My overweight son wants to get fatter??

[Anonymous]

My son does, too. He is an all around big kid (very tall and stocky). We are doing what we can to have healthy food and treats in moderation in the house, but he has access to a lot of food at school and after/before care. We pack a full lunch but he still takes things off the share table. His best friend is heavier than him and he wants to be more like him. I'm at a loss and hoping it's just a phase.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he's using his condition to make jokes, trying it on as a personality so that rejection doesn't sting so much. Kinda like saying, "I meant to do that" after tripping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just have to represent the giants among us; 74 pounds at 8 isn't ecessarily overwieght. My daughter is 8 and 70 pounds but she is taller than most 10 year old girls (4'7"). Just as I weigh 150 (omg!) but am a 5'11" woman.

Anyway, OP, I trust you that your son is in fact overweight. It seems far more likely that he's trying to put a good face on something he's unhappy about. Or is bothered by your attention and is trying to minimize it. All you can do is keep junk out of the house, model good eating, encourage exercise, and be open and kind about health. That's it.

+1. I agree with this 100%. Try and do a bit of reflection on how you have talked about this issue to him and in front of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son does, too. He is an all around big kid (very tall and stocky). We are doing what we can to have healthy food and treats in moderation in the house, but he has access to a lot of food at school and after/before care. We pack a full lunch but he still takes things off the share table. His best friend is heavier than him and he wants to be more like him. I'm at a loss and hoping it's just a phase.

What is a share table?

I've never heard of such a thing in elementary school. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pokemon Go is a GREAT activity for getting out & getting moving.

I lost 15 lbs myself just getting out with my kids this summer trying to catch Pokemon and what a sense of accomplishment they feel when they catch a rare one, wow!

I know it sounds funny, but it's really done wonders for our whole families physical fitness & togetherness time. No longer do they want to be on their OWN devices, looking at their OWN screens, in their OWN rooms, now they want to Pokehunt TOGETHER as a family in their free time... I love it!

Plus, you don't even realize how far you're going or how long you've been walking, because they're having fun playing, it truly kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Great post!
I too lost 8lbs this summer walking all around with my kids & I agree that Pokemon Go is a great form of togetherness. They don't have much in common now, as they are 4 years apart, but this is something that they absolutely love doing together (which makes me really love it).

[Anonymous]

OP here, everyone is asking for my son's height which was 4"3 when the doctor measured him a few weeks back. As I already mentioned this correlated with his age and weight put him in the 94th percentile which is one off being obese. However i have no doubt he has put in more weight over the last few months and now would guess that he actually is obese. And one of my son's friends is also very fat so maybe they're trying together to both put o weight in not sure??!

[Anonymous]

Does he play video games, op? I would limit them extremely.

Also, even though the doctor said something, one time is not enough. You need to tell him again. "Son, I love that you are confident about your body. You are also SO handsome to me, and will be handsome to me no matter how much you weigh. But right now you need to be a little smaller so that you stay healthy now and in the future."

And for god sakes, stop weighing him so often. The doctor who recommended that is an idiot.

You need to get the junk out of the house. You need to pack healthy lunches and make healthy breakfasts and dinners. Plan LONG walks on the weekends. Sign him up for a regular sport activity. I was overweight as a kid and my single mom could not do any of this and I don't resent her, but my life sure as heck would have been easier if she did.

[Anonymous]

Again, what is a share table???

[Anonymous]

At our elementary school, there are a good number of kids from food insecure families. The school has a table where extra cafeteria food, chocolate milk, yogurts, etc. are placed and kids can take from it if they want. The elementary school also serves free breakfast to all. So, my son eats breakfast at home but is also offered breakfast at before care, breakfast in the classroom, and then extra food at lunch... not to mention snacks in after care. It feels like the only meal we can really control is dinner. We could probably ask before care and aftercare to more closely monitor his intake, but I think too many food restrictions sets up even more unhealthy eating habits down the road.

