I am new to this. I have a 14yr old daughter (103lbs) who do to radiation to the brain has almost no metabolism. One of her Doctors has told us for her to eat very little and excrise everyday. No more than 1200 calories a day! I feel that would be like starving her, plus I have 2 other children to worry about. My 7yr old wont eat anything over 100 calories from seeing me check things for her sister. She does walk every day and she is not a lazy child and she doesn't eat junk food. I do not want a 200lbs 17yr old but I dont want to starve her either. I am going crazy trying to count calories and watch every thing she puts in her mouth. is there something I can do that is healthy for all of them?

1200 kcal for a growing teenager who is recovering from a condition sounds quite restrictive to me. can your doctor refer her to see a pediatric dietitian?

i agree, counting calories can be addictive and may dampen the enjoyment of eating with families and friends. some days we eat well, some days we don't. that's especially true in kids. perhaps just relax a little

We have seen a dietitian, he tells me basically rabbit food as my daughter calls it! avoid all food normal teens eat. pizza burgers.

Eating little and often is the best place way to boost the metabolism. Having 5 mini meals is better than having 3 big ones. Exercise is also vitally important. Something like trampolining maybe appealing to your daughter, you really need to do an activity that gets you out of breath and makes you feel warm. Also 3 cups of green tea a day is an excellant way to boost the metabolism. Finally, I appreciate what the doctor has recomended, and as I am not a doctor I can't tell you not to do as he says. However, I am a diet and nutritional adviser and I know that by restricting calories the body's metabolism actually slows down to conserve enough energy to survive. At you daughters ago she requires at least 1845kcals per day! Restricting calories is actually the last thing she should do. I would recommend she eats the above amount and does plenty of exercise.
Best of Luck, Hope this helps!

1200 kcal for a teenager after cancer treatment seems to be low to me as well. caloric requirement depends on weight, age, gender and particularly medical conditions and treatment. i'm sorry that your daughter doesn't seem to like the recommendations by her RD if possible, ask your doctor for another referral to a dietitian who has oncology experience.

in my opinion, in order to create a positive attitude towards eating in children and teens, i don't like to name a food "bad" or "good". a dietitian colleague of ours Ellyn Satter is an internationally recognized authority on eating and feeding and has spoken in thousands of conference in the past 20 years about this topic. you may check out their work here http://www.ellynsatter.com/

thank you both for your input. it is very helpful to me and her.