Overweight Children

Have you had this discussion with your doctor? I was under the impression that the goal with overweight children was to not make them lose weight but to maintain their weight and let their height growth spurts even them out. But with a thyroid condition he may need additional things that only a doctor is really qualified to implement.

You may have to put him on a diet, but given his age and his thyroid condition speak to his doctor about how to go about this.

It's not fun to be on a diet at that age, it may have been years ago but I'm pretty certain kids today would feel the same as I did back when. So consider his emotional state as well.

A diet is a way of life.
so yes. Get rid of the junk food.. any junk food that he gets will be from his friends.
Enroll him in activities.
Use small plates..
Cook healthy for everybody, let everybody know due to a healthier MOM and DAds

I second (or third) those who are recommending you speak with his doctor on how to go about helping him with weight loss. I just wanted to suggest that, if it does come down to 'Putting him on a diet'.. I would not approach it in that manner. I would gear it towards "learning to eat more healthy" and "relearning our body's cues on when we are actually hungry". Yes, weight loss is one goal but I think the more long term goal would be to help him learn early what many of us are just now learning in adulthood.. how to have a healthy relationship with food.

At this point, weighing him only frustrates the both of you. He is entering puberty and will start putting on weight due to increased height and skeletal muscle. So do both of you a favor and lose the scale.

Encourage him to be active, which team sports can help. And try to teach him healthy eating habits at home.

However, puberty makes boys into landfills, so dont underfeed him.

I'd go back to the doctor with your concerns. It might require a little more investigation. They also might want to get a dietician involved, not to necessarily put him on a "diet" but to make sure he's getting enough of what he needs to grow. My heart goes out to you. I know how it is to worry about your little boy. :flowerforyou:

My son is overweight, but I waited until he complained about it. Then we both went to his doctor together, and are making healthy changes. Now we are both losing weight together. It's like a family thing lol. Now instead of being overweight together, we are eating less and exercising more together. I think its great. We're kind of bonding over it. I'm counting calories, but he's not. For him, I just swapped out sweets for fruit, reduced portion sizes, loaded his plate with veggies. We have a follow up with his doctor in three months, so we'll see. *Fingers crossed*

If he is continuing to gain weight even after being on the meds, than he is still eating more calories than he is burning.
I know the general consensus today is that parents are horrible for putting their kids on diets, but lets face it, he will have weight issues his entire life,so learning about nutrition and calories now will save him a lifetime of bullying, depression, and obesity health issues.

A 'diet' is simply the food we eat every day. It is our choices for what we put in our mouths. There is nothing wrong with having a diet.

Talk to a nutritionists if you need to, to educate yourself about how many calories we burn per day, and macro percentages, etc.
Then share this info with your son. Compare the calories and volumes of different foods so that he can learn to make better choices in the foods he eats, or at least the amount of food. Use a scale and measuring cups to show him exactly what a 'serving' of food is.

When he learns that proteins and healthy fats, plus higher fiber foods will keep him satisfied longer than simple processed carbs and sugars, then he can choose foods that can help him stay within his calorie goals for the day/week.

If HE is given the information and has the power to make choices for his own body, it will be much easier on him than being strictly told to not eat this or that.

Middle school can be an extremely cruel time in a child's life, and the bullying encountered there can cause way more long lasting damage than a mother who teaches him how to take control of his health.

Good for you for loving your son enough to make sure he is healthy, even when it is an uncomfortable situation.

Best you can do is make sure the entire family gets healthier. Do not bring in all kinds of junk, sweets, and crap that you know your child will have trouble resisting. The fat kid being singled out in a family while everyone eats with abandon can be detrimental. But so can being an obese kid.

See a dietician. Get the entire family on a healthier road. Best you can do is instill better eating values on the whole, while encouraging activity, and hoping he gets it enough that he can withstand outside of the home.

Pack lunches if you fear he's eating the garbage school lunches and monitor how much money he has, because most schools have vending machines.

Talk to your child about how they're feeling about their self image. Please do your best to give them a safe place to be open and honest.

Parents make the common mistake of thinking they know what their kids are eating. "Oh Jimmy/Sue eats the same as we do". No. Many kids are secret eaters. Even the ones who aren't can be over consuming and you have no clue. Trips to the convenience store with friends and siblings to get cheap snacks, hanging out over friends houses while everyone is eating, eating high calorie school snacks, the aforementioned vending machines, all of these things add up. Your child could be consuming hundreds, even thousands, of calories beyond what you think you know.

My mother was fat, my father was fat, all three of their kids together were fat. We ate like "normal" Americans back in the 80s and 90s, and it was detrimental. She saw a nutritionist and tried to turn things around, but we were still fat. Being fat as children was detrimental on our psyches, and made losing and maintaining weight as adults SO much harder. Do everything in your power to turn this around, because trust me, it'll have long reaching consequences for this child long past their childhood and teen years.

But LOVE your child. Make sure they take the lead in their own change. They have to be at a point where they want to lose. Trying to force them, or do it for them, isn't going to work. But trust me, most fat kids KNOW they're fat, they become aware at some point, and do not want to be that way.

Just my thoughts ...
I was an overweight child (no thyroid problems). My mom tried everything - from diets, to getting only healthy foods in the house, to doing Weight Watchers with me, to joining a gym together, to making me exercise, to regular weigh-ins.

Nothing worked. Mainly because it felt forced on me, I didn't want it for myself, my mom wanted it for me. And it really strained our relationship as I felt like I would only be loved if I lost weight. I was also an expert at stealing, sneaking, and hiding food.

I don't know what advice to offer, but glad to see all these comments about making it a family change vs. singling out one child.

More bad news---are parents able to fight against 5 billion dollars spent per year on advertising aimed directly at youngsters?

http://news.yahoo.com/selling-candy-babies-disturbing-between-junk-food-brands-185011170.html

My brother is 13 now, and he was really overweight at age 11, and then suddenly grew to be like 6'1" (and he still has a little boy voice, it's so weird). He's still heavier, but he cuts an imposing figure, not a fat one, if that makes sense.

My friends daughter is grossly overweight. Not my words, but her doctors. When she was 8 she was wearing a petite womans 2x clothes because normal kid clothes didn't fit her. Now she is 12 and is wearing a 2x still. She has diabetes, and the Doctor said that she is developing heart problems and high cholesterol because of this. Her mommy is also over weight, and is trying to cook healthier, walking, and got rid of the junk food. Her main problem is the child will not eat veggies. She is an extremely picky eater and is throwing a fit over the healthier food being brought in. So, I know they are really struggling. I know my post does not help much, but know you are not alone. I have seen my friend in tears trying to help her daughter.

I'd definitely go see a nutritionist about that one, they might be able to help him with his self control.

But yeah... make it a family thing. Don't buy junk., so self control is less of an issue, at least at home. No more sugary drinks at all either... just water. Good luck!