[Anonymous]

The share table is a table in the cafeteria where extra food is placed for kids who are still hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our elementary school, there are a good number of kids from food insecure families. The school has a table where extra cafeteria food, chocolate milk, yogurts, etc. are placed and kids can take from it if they want. The elementary school also serves free breakfast to all. So, my son eats breakfast at home but is also offered breakfast at before care, breakfast in the classroom, and then extra food at lunch... not to mention snacks in after care. It feels like the only meal we can really control is dinner. We could probably ask before care and aftercare to more closely monitor his intake, but I think too many food restrictions sets up even more unhealthy eating habits down the road.

Yes I agree with my son he's always hungry and if he's trying to get fatter then it doesn't matter to him what he eats - if it's there the he'll eat it. Pretty sure him and his friend eat as much as they can from the share table because they always seem to joke about it slyly then when I question they pretend they don't know. This makes it even harder for me to control his diet and is no doubt contributing to hiw much bigger he is actually getting now.

I agree and hope that it is a phase and that he would stop because he got bored or sick of it. However the fact that he's succeeding to get fatter is what's egging him on to continue, shown by when he found it hilarious that his shirt we bought in August no longer could get around his belly after Christmas holidays. So it seems that moving up a shirt or trouser size is like a new goal for him to get bigger and it really worries me. He is not a tall lad and his fat is really starting to show now and it's very embarrassing when I can see other parents judging me at things like when he goes swimming or buying him husky clothes in a size older than he is anyway.

He tried Pokemon go but wasn't really a fan which was a shame but likes lots of other games, nine of which unfortunately get him active.

[Anonymous]

Is he involved in sports so he can be active and learn to value fitness? If he's just not into team sports maybe there is something active you can do as a family, e.g. biking, hiking?

[Anonymous]

DS, who is 9, 90 lbs and 4ft 9.5 in tall, is also considered overweight by BMI measurements. He's always been this way. He doesn't have a big gut, but does have a large frame and larger thighs and butt. His Ped isn't concerned. What about a reward system? You can hang with your friends if you go for a brisk walk with me for 20 mins? You can have one small treat if you jump rope or ride your bike? DS isn't as physically active as I would like but I do encourage it. I do things like trying to make sure whatever I need him to get for me is on a different floor, encourage Xbox Kinect, or having him go and up down the stairs several times for various reasons.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's really acceptable to let your son get that fat I'm afraid. They have such a high metabolism when they're at that age it can't be just what he's eating 'trying to get fat' there must something to do with how you were feeding him and treating him - how long has he been overweight? Is this weight increase recent? Has he ever been skinny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our elementary school, there are a good number of kids from food insecure families. The school has a table where extra cafeteria food, chocolate milk, yogurts, etc. are placed and kids can take from it if they want. The elementary school also serves free breakfast to all. So, my son eats breakfast at home but is also offered breakfast at before care, breakfast in the classroom, and then extra food at lunch... not to mention snacks in after care. It feels like the only meal we can really control is dinner. We could probably ask before care and aftercare to more closely monitor his intake, but I think too many food restrictions sets up even more unhealthy eating habits down the road.

Yes I agree with my son he's always hungry and if he's trying to get fatter then it doesn't matter to him what he eats - if it's there the he'll eat it. Pretty sure him and his friend eat as much as they can from the share table because they always seem to joke about it slyly then when I question they pretend they don't know. This makes it even harder for me to control his diet and is no doubt contributing to hiw much bigger he is actually getting now.

I agree and hope that it is a phase and that he would stop because he got bored or sick of it. However the fact that he's succeeding to get fatter is what's egging him on to continue, shown by when he found it hilarious that his shirt we bought in August no longer could get around his belly after Christmas holidays. So it seems that moving up a shirt or trouser size is like a new goal for him to get bigger and it really worries me. He is not a tall lad and his fat is really starting to show now and it's very embarrassing when I can see other parents judging me at things like when he goes swimming or buying him husky clothes in a size older than he is anyway.

He tried Pokemon go but wasn't really a fan which was a shame but likes lots of other games, nine of which unfortunately get him active.

22:25 here and this sounds almost exactly like my son. I'd wonder if we were talking about the same friend-set only I know DS's friend is quite a bit heavier than yours.