DD is overweight - what to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of you please stop pushing fruit! This generation is not metabolically healthy and they need good fats and proteins, plus low-starch veg. (Also even todays apples are far more sugary than 50 years ago). PP’s who combine fruit with fats have the right idea.

I would sit down and make a list of *everything* in that category your child likes. We end up with a lot of olives and coconut-rich smoothies because my kids like them. For you it might be avocado toast with eggs and frequent broccoli. Don’t be afraid to repeat and repeat because chances are there aren’t that many foods that support metabolic health that everyone will happily eat. This will help blunt cravings and increase satiety. I agree you can’t control what she eats outside of the home without blowback.

And to all the judgmental PP’s, this may not be your kid now but it very well may be at 20 or 30, especially when the sports slow down, the drinking goes up and the endocrine issues get triggered by stressors.

Citation, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m doing quick math in my head, iirc, a 60 inch / 5 ft tall woman should be 100 pounds, and then add subtract 5 pounds for every inch above or below. Given this, your daughter who will likely grow two inches in the next year, is on track to be just fine? What is her estimate height going to be at full height / are you or your husband tall? I would just focus on teaching healthy eating habits, introduce fruits or vegetables or make fun smoothies (don’t use yogurt or high sugar bases!)… stuff like that. Do you workout? Do yoga? Pilates? Have her join you. Between ages 10-12 is a good time to catch them when they are still curious before the eye rolling and everything you say and everything you do is stupid phase kicks in.

Do you have kids? They're not mini-adults, they're supposed to be smaller. Kids don't attain their adult weight until they're adults - or at least, they aren't supposed to.

All my kids had a puggy period pre puberty.

Lots of getting chunky then growing, getting chunky then growing

“Puggy” is a highly offensive term used by body-shamers and bigots.

I think you're thinking of pudgy. Puggy is the period in life where children resemble small, adorable dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, my daughter is the same age, height and weight as your DD. She swims 3-6 days per week year round (club swim, so we’re talking about 2000 yards per practice) and eats healthier than most adults I know. She was born in the 99th percentile for height and weight and that’s where she remains. Her pediatrician is not concerned at all. Some kids are just built that way. My DH was like that and both his parents were like that. They are all now super tall (DH is 6’3”) and a very normal, healthy weight. At some point, they shot straight up and all that weight shifted. If someone ever told my DD she was overweight to her face…we would have words.

They are not just built that way. Your DD is not just muscular, she is overweight.

Pp and thanks for your thoughtful commentary, but I’ll think I’ll listen to the pediatrician. Not some rando on DCUM.

Good for you, terrible for your child.

So enlighten me. What would you like my 9yo DD to do? Starve herself? Throw up her food after every meal? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

DP. Three meals and one snack. Only. If she feels hungry between meals, before lunch and dinner, then that's normal and not a problem to be solved.

DP: It is so odd that you people think you can diagnose these kids and refuse to believe parents who tell you there is nothing off about what the kids are eating. Its like everyone whose life experience is different from what you believe must be lying. It is everthing that is wrong with our country these days.

Then do nothing, if nothing can be done. Buy larger clothes for your DC.

Also vaseline so that she can prevent chafing of her inner thighs and inner arms. Get the house modified so that she can be comfortable moving around. Get some handheld shower in the bathroom to clean her also.

[Anonymous]

She cannot be hungry or her diet will fail.

She needs to eat a lot of low calorie foods to fill her stomach. Think veggies and green juice. After she has had her veggies and healthy filling food, then she gets to eat a small portion of the hearty and healthy home cooked meal. Something like a savory stew or chilli.

1) No junk food. Zero.
2) No processed food.
3) No added sugar and no artificial sweetener.

Start lunch and dinner with a huge bowl of salad which has lots of veggies, beans, protein. Eat a side of steamed veggies (at least 2 cups). Then have your a small amount of your regular home cooked meal.

Breakfast - Big bowl of old faishoned plain oatmeal with berries, fruits, nuts, flaxseed powder, hemp hearts. Still hungry? Add an egg, a banana/apple with a tsp of peanut butter.

