My daughter sneaks food?

Question

My 6 year old daughter sneaks food at night and during the day, she weighs 76 pounds. We have her in sports to try and keep her weight in check. We have a lock on the pantry and she still gets into things. Just this past week I have caught her with popcycles at 6 am, soda at 6am and just now she came in from riding her bike and had chocolate on her face, she had gotten into the freezer in the garage and had eaten 2 chocolate ice cream cones. This has been going on since she was 3. I have caught her with a half gallon of ice cream in her bed. I don't know what to do. We used to have a cup hook lock on the pantry now its a combination lock, and since she can't get in there anymore she is moving on to other places where there is food. The only junk food in the house is her dads lunch stuff (cookies and chips) and Ice cream, when i buy treats for her and her brother she sneaks and eats them all. What do I do? She get's up in the middle of the night to get things.

When she is caught with ice cream or soda or other junk items in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning she get's into trouble. She likes fruit and veggies but at night or in the morning she craves the sugar. Last night is a prime example, we went out and watched a firework show and got in at 11, she was sound asleep when we put her to bed, 4 am her brother woke up and i came out to get him water and the door to the garage was cracked open upon investigating found that she had eaten the rest of the ice cream cones, 2 full boxes. She is now without tv and it doesn't matter to her. She makes her own sandwiches for lunch (limit one) and the have lettuce and tomato and cheese, so it's not like she eats nothing but junk, for breakfast she gets cheerios or a waffle (no butter or syrup). She like salad when we go out for dinner. I buy those oatmeal to go bars and she will eat the entire box in the middle of the night. Anything sweet.

For everyone who has said beat her, that is not an option. I will and have take things away but spanking is not the answer for this, and yes she does get spanked (for other things) but I am looking for a different way to deal with the food sneaking. There are people in our family that are overweight so she knows what overeating does.

Answer 1

I don't pretend to have the answers for you but two things immediately came to mind -
1. There shouldn't be all this junk food for her to get into in the first place
2. If you've let it go on for three years already... no one here can help you. It's a much bigger battle now than if she'd been doing it for 2 weeks.

A lot of people who suggested punishments got thumbs-down, but IMO if she's been taught how to choose healthy snacks and to let you guys know when she's hungry, and still chooses to sneak, then she is being disobedient. That's a problem. If I woke up to my daughter eating ice cream at 6:00am, she knows she'd be in trouble because she knows when treats are allowed, and when they're not.

I'm not clear on whether she's just been allowed to get away with this for too long, or whether there is an emotional issue as some have suggested. Both are worth looking into. My daughter rarely wakes up in the middle of the night, and surely has no interest in eating during that time, which makes me wonder if there really is another issue going on. You know?

Sports are an excellent idea, not to "make her lose weight", but to keep her occupied, and teach healthy activities. I give you kudos for that.

I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 2

I know of twin 7 year old boys and a 5 year old boy that does this. Even more so, they HIDE the "food" in their rooms for later!
Buying less junk does seem to help. Consequences for sneaking stuff when they are not supposed to seems to help a bit as well (such as taking away the tv or video games or a toy or whatever). She should eventually make the connection. As the 5 year old boy asked his grandfather "when I do something bad, good things go away. If I stop doing bad stuff, will the good things stay?"... he is getting better with the sneaking now that the connection is being made.
Also, try making a "time" for the snack foods, after certain criteria are met (example: after she eats ALL of her dinner and cleans her room, she can have a reasonable amount of a snack (a scoop of ice cream or a handful of chips, or something moderate) as a treat).
Have her go grocery shopping with you and let her choose some healthy snacks. She may be more inclined to eat those carrot sticks if she chose them herself!

Answer 3

In addition to eliminating junk foods from the house and locking up all food, even the healthy stuff, I would get a pediatrician and possibly a psychologist involved. There may be a physiological reason for her behavior (I watched a documentary once on Discovery Health about people who never feel full.) If not there is most likely a psychological. In either case, punishment may not help or it may need to be combined with some kind of therapy.
Good Luck

Answer 4

There are a few things you should consider here. First, what is your response when you catch her sneaking food? Is there some kind of consequence for her behavior, such as a chore she must do to make up for having taken food without asking? Have you talked to her about why she always wants to eat? You said that she can't get into the locked pantry, so now gets food from other places. It may not be convenient, but one option is to keep ALL food in locked cabinets so that you know she isn't getting into it when you aren't around.

Also, you have mentioned all sweet foods that she sneaks: soda, chocolate, ice cream. What happens if you give her a stash of healthy choices (apple slices with peanut butter, chilled grapes, trail mix) and tell her that she can choose to eat those foods whenever she wants? She may feel hungry in between meals and just not be sure how to make healthier choices. Since a lot of her eating seems to occur overnight, she may need to have a HEALTHY snack between dinner and bedtime so she doesn't feel hungry at 3AM.

A good indicator of whether she eats by choice or by compulsion is how she behaves at school. Is she content to eat her own food, or does she beg or steal extra food from her classmates as well? If she is compulsive about eating even at school, that's an important point to consider and you should talk to her doctor about it.

However, after you've considered the simpler causes of her behavior, we also have to consider that you said that she has tried to remove the locks on the cabinets. This could be an indication that she simply doesn't care what your rules are and is going to eat whatever she wants anyway. Or, it could indicate a medical condition where she is driven by an obsession for food- particularly sweet, sugary foods. Come to think of it, the craving for sweet foods could also be related to blood sugar fluctuations.

