Ok so my sister came to stay with us because my mom is kind of sick right now. She has the worst case of Bipolar anyways she wont take her meds and so its not a good time for my sister to live with her. Also my sisters dad (my stepdad) is working alot and inorder for him not to lose his house and car he needs to stay at work. So I am enrolling my sister in a school by my house and she will be living with me for the time being. Not sure on how long that will be but she is a great child and I dont mind it. Anyways so my problem is that my sister only eats certain things due to my moms health condition she only feeds my sister snack foods because she cant handle the pressure of make my sister eat. Anyways so I like to eat healthy as well as feed my family healthy and my sister is over weight at 5 years old. Anyways how do I get her to eat. 
Everything I try to get her to eat she says she doesnt like it 
so I keep trying to tell her its good but she wont eat it because my mom never made her eat it so what do I do. And by snacks I mean pizza, chicken nuggets, sandwiches, and hot dogs. Nothing else besides chips and candy. I would really like her to get down to a normal size as well as break her of the habit of snacks.
I would tell her that she needs to eat what you cook for your family and maybe on the weekend she can chicken nuggets & pizza. She may not even kow that it's junk food and how bad it is for her. It will work out once she see's you are not going to give in to everyday junk food.
Maybe you could start out by making healthier versions of these snack foods she will eat. Try pizza with lower fat crusts and toppings such as reduced fat cheese and turkey pepperoni or something. You could also take chicken breast chunks and bake them with a coating of cereal or bread crumbs to make it healthier. You could try baked chips and maybe sugar free candy.
Also, you might consider making food fun for her by making shapes with the food or funny faces with the foods. Possibly having her help prepare the food would also encourage her to eat it.
I'm sorry to hear you have this added pressure. Hopefully, others will have good suggestions for you as well.
Best of luck!
I think the best you can do is keep offering it to her. If she isn't used to eating real food, it may take her a while to get used to the idea. At 5, kids are picky anway. My 6 year old son is very picky. If he doesn't like what I make for dinner, he'll eat pb&j or bleu cheese sandwiches and a yogurt. You may be able to trick her into eating things that she isn't used to. Try to sneak veggies in and let her dip them in ranch or chip dip. Good luck!
Are you sure you'll be able to enroll her in school without being her legal guardian? My sis came to live with us for a while, but had to go back home because we couldn't enroll her without guardianship, which is a little pricy to get.
First I just want to say my hat is off to you for taking care of your sister. As for getting her to eat properly well that is certainly a challenge. I watch a tv show here that does exactly that. They take the food the kids do like and try to make it more healthy and the things they dont like more fun. For example if you give some kids a piece of fruit they will turn up their nose, so this lady made fruit kabobs and the kids thought it was like party food. Pizza is always good you just sneak some veggies in it in small pieces. I would also suggest maybe being a little more authoritive at meal time but I think maybe your lil sis is going thru a hard enough time so I dont really know about that. Another thing she does is make finger food with healthy ingredients and put them in in take out cartons so they again think its fun. Just some ideas I wish you all the best and hope these little hints can help
Finnox,
First, let me say I really understand what it's like to have someone close to you with bi-polar...it SUCKS!! 2nd- make what you normally do for dinner. The 5 yr old will get hungry enough..don't worry...she WILL NOT STARVE!! Trust me...She will gripe, growl, pout, throw a tantrum, ya know all that good stuff...then she'll realize "hey, I either eat what they have or my tummy rumbles". My son is bi-polar and I literally quit buying everything he would sneak and eat (cheese..any kind of cheese, cereal, crackers, soda, anything. ) He is starting to get the message now...if he runs out of milk within the week...he is responsible for buying his own. (mind you, he is 17 and thinks the food fairy is real!! he eats it, and somehow magically...whatever he ate, or drank...magically reappeared within a couple of days) I had to put my foot down. Now he eats what is made, or it's a very very long time til breakfast.
Sorry this was longwinded, but NO ONE knows what it's like dealing with MH loved ones...it affects EVERYONE in the family.
Good luck...hold your guns on this girl! You'll prevail!
I was always a picky eater as a child. (My mom used to get so mad!) Anyway, One thing she did was to let me get into the kitchen and help cook. There is something about eating food that you prepare as a child that just clicked with me. It was fun and it was acutually good for me. (And I learned to bake!)
My kids help me cook sometimes now.
She is 5 yrs. old right? When my son was this age or younger, getting him to eat what I want him to eat was very difficult.. it's either, he eats what he wants or nothing.. At this age, I would not really worry about it. Even now my son is still very picky.. He only eats, grilled cheese sandwch, mac & cheese, hot dog ; Peanut butter sandwich & cheese pizza. As long as she is active, like a lot of running around, then that would make up for the unhealthy foods she eats. If she was 50 yrs. old, then you can force her to eat healthy and start worrying.
