:confused:My five year old grand daughter wants to eat all of the time. My daughter brought her into the dr. and they run some tests, everything came out normal except her thyroid levels were a little elevated. They said they would keep an eye on them. My daughter was told to make sure she feeds her health snacks and meals. The problem is now she is sneaking food when she thinks no one is watching. She weighs 60 pounds. My daughter is devastated. She doesnt know what to do. Any suggestions on why she is doing this and what we as her family can do to help.

Is the problem with the amount of food your granddaughter eats, or the kind of food? If she's eating healthy, it can't be too big of a deal if she eats more than the average five-year-old. Does your daughter keep junk food around the house that your granddaughter can get into? What kind of food is she sneaking? Also, is the child kept fairly entertained, or is she frequently bored? Is she feeling any kind of anxiety (like from being in school or what-not)? Both boredom and stress, as you probably know, can cause overeating or fake feelings of hunger. Do you know how often the child eats?

It might be extreme, but I would suggest putting locks on the refrigerator and all the cabinets the child can get into. If she's sneaking food, the best way to discourage her is to take away her access to this extra food by locking it away. Sounds mean, but it's for her own good - at her age, she doesn't know that eating excessively will be detrimental to her health.

My dd is the same way. We don't know if there's a real problem yet or whether it's just because she has ADHD and uses up the calories very quickly.

We've put locks on the pantry where the snack foods are.

We've told her that if she's hungary at night she an have the cut up veggies in the fridge or a slice of toast. We don't use food as a reward or punishment.

Hopefully we'll get into the dr. this week and figure out some things.

Jeannie