daughter gaining weight rapidly, wants to see a nutritionist

[Anonymous]

My 15 yo daughter is gaining weight rapidly and she's not happy in her body anymore. She's experiencing some generalized anxiety about school and friends, and is aware she's overeating. She's asked to see a nutritionist. She also has some allergies which has limited her food groups.

Could anyone here recommend a nutritionist who would be good with teen girls? I'm wary of just anyone from the insurance list as I don't want a misguided conversation to create additional anxiety or spur other issues. We are in MoCo but will go anywhere/ are up for telemedicine.

[Anonymous]

She doesn’t need a nutritionist to tell her what is healthy and what isn’t. Cut out soda, any other sugary drinks, simple carbs. Move more.

[Anonymous]

I would see a medical doctor first and run some tests including blood tests to rule out any medical issues before seeing a nutritionist

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you. She did do a full workup with the allergist this summer. Bloodwork is all normal.

[Anonymous]

She should see her pediatrician and potentially an endocrinologist first, to be honest. If it's rapid weight gain, there are a lot of reasons it could be happening beyond overeating. The overeating may also have another cause.

Good be hormone levels or her thyroid. She's still in puberty and that has a major impact on weight gain. Could also be just stress and potentially anxiety/depression due to the factors you already mentioned, in which case it may be best treated by treating her mental health, which will reduce her urge to over-eat.

Forget the nutritionist and actually address the underlying health issues here. Help her to see that the weight issue is less important than her overall wellness (but also that there's a positive correlation between overall wellness and maintaining a healthy weight).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you. She did do a full workup with the allergist this summer. Bloodwork is all normal.

An allergist is not qualified to assess hormone levels, and definitely won't be able to assess a relationship between recent weight gain and depression and anxiety. She needs to see someone who does know how to assess these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you. She did do a full workup with the allergist this summer. Bloodwork is all normal.

An allergist is not qualified to assess hormone levels, and definitely won't be able to assess a relationship between recent weight gain and depression and anxiety. She needs to see someone who does know how to assess these things.

Agree. See an endo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She doesn’t need a nutritionist to tell her what is healthy and what isn’t. Cut out soda, any other sugary drinks, simple carbs. Move more.

+100 what's the point? OP you said "and is aware she's overeating" so she can look up online proper portion sizes I'm sure there are youtube videos on this and eat less and move more.

[Anonymous]

I would research a variety of ways to address this. When I saw nutritionists for my metabolic syndrome, they were completely a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

There’s no harm to seeing a nutritionist.

Although realistically imo there’s also little benefit.

I would ask your or her primary care doctor for a recommendation. They’ll have one.

You could try Pinney Davenport locally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s no harm to seeing a nutritionist.

Although realistically imo there’s also little benefit.

I would ask your or her primary care doctor for a recommendation. They’ll have one.

You could try Pinney Davenport locally.

This.

But OP can try if that's what the DD wants.

[Anonymous]

A nutritionist is not going to solve her weight gain issues. As you already said, she's aware she's overeating.

What you need to resolve is the reason why she's overeating. You said it's due to the anxiety/depression, so what's triggering that? What's going on?

Also, how overweight is she? Are we talking a BMI of 30? Or just a BMI of 27? If her weight gain is severe enough, they are recommending the semaglutides to treat adolescent obesity these days as well.

[Anonymous]

How much processed/store-bought meals is she eating? Can you add she get into a routine of cooking healthy foods together?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She doesn’t need a nutritionist to tell her what is healthy and what isn’t. Cut out soda, any other sugary drinks, simple carbs. Move more.

+100 what's the point? OP you said "and is aware she's overeating" so she can look up online proper portion sizes I'm sure there are youtube videos on this and eat less and move more.

Agree. Is she getting help for her anxiety? If her anxiety is leading her to lose control and overeat, perhaps treating the anxiety is the better angle.

[Anonymous]

Have her get an app and track what she's eating to help her figure out where the excess is coming from.