Advice on helping my 11 year old lose weight

He is 11. Of course he says he can't stick to it! But he's obese and besides bullying, this is a medical concern. Have you talked to the dietitian about foods he would like that are balanced-his favorite vegetables and fruits, maybe make homemade granola bars at home with him, or go on long family walks/bike rides?

Control the home environment as much as you can; you said you're providing healthy food at home, which is so important. Maybe chuck the TV and video games, if he has access to them. He will probably drive you up the wall for about three weeks, but just keep encouraging him to go outside and entertain himself. I bet he'll find something active to do.

I'm dealing with a similar problem, so I understand that you want to encourage him to help himself, but I don't know if there's a way to do that without crushing him. I guess it just depends on how sensitive he is.

Maybe, sign him up for a school or community sport and don't let him quit? Tough love? I wish I could help more

I only do homemade food now, very little processed food and although I monitor what he easts at home he sneaks and will eat crap at friends houses or places I cant control as much. I had type2 diabetes and high blood pressure and have just recently gotten off all medications. My husband is still on both. We have a history of obesity, diabetes, HBP, and heart disease that runs through both of our families. I did get the info from our nutritionalist and have stuck to it at home as best as our budget will allow. We have tried getting him to walk, play a sport or get off his butt and move around and like I said before he will do great for a week then stop. Both my husband and I work 40+ hours a week and have switch shifts so its difficult for us to keep at it with him as well.

I can relate with the budget thing. Times are tight for most of us.

what about taking him out to do things that are fun but also exercise.... roller skating/blading......wii fit challanges....or wii dance off (if you have a wii).... basically finding something that gets him moving that he likes too. And you are right it is hard to control what he has when he goes to someone else home.

Enroll him in after school sports!!! Football, wrestling, SOCCER, or something he chooses! He has got to play sports as well as eat right to lose the weight.

Everyone is giving you good advice. Our pediatrician recommended that we participate in a program through Children's Hospital to educate my son on making healthy food choices and getting exercise. If your son got involved in a good group like Boy Scouts, he will be camping out a lot and doing all kinds of things that will help to keep him active, while you're working to provide him with healthy meals at home.

Buy bikes all go on bike rides make it fun for him ban him of video games until a certain time x

Sign him up for wrestling....Lots of conditioning. I also NEVER keep pop in the house for my 4 kids.

There is no good way to talk to him. My Mom had a "talk" with me when I was 16 about my weight. I'm still resentful about that talk. Lately- I've seen a woman in the gym with her (pre-teen) daughter, and I thought "She doesn't want a fat daughter". But- she's right there with this girl- exercising, coaching, doing it, too- which I believe is the best way possible to handle it.
You want your son to be active? Go for a walk and take him with you. (Don't ask- tell him.) Don't just sign him up for things and let him drop out. SHOW him by example how to be healthy. Do it with him, it will be good for the both of you!

Make him better food choices at home, and to take to school for lunch. Sign him up for after school sports.

He's eleven, he doesn't need "tips" from you on how to lose weight, you are almost entirely in control of his health. These aren't his choices, they're yours.

Exactly!

And im sad that i'm much shorter than your 11 year old heh

My son is 11 years old and weighs 225lbs. He is 5'7. Both myself and my husband have had weight issues our whole life as well as medical problems caused by obesity. I don't want my son to grow up like we have. But I also dont want to hurt his self esteem and self image of himself like my family brutally tore mine up my entire life. Can anyone recommend a way to talk to him and do it in a way that's not going to be mean. I have tried before as well as my husband and it just doesnt seem to stick. We have tried talking to his pediatrician, who recommended a nutritionist, who told us basically. Yes hes fat, cut out the junk food, get him involved in sports, stop enabling him. We have done that and he will stick with it for a week then give up and say he cant do it. We have started and stopped diets for the last year but he just doesn't think there is anything wrong with being a big kid. He gets straight A's is basically a wonderful, social child but I am so worried about what kids will do and say to him in middle and high school. I grew up with bulling constantly over my weight in high school and learned to fight my way out of the humiliation to where no one said anything out loud to me again. I had very few friends because of it and turned into a unsocial loner. I don't want this for him. Anyone that can offer advice on how to talk to him without his self esteem getting funked up in the process?

