need advice for my 12 year old

OliveJuice821

Top tips to promote healthy childhood eating

Have regular family meals. Knowing dinner is served at approximately the same time every night and that the entire family will be sitting down together is comforting and enhances appetite. Breakfast is another great time for a family meal, especially since kids who eat breakfast tend to do better in school.

Cook more meals at home. Eating home cooked meals is healthier for the whole family and sets a great example for kids about the importance of food. Restaurant meals tend to have more fat, sugar, and salt. Save dining out for special occasions.

Get kids involved. Children enjoy helping adults grocery shop, selecting what goes in their lunch box, and preparing dinner. It's also a chance for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods, and (for older children) how to read food labels.

Make a variety of healthy snacks available instead of empty calorie snacks. Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grain snacks, and healthy beverages (water, milk, pure fruit juice) around and easily accessible so kids become used to reaching for healthy snacks instead of empty calorie snacks like soda, chips, or cookies.

Limit portion sizes. Don’t insist your child cleans the plate, and never use food as a reward or bribe.

Persuading children to eat more fruit and vegetables

Making mealtimes playful can mean healthier eating for your kids. Here are some fun, creative ways to add more fruit and vegetables to your child's diet:

Top a bowl of whole grain cereal with a smiley face: banana slices for eyes, raisins for nose, peach or apple slice for mouth.

Create a food collage. Use broccoli florets for trees, carrots and celery for flowers, cauliflower for clouds, and a yellow squash for a sun. Then eat your masterpiece!

Make frozen fruit kabobs for kids using pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes, and berries.

Go food shopping with your children. Let them see all the different fruits and vegetables and have them pick out new ones to try.
Try fruit smoothies for a quick healthy breakfast or afternoon snack.

Add vegetables and fruits to baked goods – blueberry pancakes, zucchini bread, carrot muffins.

Add extra veggies to soups, stews, and sauces, grated or shredded to make them blend in.

Keep lots of fresh fruit and veggies washed and available as snacks. Apples, pears, bananas, grapes, figs, carrot and celery sticks are all easy to eat on the run. Add yogurt, nut butter, or tahini for extra protein.

CMmrsfloyd

I would just try cooking and offering more fruits, veggies, and lean proteins in place of things you feel could be contributing to weight issues. That's the whole idea behind weight loss - eat less calories and/or burn more through increased movement. If you replace high-calorie offerings with lower calorie options, even if he still gets seconds and thirds he will be taking in fewer calories b/c of the difference in the things he's eating. I would do this for the entire family and make a point to say that you want the family to eat healthier foods so you can all be healthy and feel great. LOVE the idea of having him teach you what he learns in class. He'll probably love it too. If you have a gaming system that has an option for movement based games (like the Wii or my favorite the X-Box with Kinect), ask him to play those movement based games with you. Kick a ball around outside. Go for a bike-ride together. Explain that moving more helps you feel better and stay healthy. Explain that the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more enjoyable it becomes. And make sure you're offering healthy snacks, too. I know if I go too long between meals, I'm more likely to over-eat at the next meal b/c I feel like I'm starving. Having a snack or two during the day helps me feel satisfied longer.

Lots of great advice has already been given, good luck!

ChantalD75

Thanks all for your replies. There are some great advice that I will try.

ChantalD75

Thanks all for your replies. There are some great advice that I will try.

ChantalD75

Thanks all for your replies. There are some great advice that I will try.

CrzyAte

I have 13 year old twin girls that I guess are a little chunky. They play soccer and are very active so I know exactly where you are coming from. My daughter came to me and told me that a kid in class called her thunder thighs in front of the whole class. While no one laughed (which is awesome) I notice her checking out her thighs in the mirror all the time now. I figure if I don't intervene this is a recipe for an eating disorder for sure. I decided it was time for me to stop trying to figure out how I was going to lose weight and instead how was I going to make my family healthier. I feel if I share with them what I have learned it will help them in the long run. Knowledge is power. I let them have chips but first I ask them to look at how many servings it is and how many calories per serving and ask them to be aware of what they are taking in. I do not keep soda or snacks in the house because I don't want it to be convenient. It's a treat not a daily part of your diet. Some parents feel it is unfair to restrict the kids that don't have a weight problem but I fell it is unfair to allow them to learn unhealthy living. This is all new to me so it is not proven to work but it is what I am trying.

