My overweight son wants to get fatter??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put me down as another Pokemon Go advocate!

I was also a non believer in the mystical powers of Pokemon Go... that is until I went "Pokehunting" with my kids too & I loved it right from the start.

It's so much fun, like a great big scavenger hunt however instead of searching for specific things, you never know what you'll get (which is the exciting part!).
It definitely has made us closer as a family, where as before my kids wanted to rip each other's hair out if they had to spend 5 minutes together... but now, they've actually teamed up to play & ate getting along better than they have since... well, ever actually, lol.

I also lost about 6 pounds from all of the walking (I'm jealous of all you others that have lost so much weight) but the best part is that you're not walking for exercise you're walking for fun, so it's much more pleasurable thang exercise.

We've now started a "Poke night" in our neighborhood & all of the neighborhood kids & their parents play on the team based on the team you choose when you start Pokemon Go & they wear a shirt that corresponds with their color (Team Mystic/Blue, Team Valor/Red & Team Instinct/Yellow).
We split up & "Pokehunt" for an hour or two (based on the weather & temperature) & whichever team catches the best at the end of the night wins.

I too was one of those people who thought it was silly watching all of these people running around playing, bit it wasn't until I actually played with my kids that I understood.
I shouldn't have knocked it until I tried it.

OP, this would be perfect for your son, as he won't have a clue he's even exercising. He'll just simply think he's having fun.

Truly a great idea, PP!
At 8 years old your son is the perfect age for Pokemon Go.

[Anonymous]

OP (I believe) stated his kid din't like pokemon go.. (btw, thanks to all posters about this- it sounds way more fun that I imagined so maybe we'll try it as a family).

OP, I would put your son in a martial arts program. Those skills will help him down the road and also help highlight that there are disadvantages with being overweight. If he has a friend who is also overweight - that is his current peer group. Mix up the peer group. Even if your son isn't interested initially, the programs do require participation (not like a painting class where you can daydream) and are rather disciplined. Don't ask, make it an option, just say, you will be trying this for a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

Do not listen to this poster. Not all kids rub around like crazy. Our son loves eating and hates sports. We have to resort to making him exercise and watching his food and it is very difficult.

I actually think you need to talk to him about why he wants to fat. It is possible, although unlikely this is in response to someone inappropriately touching him.

I appreciate you defending me against the previous poster. However I am actually quite offended you would suggest a cause which is such an obscene and disgusting image to put into someone's head. I'm sure that if he had been or is going through something like that we would spot reactions or signs other than him wanting to be fat. Please don't ever post suggestions like that unless you have some sort of point to back it up because that In my eyes that is not at all appropriate for this post.

I think you read too much into what I said or maybe I did not say it carefully enough. I said it was highly unlikely. I was not implying that you have done anything wrong, but that you should be talking to your son about why he wants to be fat. Maybe it is a phase, maybe he thinks it is funny, maybe it is using humor to deflect feeling bad about it, but it could also be a defensive reaction to something bad that has happened to him. I am simply suggesting you talk with him with an open mind that there may be something driving this behavior. I apologize if I used an extreme example to make my point. And I apologize if I offended you or scared you. But this is not something you should dismiss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP (I believe) stated his kid din't like pokemon go.. (btw, thanks to all posters about this- it sounds way more fun that I imagined so maybe we'll try it as a family).

OP, I would put your son in a martial arts program. Those skills will help him down the road and also help highlight that there are disadvantages with being overweight. If he has a friend who is also overweight - that is his current peer group. Mix up the peer group. Even if your son isn't interested initially, the programs do require participation (not like a painting class where you can daydream) and are rather disciplined. Don't ask, make it an option, just say, you will be trying this for a year.

I'm not the PP, but I too came here to suggest Pokemon Go!
I also didn't see in the thread where the OP said that her son didn't like Pokemon Go (but in my defense, it is a pretty long thread & probably the reason why the PP who suggested it missed that part too).

I absolutely understand what you mean, as I was a complete & total skeptic. The game sounded very childish... It didn't even sound very fun to me and I was basically forced to go kicking & screaming. Boy, was I wrong. It's great family fun & like the others have said, it truly bonded our family closer together. Plus, it gets us all moving, gets the blood pumping & shedding some lbs. doesn't suck much either (which is probably the reason why the OP's son doesn't like it in the first place... it's physical exertion).

I'll tell you something, my DD is going thorough this "goth" phase, everything she wears is black, everything she listens to is death metal & everything we want to do as a family together is "SO LAME". Well, that is... everything with the exception of Pokemon Go. This is the one thing that she'll willingly do with us without a puss on her face for hours on end. In those moments, she's right back to being my fun, bubbly little girl, my same little girl who had to wear pink every single day for a whole year. It seems she went from pink to punk. Having her entrenched in our family again may only last for a few hours at a time, but I'll take what I can get.

Btw, this 42 second video should give you a good idea just how much people love this game. There was a Vaporeon in Central Park (which is a really rare Pokemon) & you'll see how people start running into the park by the hundreds!
They were pulling up, stopping their cars, jumping out & running into the park (which you're not allowed to do, lol).

https://youtu.be/MLdWbwQJWI0

[Anonymous]

Please can someone help me because my daughter is 15 and 4 foot 10 and she weighs 130lbs and she is taking diet pills which were suggested to her by her boyfriend but she hasn't lost weight any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Anonymous]

My daughter weighs 75 pds and is 4'9". She's not overweight. It all depends on build and height.

