This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive
7 Mistakes Parents Make with Grade-Schoolers
Parenting can be a wild ride, and each age and stage has its own set of challenges and rewards.
Parents of children or tweens in elementary school certainly have their jobs cut out for them as they try to encourage healthy living and a positive self-image in their children. Throw in the first signs of puberty and some social and emotional bumps along the way, and it is easy to see that some mistakes are possible, if not inevitable.
4 Keys to Building a Happy Family
By Jeannie Kim
Read the 4 Keys to Building a Happy Family article > >
Kids don’t come with an instruction manual, so how do you know if you are making a big mistake with your grade-school kids? Here are the top mistakes that parents of grade-schoolers make and how to avoid them.
1. Living in Denial About Extra Pounds
When dealing with an overweight or obese child, “many parents say he or she will grow out of it,” says Joyce Lee, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Parents may say she is just big-boned or has a different body type.”
But this is a big mistake, Lee says. Yes, there are a lot of physical changes that occur during the grade-school years, including puberty, but a lot of kids don’t grow out of “it.” ”Never be complacent,” she says. Now is the time to introduce and encourage physical activity and healthy eating,” she says. “Good habits start young, and so do bad ones.”
Many parents think high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes are older people’s health problems. Not anymore.
Because of the skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity, conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes are now showing up in kids. “There is greater awareness of the problem of childhood obesity, but at the same time many parents may not realize that grade-schoolers are not too young to develop some of the complications associated with obesity,” Lee says.
If your child is overweight, watch your words. Don't dwell on size and don't shame the child.
“It is never about a number on a scale or how you look, it’s about health,” Mackey says.
Beth Volin, MD, the head of the pediatric primary care clinic at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, agrees. “This is an age where preteens become very body-conscious and there is a lot of stuff in the media about being super thin," Volin says. "It’s not unusual for pediatricians to start to see eating disorders in children in fifth and six grades.”
Don’t single out the child, either. "Say, 'We want this whole family to be healthy so we are all going to try to eat better and be more active,’” says Eleanor Mackey, PhD, a child psychologist at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Today in Parenting
WebMD Special Sections
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
©2005-2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.