My 6 year old is curiously overweight - anyone with a similar experience?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand it - she is very active, lots of energy, does sports every day after school, she doesn't eat much and what she does eat is very healthy (all organic, whole wheat, nothing processed), but she is overweight. It is starting to affect her self-esteem and I feel awful. We are trying to help her by getting her more active and further controling her food, without talking about the weight. Nothing is helping. I am begining to worry that she might have a thyroid issue. Anyone with a similar experience?

[Anonymous]

What does her doctor think of her weight?

[Anonymous]

Maybe discuss this with your doctor soon?

[Anonymous]

by overweight you mean the number on the scale or the shape of her body and sizing of clothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand it - she is very active, lots of energy, does sports every day after school, she doesn't eat much and what she does eat is very healthy (all organic, whole wheat, nothing processed), but she is overweight. It is starting to affect her self-esteem and I feel awful. We are trying to help her by getting her more active and further controling her food, without talking about the weight. Nothing is helping. I am begining to worry that she might have a thyroid issue. Anyone with a similar experience?

Either she eats too much junk (secrectly) or has a medical condition.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm so sorry for you and your DD. Has this happened suddenly, or has she always been somewhat "larger" and things have been creeping up? Definitely, definitely talk to your pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand it - she is very active, lots of energy, does sports every day after school, she doesn't eat much and what she does eat is very healthy (all organic, whole wheat, nothing processed), but she is overweight. It is starting to affect her self-esteem and I feel awful. We are trying to help her by getting her more active and further controling her food, without talking about the weight. Nothing is helping. I am begining to worry that she might have a thyroid issue. Anyone with a similar experience?

I agree with others. Talk to your doctor but I also once would have described my diet as healthy using the same description - all organic, whole wheat, nothing processed but when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes I realised that there was still too much carb, not enough protein, and not enough veggies. It did not take a huge effort to realign my portion sizes and I was able to follow the diet easily and did not find it hard at all. I was able to control the gestational diabetes with diet, gained very little weight in the second half of my pregnancy, and by following the diet (loosely) after my daughter lost the 20 pounds that I had struggled with for 10 years and could just not understand why I was carrying around!

[Anonymous]

I am sure you know this, but organic and whole wheat doesn't necessarily mean healthy, and volume really is just as relevant. But I would ask the Dr., some things like diabetes or thyroud like you mentioned could be related to this.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor tightly controlled her daughters food intake. Special diet, no junk food ever, limited ice cream etc. Her son played at our house a lot so she came over too. I caught her in the kitchen with a can of whipped cream point down her throat - she had nearly finished it. She was 8. So make sure she isn't getting food elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

"all organic, whole wheat, nothing processed" can still add up to too many calories per day.

Also, as for "sports" each day. I don't count the organized sports lessons and classes my 6 yr old goes to as actual exercise. If you count up the time the kids are actually running around and participating at that age its pretty low given the classes are 45 minutes long - I think there is maybe 15-20 minutes of actual work/exercise involved.

[Anonymous]

Organic, whole wheat and no processed doesn't necessarily equal healthy. Whole wheat can contain a high number of calories and her fat intake could still be too high as well. You say she doesn't "eat much" but portion sizes are often misjudged. It's easy to do. As others have pointed out as well she could be eating stuff you don't know about.

If the Dr is concerned then they should be able to help you look for the cause and tweak what she's eating if necessary.

[Anonymous]

"overweight" is a pretty loose term. Some people were just meant to be bulkier, and while they may choose to fight their genes at some point, you are going to do nothing but alienate her if you make this your crusade.
Look into Ellyn Satter.
http://www.ellynsatter.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sure you know this, but organic and whole wheat doesn't necessarily mean healthy, and volume really is just as relevant. But I would ask the Dr., some things like diabetes or thyroud like you mentioned could be related to this.

But shouldn't an active six year old be able to eat higher volumes (of healthy food) without gaining weight? It doesn't sound like OP's daughter is eating huge portions.

[Anonymous]

Also...did the pediatrician say that your DD was overweight, or are you referring to her appearance?

[Anonymous]

My sister had some kind of thyroid issue when she was about 5. My mom noticed a swelling in that area, which is what specifically sent them to the Dr., but I remember clearly that my sister was also both very tall and heavy for her age. In a way that genes wouldn't suggest.

She had some kind of surgery and is fine now. Although still tall with a higher BMI.