Make her drink a lot of green tea or lemon water. Sometimes thirst is misinterpreted as hunger.

Parents need to get their act together and make sure that tasty, healthy food is available for the kid at all time. I am feeling really bad for this child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She cannot be hungry or her diet will fail.

She needs to eat a lot of low calorie foods to fill her stomach. Think veggies and green juice. After she has had her veggies and healthy filling food, then she gets to eat a small portion of the hearty and healthy home cooked meal. Something like a savory stew or chilli.

1) No junk food. Zero.
2) No processed food.
3) No added sugar and no artificial sweetener.

Start lunch and dinner with a huge bowl of salad which has lots of veggies, beans, protein. Eat a side of steamed veggies (at least 2 cups). Then have your a small amount of your regular home cooked meal.

Breakfast - Big bowl of old faishoned plain oatmeal with berries, fruits, nuts, flaxseed powder, hemp hearts. Still hungry? Add an egg, a banana/apple with a tsp of peanut butter.

Make her drink a lot of green tea or lemon water. Sometimes thirst is misinterpreted as hunger.

Parents need to get their act together and make sure that tasty, healthy food is available for the kid at all time. I am feeling really bad for this child.

This sounds good but isn't reasonable or sustainable. Going cold turkey is just going to make a kid sneak food. I know kids whose parents don't allow sugar and guess what they do when they are at other kids houses? Binge.
For our kiddo, it is all about portion size. I have always heard that half of your dinner plate should be fruits or veggies. (no one ever got fat eating apples). Limit portion sizes of treats or processed foods. Offer up 1 slice of pizza, not 3. Only buy/make enough for the portions that you will use. If it isn't available, they can't go back for seconds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She cannot be hungry or her diet will fail.

She needs to eat a lot of low calorie foods to fill her stomach. Think veggies and green juice. After she has had her veggies and healthy filling food, then she gets to eat a small portion of the hearty and healthy home cooked meal. Something like a savory stew or chilli.

1) No junk food. Zero.
2) No processed food.
3) No added sugar and no artificial sweetener.

Start lunch and dinner with a huge bowl of salad which has lots of veggies, beans, protein. Eat a side of steamed veggies (at least 2 cups). Then have your a small amount of your regular home cooked meal.

Breakfast - Big bowl of old faishoned plain oatmeal with berries, fruits, nuts, flaxseed powder, hemp hearts. Still hungry? Add an egg, a banana/apple with a tsp of peanut butter.

Make her drink a lot of green tea or lemon water. Sometimes thirst is misinterpreted as hunger.

Parents need to get their act together and make sure that tasty, healthy food is available for the kid at all time. I am feeling really bad for this child.

This has got to be a joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She cannot be hungry or her diet will fail.

She needs to eat a lot of low calorie foods to fill her stomach. Think veggies and green juice. After she has had her veggies and healthy filling food, then she gets to eat a small portion of the hearty and healthy home cooked meal. Something like a savory stew or chilli.

1) No junk food. Zero.
2) No processed food.
3) No added sugar and no artificial sweetener.

Start lunch and dinner with a huge bowl of salad which has lots of veggies, beans, protein. Eat a side of steamed veggies (at least 2 cups). Then have your a small amount of your regular home cooked meal.

Breakfast - Big bowl of old faishoned plain oatmeal with berries, fruits, nuts, flaxseed powder, hemp hearts. Still hungry? Add an egg, a banana/apple with a tsp of peanut butter.

Make her drink a lot of green tea or lemon water. Sometimes thirst is misinterpreted as hunger.

Parents need to get their act together and make sure that tasty, healthy food is available for the kid at all time. I am feeling really bad for this child.

Ok, you know this is a kid we're talking about here, right? Not a 53-year-old woman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She cannot be hungry or her diet will fail.

She needs to eat a lot of low calorie foods to fill her stomach. Think veggies and green juice. After she has had her veggies and healthy filling food, then she gets to eat a small portion of the hearty and healthy home cooked meal. Something like a savory stew or chilli.

