Is Low Carb Bad for Kids?

I received the following comment in response to a post about my son eating cream puffs for breakfast at my brother-in-law's house:

I've posted before on your website and I will again, because I am seriously fearful for what you are doing to your children. I've noticed numerous posts about your children wanting carbs for breakfast or snacks (ex: craving sugar and carbs in the cream puffs on dec. 29).  Ever think that you're depriving your children of the very nutrients that make them grow? I don't know why you feel you have to deprive your children of one of the essential parts of nutrition.  Fruit has carbs.  Whole grains have carbs. What makes you think that these things are evil? I feel terrible, TERRIBLE for your daughter.  Saying that your children will be "working off" the 2 cream puffs they had for breakfast is horrifying and I can only imagine the psychological ramifications that will result from your dietary obsession. I pray that your daughter doesn't develop an eating disorder as she grows older, and you should too. for shame.

I am going to take these comments as coming from the heart rather than someone coming to the website and trying to start a confrontation just for the sake of starting a confrontation. (I have a few people who like to do that.)

I, as a blog writer, also have to realize a few things:

1. Many people come in and just read one post, are not regular readers, and don't know how to navigate the entire site to see my whole philosophy.
2. When I write, I sometimes leave things out that seem obvious to me but are really not obvious to the reader.

Let's dissect this post on cream puffs, which I wrote quickly while I was up in Vermont just as a filler. I didn't even give it a category because it literally was a "puff piece."  If you don't categorize it, then it just kind of scrolls off with the date. (I have since rectified this and put it into Low Carb Kids because of the great comment.)

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Cream Puffs for Breakfast During the Holidays

OK, OK, OK, I am not a low carb zealot, I let my kids be kids every once in a while... but this one even shocked me a little bit.

My son slept over his cousin's house and they both wanted breakfast. My brother-in-law recited the list of breakfast items that they could have and they said, "naaa" to each one of them. Finally, one of them piped up, "How about cream puffs?"

(New comments: These cream puffs are the cream puffs sold at Costco. I don't have the label to put up for the nutritional content because I don't buy them on a normal basis to have in the house. They are about an inch to an inch and a half around, made with white flour, with powdered sugar on top. They are stuffed with a sugared cream filling. I highly doubt that there is any fiber in them.)

This breakfast suggestion didn't shock me coming from kids, but my brother-in-law said yes! When he first told me he said he split up 25 small cream puffs into two piles and let each of them eat half. He then rescinded that version of the story and told me he let each of them eat two for breakfast. After that I breathed a sigh of relief -- only two!

(New comments: If you piled up 12 to 13 of these cream puffs into a pile, you would have quite a huge bowl to eat! I wish I had the container information so I could tell you the calorie count as well. There is no fruit in them. I guess they might have some calcium due to the cream, but that is about it.)

(And they are both going to work off those cream puffs sledding and making snow forts today!)

(New comments: I'm thrilled whenever my son goes outside to play in the cold northeast! Believe me, the kids themselves didn't see this as a chore or a hardship, they were excited to use their new Christmas sleds and play with each other!)

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If you read the rest of my site, I have my kids on a low carb modified diet. What does this mean for breakfast? It means that they actually eat more fiber now than they did before the diet. I don't let my kids eat sugary cereals. They eat eggs, lots of low carb bread and cereal products (which have good carbs and lots of fiber compared to your normal white bread products.) Some items include: low carb bagels, low carb bread, low carb pitas.

As far as fruits, I have them eat the whole fruit rather than drink the juice. They eat whole apples, whole grapes, whole pears, whole tangerines, whole strawberries, whole blueberries, whole cherries -- with the skin except for tangerines. The only juice that they drink is the Light'n Healthy Orange juice.

As far as veggies, my son only eats Costco broccoli and celery with cream cheese. He has at least one of these every day in a huge helping. My daughter eats everything, including kale, spaghetti squash and other exotic vegetables.

