Overweight kids

i have a 9 year old who is 110 lbs. honestly, i don't worry about it, because i know he will slim down. my other two children are very slim. cut out all junk food, don't even have it in the house. have only fruits and veggies to snack on. you will be surprised, my kids ask for green apples all the time, and love "tiny carrots". recently my son switched meds and lost ten lbs in a month, so your child will prob slim down. go on walks too, i walk 3 miles per day with my kids, and they all love our walks and look forward to it. my 4 year old even walks that far with no complaints.... also when out with your family, choose nature walks, hikes, parks, zoos, museums instead of like sitting and watching a movie .

I’ve been through this. We kept more easy access veggies in the house - cut and ready to munch on. I also recommend having her help. Talk about how food is fuel and can really help you feel better by having your body feel better.

And then start being more active as a family. Play kickball, walk to the park, go sledding, learn how to ski, etc.

Of course these are only my opinions. It is a fine line cause you don’t want to make her feel badly or make certain foods demonized and make her feel she needs to sneak eating. Best of luck!

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Kids need exercise and a clean diet.

Without either they'll get fat. They're not adults and as such need the parents to help them pick the healthier life.



Apologies if this causes offence to anyone, but I'm not sure how this isn't deemed child cruelty yet...

I have a few tips. I used to teach parenting classes, and one thing we learned/taught was not to reward or comfort children with food. So, no ice cream (or shopping lol) to treat a bad day. Instead, watch a movie, walk and talk about it, or work on a craft project. The best thing is to do something that actually improves the issue, like study the next chapter after a bad grade on a test.

As far as actual food goes, my rule, even when eating out was always one high cal thing, and low cal sides with substance (or the opposite and get fries, w a salad). My son learned to like this, and does it naturally himself now at 13.

Don’t buy stuff like little bags of chips, or sugary cereals. They get enough stuff like that out and about. I keept tortilla chips and salsa/guacamole, and ghram crackers when my son was younger. Now that’s he 13 I’ve eased up a little.

Deconstruct their meals. A lot of kids would rather have lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers separated, and dressing on the side, w a cube of cheese on the side, than a salad. I even give my boyfriend’s 5 year old canned beans on the side. He loves them plain and cold. I do read same with meat for small children. I just cut it in pieces and let them have it as a side by itself. They also might not want it all at once. They might want a cucumber for dinner, and just some cut up chicken or scrambled egg with a sliced apple for lunch, and some bread with peanut butter for a snack. Studies have shown (sorry, I’d have to look up a link) that children will choose a well balanced diet, if offered a selection of simple, nutritious options.

This won't be even remotely helpful, but I was a pretty big kid going into middle school, but then my parents started giving me lunch money and that money went straight from their hand and into my piggy bank, thus lessening the calories I was eating in a day and thus causing me to lose weight. Now, you can argue this affected my performance at school thus dooming me to a life long career making minimum wage at Walmart....but the important thing was I was no longer overweight.

Encourage fun activities together. Walk, go to the park, ride bikes, take her roller skating, go swimming. Do you have a dog? Reward her for walking the dog! Don't have a dog? Motivate her to get one by showing she's a good walker (If getting a doggo is a possibility. You are on my FL, you have seen what joy the dog we adopted has brought us just in the week + we've had him...and how much more active he is making the whole family). Go hiking! Is there a sport she likes? Sign her up! Soccer? Volleyball? Softball? I am a HUGE proponent of the family 5K...you saw how happy everyone looked from our race on Saturday (and you know I really only walk). Little Bit was BEAMING running her 1K with me at her side cheering her on. Big Girl, who is pretty reserved for a 13 year old, was also quite proud of herself for her 5K.

When it comes to food, quit having less healthy items ('junk food') around. Teach her the difference between a sometimes treat and an anytime food. Keep better choices in stock. Make better choices yourself and lead by example. Do you eat dinner as a family? Can you start doing that? COOKING your own foods really helps too. Maybe she'll want to get involved in that.

Now, a word of caution---I had a serious weight problem, nearly my entire life. I found comfort in food when I felt that I wasn't good enough, or wasn't loved enough. Over the years I saw a pattern with the way I was treated at home and the way I chose to cope. Make sure your daughter knows she is loved, at every size. See what her pediatrician says...perhaps maintaining and growing is what her doctor will have in mind. Now is the time to create a lifetime of good habits. Your love goes a long way. Praising good choices and a healthy lifestyle helps instill confidence to repeat that behavior (or so I tell myself with my girls).

Good for you wanting to do something about this now. Her peers won't be calling her overweight or big or telling her she'll grow out of it. School is a cruel place for fat children. The mfp boards are full of people who still feel the hurt, decades later.