1) No junk food. Zero.
2) No processed food.
3) No added sugar and no artificial sweetener.

Start lunch and dinner with a huge bowl of salad which has lots of veggies, beans, protein. Eat a side of steamed veggies (at least 2 cups). Then have your a small amount of your regular home cooked meal.

Breakfast - Big bowl of old faishoned plain oatmeal with berries, fruits, nuts, flaxseed powder, hemp hearts. Still hungry? Add an egg, a banana/apple with a tsp of peanut butter.

Make her drink a lot of green tea or lemon water. Sometimes thirst is misinterpreted as hunger.

Parents need to get their act together and make sure that tasty, healthy food is available for the kid at all time. I am feeling really bad for this child.

Wow its very unlikely for most people to eat two cups of steamed veggies. That is a LOT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Crazy” PP here. I’ll try to explain what I mean in a more palatable way, lol. I was rushing to respond and also am frustrated by PPs who are certain everything can be addressed by either calorie and portion control OR deferring to a child’s “intuition”. Neither approach supports what’s really going on when kids gain weight or struggle to feel satisfied, which is complex.

To start, my kids eat lots of fruit. But if one was struggling with excess weight, I would *not* go out of my way to encourage eating, say, a cluster of grapes as a stand-alone snack. To do so denies everything we know about metabolic health. Of course I’m not going to shame them or restrict the grapes if that’s what they choose. But I’m going to try and fill the “home diet” (for all family members) with things we know support satiety/fullness. Especially because it’s so hard to control what they eat at parties. There is no downside except maybe the cost of avocados, olives, nuts, salmon or whatever your kids will eat. Unlike other interventions, it doesn’t harm your relationship and can be introduced slowly and without fanfare.

The unfortunate truth is that each generation is dealing with a compounding effect of all the increased antibiotics, endocrine disrupters, formula, pre-term births, stressful/cortisol-spiking infant environments, increased maternal insulin resistance, culture of snacking and so on and so on. I have been unable to avoid several of these and say this with zero judgement. Kids today also have fewer chances to build protective muscle because they aren’t out lifting and working in the same way. This is all before the circadian disruptions from screens. Some people are genetically and epigenetically more vulnerable to all of this. If you and your family are not, be grateful and try to keep it that way.

I don’t think the pediatrician’s advice is “bad”—but honestly they know very little about nutrition, weight, etc., although it’s getting better. I personally would not be pleased if a ped brought this up to my child without consulting me, especially because they are not experts. But it’s not a hill to die on.

One last thing. If your DD carries weight more in her hips, the gain is not risky health-wise and much easier to address or, frankly, leave alone. It’s terribly unfair but when excess weight is in the middle of the body you need to keep an eye on it more. She is so young and you may not know for several years.

Wow this is a very thoughtful response. Thank you for your insights and the challenges we are facing as a socieity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My just turned 10 to DD just had her annual well visit and the doctor told us she is overweight. She is 58 inches and weighs 110 lbs. the doctor’s suggestion is to try to eliminate all processed foods and sweets from our house and only offer nutritious foods. Dessert should only be for special occasions.

I am a little concerned that this is a little too extreme/restrictive and could lead to sneaking food or going crazy when she isn’t home. That said, DD goes to a school that provides lunch (we can’t bring our own) and she also goes to friends’ houses a couple days per week so she has access to processed foods, snacks and sweets there.

Anyone have a recommendation for how to approach this? Follow the doctor’s advice? DD already knows which foods are healthy and which are not. We don’t typically restrict anything but try not to over indulge too.

That is not really overweight - BMI must be close to 25

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My just turned 10 to DD just had her annual well visit and the doctor told us she is overweight. She is 58 inches and weighs 110 lbs. the doctor’s suggestion is to try to eliminate all processed foods and sweets from our house and only offer nutritious foods. Dessert should only be for special occasions.