So, what have I cut out? Pre-packaged foods filled with sugar and white flour, including most soft drinks. I have substituted some pre-packaged foods filled with soy and splenda or other ingredients because kids don't want to be different, and I can understand that.

My kids are by no means skinny, and that is because I don't limit their intake when they go to parties, music nights, etc. They then eat the pizza filled with white flour, and the regular chips, and yes, the cream puffs. I'm waiting for them to self-enforce the rules at these times if they need to in the future. I'm also hoping that time and height will take care of some of the problem I created for them when they were young, letting them eat all that refined white flour and sugar.

They are also not stunted in their growth. My son just turned eight and he is 4 feet 7 inches tall. I don't have my daughter to measure right now, but she just turned 11 and is over 5 feet tall.  If my son were left to his own devices, he would live on sugar cereals, Bisquick pancakes with real maple syrup, white bagels with cream cheese, sausage, bacon, white rolls and biscuits, fried mozzarella sticks, chicken teriyaki, crab rangoons, white sticky rice, chicken fingers, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, pepperoni pizza, cupcakes, cookies, candy, chips and Doritos, ice cream sundaes, sugar sodas, fruit juice, peanut butter and jelly on white bread, and bologna on white bread. Oh, he does like eggs once in a while. And he will eat apples and pears. The above is a recipe for disaster: bad carbs, fat, and sugar.

So, after learning more -- is a modified low carb diet bad for kids? I'd like to hear your comments, because, as I said above:

1. Many people come in and just read one post, are not regular readers, and don't know how to navigate the entire site to see my whole philosophy.
2. When I write, I sometimes leave things out that seem obvious to me but are really not obvious to the reader.

Comments

[oola]

I applaud you.

I've recently been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes. Most would say that I have only myself to blame...which is true to an extent.

My habits were created as a child, with only white bread ever in the house, potatoes served almost as a meal "filler" every day, flakies and Joe Louis packed in my lunches, I could go on and on.

I've recently started Dr. Atkins induction phase and feel great. I have way more energy than just a week ago, and have lost 10 pounds in 12 days. I still have a long way to go...

...and a lot more to learn. But even as I'm doing this for myself and my own health, I'm slowly changing what I serve my family at meals as well. My son (almost 3) hasn't yet noticed the missing rice from under the stir fry or that the spaghetti noodles are now julienned zucchini. He hasn't seen a piece of white bread in two weeks and doesn't seem to mind that peanut butter and banana sandwiches are served on chunky, seedy whole grain.

Who can argue with changes like these? I certainly wouldn't consider cutting him back as far as I am myself for induction (20 grams or carbs or less per day), but then, I'm eating lots of salad greens, eggs, cheeses, and fresh veggies I've never tried before, and what's wrong with that?

Comfort foods are determined during childhood...let's us parents be comforted by the habits we're creating today.

-oola

[Brian]

Geez where do I start....ok first white bread and potatoes didn't give you type 2 diabetes. Genetic risk factors, being overweight, and not exercising are the usual culprits. Second, your kids aren't fat from eating flour. They are fat from fast food and sodas. The vast majority of doctors will tell you that the good ol' food pyramid is still the best guidlines to use for feeding your kids. Yes no one would argue that all the veggies and whole grain foods are good for them, but it sounds like you are over-compensating for your own weight problem??? Whatever your reason, just because you haven't stunted their growth doesn't mean that they are getting enough glucose energy levels. Do your kids a favor and if you want them to eat healthy at least do it under the supervision of an actual dietician....instead of assuming you know so much about pediatric nutrition because you read a book.

[Brian]

i meant "enough glucose for healthy energy levels"

[Sheperd]

Nope, I have to say that I dont think that modified low carb is bad for kids. In fact, I think that modified low carb eating is actually the eating habits of most Americans over 50 years ago. Kids need modified low carb now days, or they will end up with early onset of diabetes. I have recently joined the low carb bandwagon again and I am here to stay for good! I may not be your typical low-carber because I watch my fat as well (not South Beach, restricting most fats) but when I do buy things such as cream cheese or cottage cheese I buy reduced fat. It is not healthy for our children to do low carb and eat carbs at times and then have the high fat that low carb allows....we are not doing them any favors then.

