One last thing that I’d like to throw out there on this topic is a question: What would you consider your most successful parenting story? Remember you don’t actually have to have kids to be a role model and parent so responses don’t have to be about your own kids. I think that it’s important to recognize success and give God the glory for the success no matter how small.
neumatikos 
I hope it will be successful, anyway.
I have a student who is a little heavyset. Just a little. His body is structured bigger than the rest of the kids in the class to begin with, but he really is only a little overweight. Three times this last week I’ve heard him talking, randomly, about going to get skinny. The first time he brought it up was to announce outside the bathroom, “I’m going to go to the hospital to get skinny.” An aide was nearby and also heard him; we were shocked that a 4 year old would even be hearing something along those lines.
The second time, a few days later, was a repeat. “I’m going to go to the hospital to get skinny.” Another student asked how the hospital would get him skinny. I suggested maybe they would teach about good foods to eat and how to get lots of exercise.
Monday, he made another comment about “getting skinny.” I stopped and told him that he was just bigger than the other kids, and that he always would be bigger. I put his wrist between my fingers and showed him how big his wrist was. Then I took the wrist of the boy next to him, who is fairly small, and showed him how much smaller his wrist was. I talked to him about how he was just made to be bigger, but that didn’t mean that he was fat. It just meant he was going to be bigger than the other kids.
Interestingly, now that I am thinking about it, I really haven’t had any real behavioral problems with him since then. Minor things, yes, but no real acting out like we had been having before. I just hope it sticks with him.
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