Parenting Teenagers (12-18) Support Group
This community is focused on the joys, challenges and concerns faced by parents of teenagers (12 to 18 year olds). The major areas of child development include: physical development, perception and sensory development, communication and language development, cognitive development, emotional development and social development.
I am not a parent but I am a big sister. My younger brother is 14 and he is a freshmen in high school. he is very unhappy and i know exactly why because i went through the same thing. My brother is underweight and is an EXTREMELY picky eater. he is so picky that he barely eats lunch because they "dont have anything he likes." when i was his age i was very self concious about my weight and i thought i was too skinny and i thought everyone labeled me as "aneroexic" which i was not at all. i also am a picky eater. i just want to know if there is a way to help my brother gain weight so that he can be more confident in himself. once i started college and have now gained weight i feel so much better about my self and i am more confident. i want that same confidence for my brother but i want him to have that confidence sooner than i got it. he just seems so sad and i know that its because he is not confident in himself. i really want to help him so i was wondering if any parent (or anyone) has gone through this and what they did for their child. my mom is so worried about my brother and she doesnt know how to help him. please someone help me with this because i cant stand to see my brother the way he is. any help is appreciated!
Excersise, protien powder, extra food.
Will he do it?
Joe
(He has Asperger's and sensory integration disorder...which means that his experience with food is different...he interprets his senses a little differently and thus dislikes many foods....he probably only eats like 15 different foods)
When my son's weight was pretty low....I insisted that he drink Ensure. He dislikes vitamines...but he will eat the Gummyvites.
I have packed my son the same lunch for his whole life to school: two peanut butter sandwiches...a snack of some type of cracker...and a bottle of water.
I know that it is difficult when you don't like many foods...but I do encourage my son to take a few bites of foods just to acclimate his mouth and tongue to different textures and tastes. My feeling is that once you limit your palate to a few foods and do not ever deviate from them....then you are less likely to be able to want to try different things. I don't force him to eat anything....but I do insist that he eat small bites of what he may not like...and try small portions of foods that he can tolerate and then bulk up on what he wants.
I also noticed in the past that if he picked up on the fact that his eating bothered me...then it would become more of a problem. So I try to stay "matter-of-fact" and just tell him what I expect.
My son likes information....so I keep a dietary guide for healthy eating on our refridgerator for us both to be reminded.
I also recently started taking him to the gym with me....he loves it. But I get concerned that he "loves it too much" ...so I told him he can come with me as long as he doesn't overdo it and as long as he fills up on lots of protein when we leave. I don't care if it is a box of 20 chicken nuggets, soy milk, or a protein shake...as long as he fills up on it after the workout.
I also insist that if he wants to go out to play....that he needs to eat for energy or he can't go. He get's this concept and will eat to go out and do things.
Oh...yeah...one more thing. I don't allow him to have more than 2 types of "sugar drinks" per day as they will fill the stomach and leave no appetite for food. So my son will have a glass of chocolate soy milk and an apple juice a day...and that is it...unless it is a special occasion.
You are such a great big sister!!!
Feel feel to PM me if you feel like it...I still deal with this daily....it is an ongoing issue.