[Jan]

Modified carb may or may not be harmful for children. Define what you mean by "modified." How many grams of carbs per day do you allow your children to consume? Healthier carb choices such as 100 percent stone ground whole wheat, fruits, veggies, brown or converted rice, potatoes, etc. are best. I see nothing wrong with replacing the empty carbs of white bread with a lower carb white bread, replacing juice with whole fruit instead, syrup with sugar free syrup, replacing fatty, high carb deserts with low carb/low fat ones (best) or even low carb/higher fat desserts. Desserts are splurges. But the diet should be lower in fat on a daily basis in general. A nutritionist should determine the minimal amount of carbs healthy to feed your child based on weight. My child has Type 1 diabetes (not caused by diet; it's autoimmune in nature and she is and has been in the super-thin, almost too thin category from birth). We modify carbs to 60 grams or under per meal strictly for purposes of controlling blood sugar, no weight problem; yet meet her nutritional guidelines of 180 grams of carbohydrate per day. Most children eat many more carbs than this. But 180 grams for her weight and age is optimal; it would be better for all children than the typical American diet. It depends on how you modify carbs. Modifying carbs in the extreme is unhealthy for growing children. Adults are grown and can modify carbs to their hearts content.

[Kristi]

I stumbled on your blog today and wanted to thank you for your insight. I am a mother of three children, two of which are considered obese. My oldest is an 11 year old daughter who has gained almost 50 lbs in the past three years. At 11 years old she weighs more than I weighed when I got married. I've never had weight problems, as a result I've always eaten whatever I wanted so while my body wasn't showing how unhealthy I was I now know that I was. My father's family is full of diabetics, his father recently had his leg amputated as a complication of the disease. About two years ago I made the decision that we were going to change the way our kids eat. We started buying only low fat, we stopped buying processed meals and began making meals at home. Unfortunately either white rice, potatoes or pasta were served almost every night. I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be- I was making home cooked meals, buying low-fat sour cream, skim milk etc. Guess what- as mentioned above my kids all continued to gain weight, especially my daugher- and now she was to an age that it was starting to affect her self-esteem. I almost gave up and decided that my kids were just destined to be overweight and it was my job to teach them to love themselves any ways. About six weeks ago my husband came accross a blog similar to this we studied it out for the next couple weeks and made the decision that for our family this was the answer, we've been low carb ever since. In four weeks I've lost almost all the extra weight that I gained from having kids, my husband is down about 10 lbs with another 10 to go to be to his goal weight- we've had no time to exercise much. We're trying to figure out how to get our kids on board. My daughter is much more open to the idea, my 9 year old son sounds alot like yours. He is not overweight but he eats TERRIBLY. He was obviously given my family's metabolism while the other two got my husband's family's genes. My five year old son will usually eat what I give him, unless his big brother is next to him saying that it's "gross". SO, my question for you is if you have found any kid friendly recipes that your son likes that you could share. School will be getting out next week so I will be feeding my kids all three meals and lunch concerns me ALOT. I don't know what to make them other than sandwiches, hotdogs, mac and cheese, etc. I've lived on salads for lunch for the past month but the boys won't touch a salad, any suggestions you have a greatly appreciated.

[KP]

With kids that young, you can still give them sandwiches, just use low carb bread! It will cut the amount of carbs so you should see some results. It will also up the fiber. Do you go to Costco? Costco has low carb pita breads for sandwiches. They also have low carb tortillas that we use to make pizzas.

Mac and cheese, try the Dreamfield's pasta instead of regular pasta. That you have to buy at a regular grocery store or online. And good luck!