At my son's school I raised HELL when his teacher preached at him on what he should be eating. The teacher was a vegan (so go figure).. I told her she can come to my house and cook healthy for him if that's what she wants him to eat. And until that happens I told her to shut up ! My son is not over weight and he is very active. No health issues or anything like that. Healthy as a horse.
Maybe do it gradually since health food is not what she was used to. How sad about your mother though.. I hope she will take her medicine so she gets better.. 
Thanks for all the kind words. With the enrolling her dad is going to take off come down here and fill out papers so that way I can pick her up in case of anything and check her out if I need to. I wont be her gaurdian SP but it will be ok as long as he feels out the papers and I have proof that I live where I do. I know its hard on her since our mom isnt around I never had our mom as a child and lived in Foster homes and I couldnt let that happen to my sister so I have decided to let her stay here as long as needed which is fine with my husband as well and her dad will give us money to take care of her but my mom needs to be put in a hospital so she can calm down and start taking her meds again before my sister goes and lives with her. My mom screams like no other and as most people know who are around or are living with bipolar people its not the nicest thing in the world. But I will take yalls tips and try that. I am going to start trying to work on mashed potatoes and mac and cheese the normal things most kids eat. What is also crazy is she eats cereal without the milk never heard of that but I put the milk in this morning and told her that it has to have milk and she ate it.
My son eats cereal with OUT milk, but he will drink a lot of milk on the side.. he never liked milk in his cereal..
lots of luck to you and your sister..I'm sure she is very safe in your home.
I'll tell ya what works like a charm with my kids....they all hate beef stew and whenever I made it for dinner they'd all refuse and go hungry rather than take even ONE bite......so now....the 3 and 4 yr. old use scissors and help cut up celery and the 7 yr. old cuts all the carrots and meat and onions......they love beef stew.......actually I think they just like eating it because they made it!!! Maybe you could get the healthier versions of what your sister already enjoys and then go one step further and let her help make it.....little kids love to help out in the kitchen! My kids loves veggies too because I let them plant them in the spring and they watch em' grow and can't wait until they're ready to eat! I'll bet it you got her some whole wheat pizza crusts (mini ones) and let her sauce it and put veggie cheese or low fat cheese and turkey pepperoni or even soy pepperoni on it.......she'd eat it just because she made it!
Thats what I was thinking. Like me I have a thing of ice cream I can eat it once in a while very strong when it comes to junk food but I know if my sister sees it then she will want it. Like her dad brought pudding with her and since she knows I have it then she wants it so I dont want her to be sad so I say yes of course so once there is no more I will not buy any that way preventing her from wanting it. I am also not allowing her to have cokes and only juice milk and water so that way it will help on the sugar intake. I am trying everything to make her healthy but at the same time happy. I just dont want her to be upset and her not tell me my husband is also very nice to her and trys to help her understand that she doesnt know if she doenst like it unless she tastes it. She used to eat all foods but as my mom started to get worse the more junk food was brought into her diet and the bigger she became. It may sound like I am over doing it but she is 5 and is about 80 pounds. So yeah I am just trying to help.
I commend you for stepping up to the plate. 
I have a 5 year old and if I let her she would eat hot dogs everyday, all day long she would. I buy healthy snacks like cereal bars without too much sugar, fruit like bananas, grapes and the presliced apples. I tell her she has to eat 5 spoonfuls of her dinner and then she can have a snack. It is typical I think for children at that age to want to eat junk food. But remember you are the adult. Also, the reward system works great. Give her a sticker if she eats all her peas and don't fuss about the other stuff on her plate. Or offer her a sugar free popsicle if she eats her food. Even 30 minutes of her favorite cartoon without interruptions. We even do a happy dance when something is accomplished well in our home. You will be surprised how well a word of praise goes over. Remember you both have some transitioning to go through so take it slow and eventually you will have her eating better.
See I am also a picky eater as well so its not like I will be making her eat brussel sprouts or even fish inless its fish sticks and I dont eat off the wall foods. I just like to eat a real meal I cook dinner every night and as growing up I always ate what was for dinner or starve so I was raised to cook and now enjoy it. I know there will be some things that she wont eat that I eat but I would at least like her to try what we are eating. So I will be trying to have her eat what she helps me make. That would be fun.
Let me start by saying that I have four kids ages 8, 7, 5, and 3. My kids will all eat just about anything. They wille at things other kids turn their noses up at. The reason they do is because I fed them everything as they grew up. I make dinner and they're expected to eat it. The ONLY time I make special dinners is if someone is sick. That's not to say we don't eat our share of junk food, but we keep everything balanced.
