Advice on helping my 11 year old lose weight

DawnieB1977

Well, obviously you can control what food you have in the house, and what you all have for meals, so make sure everything is super healthy. Maybe have one treat meal, like on a Saturday where you have a homemade dessert? Then he won't feel deprived.

Can you make him a lunch to take to school so you can avoid giving him money for food?

Perhaps find a sport he's interested in and get him to do that. At the weekends go for walks, go swimming etc. Maybe get an exercise game for the Wii/Xbox (if you have one) and make it fun.

I was overweight as a teenager and I wish my parents had done something! You can do something without hurting his feelings, and he will thank you for it when he's older.

I've got a 3 year old and 1 year old who luckily are tall and slim now, but i'm aware that this could change so i'm teaching them healthy habits now. We go out all the time, and they'll happily eat fruit. My 3 year old will choose a fruit smoothie over hot chocolate when we go for a drink.

fattyfoodie

I haven't read all of the replies, so forgive me if I am repeating the advice of others.

My advice is stop making an issue of it. Stop telling him that he has to eat healthy and so on- kids will fight you tooth and nail on everything.

Provide the best food you can.

Get out and move together.

Find an activity that he loves and encourage him to participate.

Do this as a family... you all eat the same healthy food and try and get some exercise together, even if it's just a 30 minute walk after dinner.

I was an overweight kid and the more my mother tried to stage interventions the more I resented her, even though she was trying to help. When she stopped talking and started doing, that's when things turned around for me.