foods, info for the cheap stuff and deals) and I let them open the box when it arrived, they were SO excited about delivered veggies that they ate half the order right then! They ate carrots (we've been getting them EVERY DAY in their school lunches and they won't eat them anymore so I make soup with them) and apples (same here!) and squash, and a few others. I guess it was just so exciting they forgot they were sick of them!

 

[jayh1119]

Sigh. Somehow we got onto the fat/big thing again. He is afraid of getting big whatever that is and when we were talking about his cousin being a preemie he said something like Well I bet I was even smaller. Like there was some kind of competition. Then we were out walking and he stated something about Being so lucky he will always be small and skinny. Wtf? We were watching a movie tonight and despite the character being referred to as a boy he kept insisting they had to be a girl, because the character had a rounder Asian face and longer hair. I dunno. Sometimes I am just left scratching my head.