A 5 year old in my opinion doesn't have rights when it comes to eating. You can't just give in because you don't want to be mean because you're not being mean. You're doing what's best for her. Keep junk food out of the house and don't serve special meals for her. She should eat whatever you regularly make (unless you make liver and onions LOL).
Since you metioned soda and juice, I'll add my 2 cents about that too. Soda should be a special occasion treat only with kids, especially 5 year olds. Juice should be limited to one small glass a day and you should work on watering it down. Juice is just as bad as soda sugar wise. Most people don't realize that most juice isn't healthy. Orange juice, prune, cranberry (with a high percentage of cranberry) are better choices than apple, pear or grape.
You've done a great thing taking in your sister. Just remember that you're acting as her guardian and it's going to mean being firm when it comes to her health. If she is close to 80 pounds than it's imperative to stick to your guns! Good Luck!
I agree 100% because when I grew up I ate what was made so I believe she should too. I think if she eats chicken nuggets then any other chicken should be eaten too. I also think the same thing with potatoes if she eats french fries then she needs to eat the rest and so on. I am very worried about her health as in her dads family they are in the 300s and up besides for her dad which is a really tall skinny man and so I dont want her to be like his family and be over weight and doesnt want to go anywhere. She is so young and has so many more years to go in school and I dont want people to talk down on her.
You are so good, bless you.
Everyone on here has all good ideas and especially about making her eat healthier by getting her to help in the kitchen and making the food fun.
We eat healthy in our house and that too, are vegetarians.
I do NOT make food for guests or relatives with kids that I would not normally feed us. We have had picky eaters too, but if they don't eat it that's up to them. Incidentally, it is rare that they won't eat the food because I try to make it fun and tasty and even those who don't normally like their veggies and won't eat at home will usually eat them here, much to the irritation of their parents, LOL...
So cook what you like and she will eat it eventually, and getting her to help is definitely going to help too. And maybe even with the holidays coming you can sneak healthy stuff in along with the gingerbread houses and stuff you can do with the kids.
One of my daughter's favorite things is my Mac-n-Cheese-n-Trees.
Just doctor up regular dish with chopped broccoli (trees) and a handful of chopped tomatoes. She LOVES it, so does every kid that comes over, and it is a great way to get them to eat the veggies. Salsa and blue corn tortilla chips or veggie sticks rather than potato chips or pretzels. Make carrot cake and zucchini bread and pumpkin muffins and sneak in the good stuff wherever you can. For instance: she doesn't like onions, so put them in the blender before you add to your dishes, she will never know and you watch, she will eat them! Make baked sweet potatoes rather than white, go for whole wheat crust on the pizza, instead of chicken nuggets try spiced tofu cubes and bake in oven and so on.
A little resistance at first but then she will enjoy. 
She will resist and that's okay, she is only 5. If you do not put the junk food in your house and she isn't allowed to drive your car to the junk store, she will have to develop a new type of food appreciation. One thing that you can do is put the food that she can get herself within her reach. (Bottom shelves, low shelf in the refrigerator) Have her help fix her meals that you approve. Reward her for trying foods that she is opposed to. (Painting fingernails, books, hairstyling etc.) Maybe, play a game like alphabet food. All week she eats a food that starts with the letter A---apple, aspargus, artichoke, etc. Next week B--bannana, berries, broc., baby peas, etc. Once you finish the alphabet, then do colors--Red foods, Green foods, Orange foods, Blue foods, Yellow foods. One color a week. I use to teach 2,3 & 4 year olds in my daycare and they had fun eating this way.
I would tell their parents that if you give them a choice between junk food and nutritious food, what do you think they will choose. She will see your children eating and will follow what they do. Good Luck
I have a 5yr old and I find dinner is much easier if I let HER choose what we eat. Now I certainly don't just ask her what she wants (I could only imagine the answer I would get.... 
) what I do is list 3 acceptable items and she gets to choose from that. So I will say something like shall we have peas, green beans or broccoli?
She knows we have to have a protein source, a veggie and a fruit for dinner and gets to make 3 decisions that way.
I would try and steer away from the potatoes, MacNcheese, etc.... since you would like her to lose a little weight. Try simple meals like baked chicken, a steamed veggie and a fruit.
I also allow mine to dip their veggies, meat, whatever in fat-free ranch dressing. I find they'll eat almost 2x as many veggies that way.
You should talk to her pediatrician as well. Usually you don't want overweight kids to lose weight as much as grow into their weight. Now if she's severely overweight that may change, but at 5 years old she's got a lot of growing to do. So don't necessarily limit her eating in a diet sense. Just make sure you keep lots of veggies on hand that she can have an unlimited number of if she complains she's hungry.
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