Need help for resources for my son. 9 years old

thomaszabel

My son wants to use some kind of tracker for food and exercise. He is 9 years old and about 35 lbs. overweight, but we're using Excel and looking up food info on my MFP account to track him. Over the last month, using our current setup and plan, we've gotten him to shed about 4 pounds. My goal isn't as much having him lose weight as having him maintain while "growing into his weight". Even though he is overweight, he is incredibly active, swims 1-2 miles daily for swim team, does taekwondo, etc.

Anyway, I just checked out sparkteen.com, and it has a min age of 13, and it specifically says that they will delete any accounts if they find out the person isn't a teen.

Anyone know of any other sites that would accept him? It's adding on a lot of extra time per day for me to toggle back and forth between Excel, my MFP account, trying to mimic and create graphs for him, etc.

ashenriver

I would talk to his doctor and maybe get a referral to a registered dietician that works with children.
Maybe he doesn't need to track calories exactly, but just have a food log, studies have proven that just logging it beneficial since you are being accountable for what you are eating.

With that any notebook would do, I also picked up a food log book from the bookstore.

Iknowsaur

He seems a little young to be logging all his food. He might just be very mature for his age, which is great! But before puberty, especially if kids aren't VERY overweight, it's hard to tell if it's a serious problem or not and you don't want them to be too worried about it. You don't want his relationship with food to become a negative thing.
Using something like excel seems like a good idea. I wouldn't really want my 9 year old tracking online.
And I would also talk to your doctor about it.
You seem like you know what you're doing. Just remember not to push him too much. It needs to come from him, even at such a young age. That's my opinion, at least.
(I was overweight my whole life. I started wanting to lose weight around 9 or 10, because I was bullied. My mom didn't have me track when I came to her with my problem, but did start have me help her cook healthy meals in the kitchen so I really knew what I was eating.)

Ninkyou

Talk to his pediatrician.

Honestly, even if he's 35 lbs overweight right now, that doesn't mean he always will be. He's not even close to done growing. He's just a kid! Once he hits a growth spurt, that 35 lbs is going to seem like nothing.

If you're really concerned about his weight, I don't think tracking food is the answer. I think he just needs to get out and play! Physical activity will do more for him in the long run.

JaneLane33

USDA has a tracker on choosemyplate.gov and I can't seem to find any age requirements there. They don't have any community features it's strictly a food and exercise tracker. Their BMI calculator for children takes you to the CDC and they have some calorie charts for children based on age.

TylerAvenger

DEFINITELY give your concerns to a doctor and see what they have to say. Better safe than sorry.

thomaszabel

Thanks. Over the last few months, we've generally been focusing on cutting out the soda, processed foods, mcdonalds, etc., and signed him up for a swim team that pretty much does 1 1/2 - 2 hours of straight swimming and laps 5 days a week. We spoke to his physician, and he has basically said not to worry too much, but suggested the cutting down of junk food and more exercise. I just don't want him to get 15 or 16 years old and have him be in crisis mode.

It's all working out so far though. We aren't really obsessing on counting calories and all, but when he sees me on MFP, he wants the same cool charts and graphs. I'll check the choosemyplate website and see what tools it has. Otherwise I'll just mock something up in Microsoft Excel or Access.