Good Luck!!!

Immaskinnycow

I am a mom of 5 girls. They range in age from 22 to 7. The younger ones are 10, 9 and 7 (she'll be 8 in November). My 7 yr old is in constant motion. She never walks, she hops, skips, runs, slides or flips pretty much where ever she is going. She is tall and very skinny. My 9 yr old likes being outside playing basketball, softball, riding bikes, walking the dogs. She is also tall and slender. My 10 yr old doesn't like to move at all. She likes to find a quiet corner and curl up with a book of any kind. She is tall but heavier than she should be. We have changed our entire lifestyle. This includes our kids and ourselves. The kids don't get 2nds or 3rds at dinner. When I make dinner, it is enough to feed everyone a nice portion and thats it. We dont have sugary snacks, sodas, candy in the house at all. Snacks consist of fruits, veggies, lowfat dip, granola bars, pop corn and such. If the weather is nice (as in not raining) the kids are outside and in motion. They are walking, running, playing and getting healthier everyday. Talk to your son. But in the end, you're the parent. Don't let him sit inside with tv and video games. Let tv and video game time be earned, not an everyday thing he does.

MIMITIME

If you can swing, a Wii would be great for the winter months for indoor activity. I bought a used one on Ebay for $80.00 for my grandchildren and it had all the extras. There is a great dancing segment on the Wii stuff and we all get up and dance. It is a lot of fun and good exercise. I was fat as a child and everyone except my dad stayed on me every minute. Please don't let any one do that to your son as it is something you always remember.

ThinspiredButterfly

i agree with spacemarkus 100 %!! another trick is to eat on small dark plates.eating on dark plates tricks your mind, you eat less.eating on white plates makes you eat 2x more.make him eat a banana and 2-3 glasses of water. i binged alll the time before, but after eating a banana, drinking lots of water and using dark plates hellped me lose 60lbs in a half a year.it really works.try it for a week, and if it doesn't satisfying him, move onto something else :]]

Bluestar083

Ok so this advice is coming from someone who grew up in a family whose parents modelled healthy behaviours-and all 3 of us are healthy, slim and love exercise.
here's what my parents did (and what I am planning on doing when I have kids)
* We never had any 'junk' in the house
* A 'treat' was a smoothie
* We did family things every weekend-bike rides, walks
* We all did sports
* We had a pool and spent most of the summer playing outside and swimming and on the trampoline
* 30 mins of screen time a day during the week
* Small portions. It was not until I went to friends houses I realised this-we used entree size plates
* Dad eats more than Mum. So I serve up my bf more than me. Guys eat more than girls.
* We didn't have to finish our meal

When i moved to the UK and worked as a nanny, the 7 yr old girl was not overweight but was solid. The 9yr old boy was slim. Their old nanny had been giving them adult sized meals and often 'pudding' (dessert) and she had been having a hot chocolate everyday after school. She also did sport at school everyday and walked 2km to and from school.
By the time I left 2 years later she was a slim 9 yr old. Here's what I did
* replaced the hot chocolate with a child sized smoothie (Nudie)
* gave them child sized meals-she complained for a bit but got use to it
* healthier meals
* dessert once a week-and it would be something like yoghurt ice cream with berries.
* when she asked for seconds I would say to her, 'Wait 30min and if your still hungry you can have some fruit.' I think once she was still hungry in two years and had some fruit.
* we got a Wii fit and played games on that in winter holidays, went to the park and rode/skated/played every nice day in summer or indoor playground.
So small changes. Remember YOU are the boss, your child eats WHAT you make and HOW MUCH you say. If your child is overweight YOU need to change it. If he wants more-say no. Tell him to wait. Then if he's still hungry-fruit. Don't give him pocket money to spend on food. These will instill healthy habits in him.

pfeiferfit

I'm a parent of a child who needs to slim down (not fat, but chubby, and we have tendencies towards it) so, I really appreciate this reminder (it's all common sense.)

The one thing I always fought was "dad eats more than mom" - it seemed weird, but when I do a calorie requirement for me, vs a man at my height and weight, dammit it's higher for the man. For whatever reason. So that one I've started to cave on.

For my son, being active as a family is the trick! And the no dessert. I did NOT grow up with healthy food habits, and man I wish I had.