The point is, first consider if there is something you can do to correct her from a behavioral standpoint- consequences, encouraging healthier foods, etc. If this doesn't work, or if you don't know where to start, talk to her pediatrician or a child nutritionist to get some information on what they believe is causing her behavior- it could be by choice or it could be the result of a medical condition. Good luck, and please don't let this go on and become a health risk for her.

Answer 5

I feel for you. My son has been doing the same thing since he was about 2 1/2. He is now 5 1/2. He is 70 lbs. and he is in Karate going 4 days a week. He has lost a little of his tummy since summer is here now. My hubby and I have tried everything to get him to stop doing it, and nothing has worked yet. I have tried all the talks with him and I have tried punishing him. Nothing seems to work. The only thing I HAVE accomplished from all of this, is getting him to eat LOTS of veggies. I have put anything junk food up very high where he can't reach, and in the fridge, I leave lots of pre chopped vegetables and yogurt down at his level (I have a fridge where the freezer in on the bottom). I really haven't found anything yet to work. Good luck in your adventure as a parent. And if you do find something to work, e mail me please!

Answer 6

I would suggest locking EVERYTHING up.
Also, don't buy junk food. If your husband likes to eat that stuff, have him lock it up with the other stuff.
This is a bad habit and she will carry it on through life if you don't teach her how to eat properly. A treat every now and then is okay, but getting up every single night for treats isn't healthy at all. It will be harder for her to get used to eating right the older she gets. Being obese is highly unhealthy. My dad has started having heart problems because of it. And it would have gotten worse and worse to the point that they couldn't control it if he kept on doing those things. (He has it under control now)
You have to get it in control now. Don't be mean, but just teach her how to eat properly. Make it fun. And don't eat junk food infront of her. And don't give into any fits that she has over food. She's not going to starve to death if you don't give her 2 ice cream cones in the mornings.

Answer 7

I'm really kind of surprised that everyone's immediate answer is to either lock up food or punish the whole family....that wouldn't work at my house!

She is old enough to understand consequences, so talk to her. Not just once, but as often as you have to. Don't be mean or condescending, but try to get down to her level and get her to open up....what no one here has suggested yet is finding out WHY she does it!!!

Also, try to reason with her and help her choose better alternatives. Encourage her to come to you when she's hungry, and tell you put you have to really be patient and not get angry with her, it's going to be time consuming and aggrivating, but let her come to you when she's hungry and FIND something that you can both agree on...that may be the best place to start!

It's not GOING to become a big problem, it ALREADY IS!! If you have access to other diplomatic family members, have them try to talk to her as well, or consider talking extensively to your pediatrician or a therapist.

Keeping less junk food in the house is great for her, and everyone, but you can't just eliminate it and punish everyone either, there has to be a middle ground. Sometimes even just finding alternatives that are also appealing are good as well, but still I say again...WHY??? Until you understand they logic behind it nothing is gonna help!

Is she really still hungry??? Is she bored? Is she wanting attention? Is she having problems with a friend/neighbor/school/family member?? Most kids don't just "do" things like that, they are compensating for something else....and it isn't necessarily your fault!!

Punishment and reward systems can work well also, if done correctly. You can't make it SO hard to get a reward that it's unreasonable. Maybe do something like a sticker chart, and every day that she eats something healthy for meals/snacks she gets a sticker, and after 5 stickers she gets a small toy/extra TV time/stay up late....NOT FOOD REWARDS!!! lol
then the next week, make it 10 stickers, or something that will get her a small reward every couple of weeks.

You could also take a look at your own habits and see.....is she copying your or your husband's bad habits? I know that used to be the case at our house. When I stopped to think about how often I was just casually snacking on chips, candy, soda etc in front of my kids, I realized how bad it was, and I talked to them about the changes I was going to make and that we were going to try to do it as a family. It's not easy, but it's really going pretty well, though it's taken some time!

If nothing helps, do seek help from your pediatrician and check that there is not something amis with her blood sugar levels, thyroid levels, etc. that cause her to "crave" these things (I see you mostly list highly sugared items that she's sneeking?)

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

If you and your husband must have some sweets (which is understandable) buy one of those mini fridges and keep the sweets in your room. Most of those fridges have little freezers so you can keep ice cream in them. You can also keep the other goodies that you buy for the kids in your room. If practical do not take her shopping with you...if she thinks there are no goodies in the house, then perhaps she will stop looking for them and will instead come to ask you for them. This way you can better regulate what she is eating.

Answer 9

You should take a step back and look at this...

She is sneaking all junk food.How about instead of buying stuff that will make her fat.Buy fruits and veggies for her to snack on.I know your hubby and you may not like it.But kids follow what their parents do.If she sees you guys eating all kinds of fatty foods she is going to want to.If she sees you eating fruits and veggies she will want to do that.And maybe you should get a family gym membership and everyone go there to work out.I'm sure there is a kid friendly gym around where you live.Good luck.

Answer 10

Only buy healthy snacks and lock things up better. Have each child have their own locked up cabinet or something. Her Dad needs to stop buying junk food, it's setting abad example and giving her access to junk food.

If she does so these things, she needs to be punished. Take awat toys and privilages. If it means she goes to bed without dinner because that is the most important thing to her then you MUST do that so that she learns her lesson, don't worry she won't starve to death.

Btw, no one in my family has a weight problem and it seems to me WE have less junk in our house as compared to you. Go to the gorcery store and only buy healthy snacks, granola bars (oatmeal raisin, not chocolate chip), shredded wheat cereal or Basic 4, yogurt ice cream, baked chips or crackers, 100% juices and milk, whole wheat light bread (pepperidge farm), carrot sticks, celery, all fruits and veggies. NO junk food whatsoever.

And she probably needs more exercise than she is already getting, it will take up the time she will be spending hunting and eating food.