My little sister is 6yrs old, overweight, but not morbidly. She eats pretty awfully, she never stops eating when she's at home. My parents won't do anything about it, they supply tons of junk food in our pantry, and don't encourage any type of healthy eating. My sister averages at least an ice cream a day, along with biscuits, chips, and soda at every meal. She eats very little fruit/veg, or anything nutritious for that matter. She never eats more than half of her dinner, and sti gets desert every night. She lacks discipline in general. She never gets in trouble, even for horrid things like screaming and hitting. At the most she gets sent to her room, and then she will come out within seconds and not be in trouble. I'm very healthy, being a competetive soccer player. I eat as perfect diet as possible 90% of the time. I'm 15 yrs old. I have tried to encourage my little sister to eat healthier. I told her all about what different vitamins do, how she will have nice smooth skin, a hewlthy heart, lots of energy. I told her that eating junk food is fine if you do do sometimes. She was motivated to eat well for maybe 2 weeks before losing interest, and going back to eating the world in one bite. Should I intervene on my parents?
bring it up to them, ask whoever cooks meals if they could follow a nutrition plan. make one up for them to make it easier. go shopping with them and ask to not buy all the junk food.
I don't think this would work, they will get angry at me. My family, excluding me, are firmly indulged in their 'comfort zone'.
I think it's a difficult problem, definitely. Given that you're 15 you're probably not in any position to take over shopping or food finances. There are perhaps little things you could try. Buy some healthy snacks for yourself, and share them with your sister. If you see her going for some potato chips or a candy bar, see if you can interest her in something healthy instead. Offer to cook dinner sometimes-- making a healthy stir fry is easy and delicious. Try playing soccer with her outside. She might like doing what her big brother does, and if she gets into it, she might be inspired to eat better because it will make her more fit, get tired less easily, etc. As for the discipline problems your little sister has, I don't know what to say. You could explain to your parents that you are worried about your little sister and that you're upset by the dynamic she creates when she acts out-- especially when she gets violent. But I think that's all the "intervention" you can have at this point-- it would be inappropriate to get any outsiders involved, given what you describe here. Full disclosure-- I'm a 28 year old single guy who's never had kids, so I'm definitely not speaking from any experience.
While I have a little more experience than fischerw, I'm not sure I have any better answer. As father of 4 pretty health conscious adults, I've tried to eliminate junk food and healthy life style, but I'm still a cookie monster at times. As far as suggestions, I would be careful and not too repetitive. You could ask for more healthy snacks - like fruit, eggs and cheeses, and suggest not getting so many cookies(or donuts or some other junk food), because you and Sis eat too many of them. An aunt or uncle or grandparent could also be an ally. You could also suggest family activities that include exercise - like hiking or swimming. Good luck.