if there's no junk in the house, he can't eat it. that's the first thing. i have an Aunt who was obsessed with her daughter's weight. my Aunt was skinny and the daughter was chubby. my Aunt was constantly on her about her weight and forcing her to eat different dinner items than the rest of the family. her daughter (my cousin) must have felt like she was being punished because of that. here's the rub. My Aunt would still have all sorts of snack/junk foods in the house for herself, my uncle, and my other cousin. of course, the overweight daughter would eat those too when my Aunt wasn't around. i watched them struggle and battle each other over that for years. it never was resolved. my cousin ended up having gastric bypass and i'm sure she's got lots of emotional scars from the struggle. she used to cut herself in her teen years. it was not my place to get involved in that when it was happening (i was late teens/early twenties), but now i'd pull my Aunt aside and tell her to knock off the criticism. don't buy junk food. don't have it in the house. lead by example. something like that i think is the best way to go. the child should NEVER know that the rest of the house has different eating rules than they do. at 11, they can't understand that and will think of it as punishment and the parents not loving them the same as other kids.

but i'm not a therapist or anything like that, so take this opinion for what you paid for it... exactly $0.00.

At 11 it is going to be hard as hella to change a child's habits without some serious dedication. He is now used to the 'old way' and won't want to change - he will fight you tooth and nail but YOU are the parent and that weight is not healthy at his height at any age! Now..he's 11, so he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet, there's still hope he will lean out a little but this will not save him if his habits aren't under control by then.. I'm sure I'm going to get it for this but..

If he is buying junk food then stop giving him money.
If he is eating junk food at home then stop buying it.
If he sneaks it somewhere else then do not allow him to go there.
If he has a medical condition that is causing the weight gain then he needs medical help.

You can't force him to do anything but you need to stop enabling the behavior.

I agree with this. Also, talk to the other parents and let them know he should not be eating a bunch of junk there (don't know how that will go over, but if you know them well it might work).

I think the first thing to do is to be a good rolemodel for him. If you don't want him to eat it or drink it then you and your husband shouldn't either. if you don't want him eating certain things, make sure you are grocery shopping weekly for fresh fruits and vegetables. Get him involved in cooking and baking with you. Cut out video game and tv time to a specific amount per day and go for family walks, bike rides, etc.

Buy bikes for the whole family and do things together on the weekend. If you can't make a regular sports schedule and don't have help getting him places find something that has various time slots that he can attend (like martial arts or a boxing gym . . . how cool would a boxing gym be to an 11 year old?). He has friends, see what his friends are doing and if their parents can help when you and the husband just can't get him to things. Food is only part of a healthy lifestyle and if you don't instill movement now he'll really have issues down the road. As far as "diet" it's not a "diet" it's your family's life style. You eat as a family and eat healthfully as a family, no crazy snacks laying about, but having healthy and yummy snacks available is an important part of the process. A little lemon juice helps fruit stay fresh and pre cut fruit or bite sized fruit and veggies (for some reason) seems to go faster with kids then whole fruits and veggies. My mom always kept convenient food around the house, but never convenience foods. If he's eating right at home by having the right foods available for him at home it shouldn't matter that he's having a little x, y, or z one or two days a week at a friends house. Also, you need to pre plan for when he's going to friends homes, talk to the parents before hand and find out what they're serving so that you can adjust what you're providing him accordingly. He's 11, he shouldn't have to stress about it, but he does need to learn about nutrition and movement. Everything is difficult when you're 11, persistence and consistency is your job not his.

I think you already know the answers just seem to have a problem with following through. As a mom to a 12year old who weighs 170 and has ADHD I agree with what the nutritionist said. You need to get him involved with sports and give him more nutritional stuff. I myself have substituted alot of the snacks and stuff we use at home for less calorie ones. I do not like to make my son feel deprived but I do teach him that there needs to have self control. My boy plays football every year if he didnt he would definitely be over 200lbs he has decided this year to join basketball and after trying out he decided to follow through and go for it.

I say remove any junk food you have around the house and substitute. Instead of ice cream, freez yogurt, instead of regular chips every once in a while get the light jays or baked ones, try healthy life bread instead of regular bread if you do sandwiches, etc. Every little bit counts. I do understand you do not have control of him when he is else where ( I go through the same thing) but if you start at home that little bit you do does help.