OMG - Dd anyone just watch that show Fatter and Fatter on the ABC???

[SassyMummy]

If your child is running around all day, it's a bit different.

I think the recommendations are there for kids who do moderate exercise, not HEAPS. Same as an athlete will be able to eat a lot more than an your average person.

Maybe protein might help though... that's a good one for muscle repair (so good after exercise) and is filling for longer.

[Benji]

He does eat plenty of high protein foods, too - loves nuts (although can't have too many as he's in school for most of the week. But then I've heard too much protein can lead to obesity *sigh* can't win

[sweetseven]

As an adult who was, at one stage, technically morbidly obese, I get really really upset when I hear of stories of obese children.

I remember one situation that really didn't sit well. My mothers best friend had three kids, a girl my age and two older boys. We grew up together pretty much like cousins.

But when the girl became a teenager the mother got jealous that she was prettier than herself, so deliberately fattened her up with treats every day. The poor little girl was not Snow White, she was just a normal teenager, but her mother manipulated her diet to ensure she gained unnecessary weight due to her own vanity.

(And for anyone that is interested, when the girl was late into her teens, the mother was diagnosed with mental illness and put into care. She has since been released, but now lives alone and has almost no contact with her children and grandchildren.)