My 10yo Daughter is Obese

Just get her to make some good choices for food (which means you have to keep the junk out of the house) and I bet by the time she is 13, she will have sprouted up and will have thinned right out. My neice and nephew both were very short at age 10 and had "squishy" stomachs. They both have sprouted up and are within the healthy range of weight. Good luck!

MFP is set for *adults* (under 18s not allowed) because children are still growing and it's totally not safe for kids to be following diet plans intended for adults. Children need extra calories to grow that adults do not need, and a diet that's too restrictive can stunt their growth. Do you know how many calories is too restrictive for a 10 yr old who weighs the same as your daughter? I sure don't and I have a degree in human sciences. And that's before you even get on to all the possible psychological damage you can do to children by putting them on diets.

If you're concerned, take her to see a paediatric dietician, who can tell you how many calories she should have to lose fat the safe way for her. As far I know, children should not lose weight, but should "grow into" their current weight, i.e. as they get taller they slim out while their weight stays the same or only goes up a little. A paediatric dietician will be able to advise you how much and what foods she should be eating and what her goals should be in terms of weight etc, and also how to do all of this sensitively to avoid causing your daughter to have psychological issues surrounding food.

What has her pediatrician said? That is my first question because she's not fully physically developed as yet. Also, as an aside, I work with BMI charts every once and a while through my employer. A t4'10" and at 10 years of age, the chart I have access to for children 6-15 YOA states that a range of 68-143lbs is "preferred". But as several people have said, Pediatrician first!!!!

I wouldn't mess around with your kids health.
I'd take her to a pediatric doctor and see what they say.

I don't want to be rude, but I think this inappropriate. MFP has age rules for a reason. The calculations for a growing child will be different. Also, as someone who has had an eating disorder at a young age, I think 10 years old is way too young to be encouraging calorie counting. Your daughter just isn't emotional, physically or intellectually capable of understanding all of this in a healthy way at that age.

Why don't you take her to her pediatrician or a nutritionist and find a diet plan that is designed for a 10 year old girl. Then implement it for her, while educating her about health. You are the parents, so you can control the food in the home.

What has her pediatrician said? That is my first question because she's not fully physically developed as yet. Also, as an aside, I work with BMI charts every once and a while through my employer. A t4'10" and at 10 years of age, the chart I have access to for children 6-15 YOA states that a range of 68-143lbs is "preferred". But as several people have said, Pediatrician first!!!!

117 is not obese for someone who is 4'10.......I think you need to speak to her doctor before you damage your daughter. And 1200 is insane for a child....

1) As others have said, ask your pediatrician.
2) I would recommend thinking long and hard about how to approach this.


Perhaps you can encourage her to be active and take a look at how you are influencing her eating habits and do this without making any mention of her obesity.

MFP isn't going to be correct for children, unfortunately. I saw a trick to get kids to eat healthy snacks the other day where you use a white ice cube tray and fill the cups with colorful healthy snacks like fresh berries, carrots, whole grain crackers ect. The white color of the tray makes the whole thing look very beautiful and kids have fun picking and choosing what they like. It also makes small portions of food seem bigger due to the size of the tray.

What a CUTE idea!! Love this!

One of the biggest fights my ex husband and I had was the day he told our 7 year old daughter that she was getting fat.
I grew up with my parents constantly reminding me about my weight, from as young as I can remember. I grew up being overweight and very self conscious despite being active in dance classes 4-5 days every week.

I'm struggling now with my own weight and in trying to teach my kids about healthy choices. My 8 year old daughter is a little heavy for her height and I've noticed a pattern with her eating because she wants the food, not because she is hungry. I remember feeling as a kid that if I didn't have the food then I was missing out on something good. I don't know how this will turn out in the long run, but my focus with my kids is on making decisions that will help their body work best. We talk about what kinds of things our bodies need in order for everything to function well. When they come home after a weekend at their dad's house and tell me they don't feel good it gives an oportunity to discuss their bodys' reactions to eating junk food all weekend (their bodys' don't like the junk and the "not feeling good" is how the body tells us that).
Another thing I do with my daughter is to portion her food appropriately for her age and size, then when she asks for seconds I tell her we need to wait a bit to see if her body is really still hungry. Most times she gets distracted with other things and forgets about wanting seconds. At bed time I remind her that she asked for seconds, but when she got distracted with other activities and forgot about eating it was a way to see that she really wasn't hungry and needs to listen to her body.

I really hate seeing young girls with body image issues, it is so unfair that we do that to them so young. Try hard to focus on being healthy and not on how she looks or what clothes she can or cannot wear. When clothes shopping I never tell my daughter that something makes her look fat, I tell her it isn't a good look for her and find something else she likes just as much that works on her body. We all have different body types and the same style doesn't work for all of us.

Most important thing for your daughter is to see her parents setting a healthy example.

Good luck! This is a tough situation but with love you will all get through it!

She might be about to have a hella growth spurt

Buy and cook better food to feed her, be more active together. Ride bikes, play soccer, etc.

Other than that, talk to her doc and see what he says. Please don't give her a complex, it's hard enough being a woman.