[Anonymous]

You need to examine things:
What are you feeding him? Reduce as much as possible the Overly processed food, juices, sugar and more hidden sugar you may not be aware of. What are others fedding him? What is available to eat. How much does he eat?
Is anyone in the family over weight? Parents, Grandparents, aunts, uncles?
Keep moving. Move together. Do it outside as much as possible. Is coach for football mentioning anything about it? Some hear that the bigger, the better as a receiver.
Teach healthy habits, encourage and follow them. Get coach, counselors to help but not dwell on it like it's the main focus.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Please can someone help me because my daughter is 15 and 4 foot 10 and she weighs 130lbs and she is taking diet pills which were suggested to her by her boyfriend but she hasn't lost weight any suggestions would be greatly appreciated [/quote]

You should start a new thread, pp. Your post will be lost here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter weighs 75 pds and is 4'9". She's not overweight. It all depends on build and height.

This.

However, OP, before my daughter literally grew several inches in a short space of time, I got The Weight Talk from her pediatrician. There was practically nothing we could change in her diet, but I did pull all milk, especially since she drinks soy. We saw a change rather quickly and then she grew very quickly as well. I have not reintroduced milk into her diet — she doesn’t need it and it’s full of empty calories and phytoestrogens, which are concerning for an 8 yo girl anyhow.

Please also bear in mind that BMI is a problematic measure and that physicians have to have the weight talk regardless of whether it’s a true concern.

[Anonymous]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tqnD11rjrtc

[Anonymous]

I see an underlying parenting g problem here. If he wants to get fatter after 18, that's his business. But he's 8, so you are responsible for what he eats and how physically active he is. If he doesn't like healthy food and moving, doesn't play sports, you can tell him that he has to do it now in exchange for playing video games or some other stuff that he likes. Fun is going to be earned from now. Most people are inherently lazy, myself included, and have to do things that are boring, repetitive, etc. It's called discipline. Better learn that form a young age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the curious, that's about 75lbs.

Wait, huh? My eight year old is 75 pounds and she is rail thin. Like seriously extraordinarily thin. Like a bag of bones. She is tall, but that can't possibly account for that much of a difference in chubbiness.

[Anonymous]

75 pound for a eight year old boy is kind of normal. But not able to button up shirts is not. Sounds like the OP’s son is shorter than average. Hopefully he will grow taller without not gaining more weight. In the meantime, you could maybe send him to a nutritionist so that he can hear from someone else the importance of eating healthy and exercise more. Our pediatrician has a nutritionist on staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not normally the type to voice my concern online but I saw a recent post which was similar to my problem and helpful ideas were given so here goes.

My son has just turned 8 and is quite chunky with a bit of a chubby belly and face. I was happy that it didn't seem to be bothering him, he was always happy as normal and I just assumed he was storing fat for a growth spurt, which is normal at his age I am told. However the bad news is he has just got fatter and fatter over the last year reaching 34kg recently. As soon as I noticed this weight increase I was slightly concerned (but not too much) so took him to the doctors for a check-up. The doctor told me he was very overweight and have me some helpful advice regarding his diet, excercise etc. But the most concerning thing is he is very proud of his new belly and seems to by trying to get fatter, which sounds absurd writing this. However stuff like when we went swimming he sat down and went "Mummy look how fat I've gotten!" with excitement - I just shrugged it off as him being silly
but looking back it does worry me. Now everytime I weigh him, which the doctor told us to do regularly, he is happier when he puts on weight and sighs when he loses weight. He asks for bigger portions and seconds and is always trying to get me to buy sweets at the supermarket. Obviously I am not stupid and I have his food intake under control, but especially after events such as Christmas parties, NYE parties and his birthday which was just before christmas, it is difficult to stop him from eating so much. I kept my eye on him taking all the nibbles, sweets and chocolate but there's not much I could do about it at a party when I'm mingling with my friends and he's playing. He must of put on an inch around the waist just over the last month after all he ate and drank because now when he buttons up his school shirts, the buttons look like strained from the push of his fat belly, which he found hysterical. Sometimes he lifts up his shirt and chases his sister around whilst running his belly or something and always plays with his belly fat when he sits down I've noticed. The most recent 'game' he's created is balanced cutlery on his belly which now sticks out enough for him to do. The doctor warned him of the dangers of obesity but the message didn't seem to go through. If my son's trying to put on weight (and currently succeeding) then what can I do about it??!!

I have him doing as much excercise as I can but it is difficult. We lives 1 minute away from school so although he walks it's not exactly a lot of excercise. The school takes him swimming once a week, and he plays football at th weekend when he can. However lots of the time he meets with the neighbour friends round houses or whatever where I'm not sure he does get much excercise.

Any suggestions because I'm seriously stuck?? I'm controlling his diet, excercise and we've had professional help but still no results??!!

This is CRAZY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:75 pound for a eight year old boy is kind of normal. But not able to button up shirts is not. Sounds like the OP’s son is shorter than average. Hopefully he will grow taller without not gaining more weight. In the meantime, you could maybe send him to a nutritionist so that he can hear from someone else the importance of eating healthy and exercise more. Our pediatrician has a nutritionist on staff.

That would depend on the size of the shirt. My son is a healthy weight, but this morning he tried on a shirt from Grandma that was huge on him. That doesn't mean he was suddenly malnourished. It meant Grandma bought the wrong size. Similarly, it sounds like OP's kid has shirts that are too small.