I am a little concerned that this is a little too extreme/restrictive and could lead to sneaking food or going crazy when she isn’t home. That said, DD goes to a school that provides lunch (we can’t bring our own) and she also goes to friends’ houses a couple days per week so she has access to processed foods, snacks and sweets there.

Anyone have a recommendation for how to approach this? Follow the doctor’s advice? DD already knows which foods are healthy and which are not. We don’t typically restrict anything but try not to over indulge too.

That is not really overweight - BMI must be close to 25

BMI is very not 22.

You’ll give her an eating disorder by fixating on this …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My just turned 10 to DD just had her annual well visit and the doctor told us she is overweight. She is 58 inches and weighs 110 lbs. the doctor’s suggestion is to try to eliminate all processed foods and sweets from our house and only offer nutritious foods. Dessert should only be for special occasions.

I am a little concerned that this is a little too extreme/restrictive and could lead to sneaking food or going crazy when she isn’t home. That said, DD goes to a school that provides lunch (we can’t bring our own) and she also goes to friends’ houses a couple days per week so she has access to processed foods, snacks and sweets there.

Anyone have a recommendation for how to approach this? Follow the doctor’s advice? DD already knows which foods are healthy and which are not. We don’t typically restrict anything but try not to over indulge too.

I would consider getting a new pediatrician - your DD is within normal limits. There are so many eating disorders out there.

Her/ his advice to eat less refined foods etc is fine but calling your DD overweight is not. She/ he should be focussed on healthy life style/ whether your DD is doing fine on her growth curve and healthy developmental Milestones / not too much emphasis on weight per se .

[Anonymous]

I’m going to give a different take. Fixing bad eating habits is extremely difficult. Far easier is instituting good ones.

The two I would start with are 8 glasses of water per day and 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. Be rigid in those.

The extra water and food will naturally replace some of the weight and those are lifetime habits that will Immensely help her. Also, the 5 fruits and vegetables cause her to expand her diet to actually like some healthier foods.

I cannot stress the difference constantly drinking water alone will make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My just turned 10 to DD just had her annual well visit and the doctor told us she is overweight. She is 58 inches and weighs 110 lbs. the doctor’s suggestion is to try to eliminate all processed foods and sweets from our house and only offer nutritious foods. Dessert should only be for special occasions.

I am a little concerned that this is a little too extreme/restrictive and could lead to sneaking food or going crazy when she isn’t home. That said, DD goes to a school that provides lunch (we can’t bring our own) and she also goes to friends’ houses a couple days per week so she has access to processed foods, snacks and sweets there.

Anyone have a recommendation for how to approach this? Follow the doctor’s advice? DD already knows which foods are healthy and which are not. We don’t typically restrict anything but try not to over indulge too.

I would consider getting a new pediatrician - your DD is within normal limits. There are so many eating disorders out there.

Her/ his advice to eat less refined foods etc is fine but calling your DD overweight is not. She/ he should be focussed on healthy life style/ whether your DD is doing fine on her growth curve and healthy developmental Milestones / not too much emphasis on weight per se .

Actually she is considered obese, by the medical definition for children. BMI that is greater than 85th percentile is overweight and 95th percentile and above is obese. I don’t have anything helpful to add bc this is so complicated and hard to fix, but her daughter does have a weight issue presently.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/bmi/calculator.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My just turned 10 to DD just had her annual well visit and the doctor told us she is overweight. She is 58 inches and weighs 110 lbs. the doctor’s suggestion is to try to eliminate all processed foods and sweets from our house and only offer nutritious foods. Dessert should only be for special occasions.

I am a little concerned that this is a little too extreme/restrictive and could lead to sneaking food or going crazy when she isn’t home. That said, DD goes to a school that provides lunch (we can’t bring our own) and she also goes to friends’ houses a couple days per week so she has access to processed foods, snacks and sweets there.

Anyone have a recommendation for how to approach this? Follow the doctor’s advice? DD already knows which foods are healthy and which are not. We don’t typically restrict anything but try not to over indulge too.

Three meals a day was the norm in the 60's and 70's. No parents served all of these constant snacks. You might get a piece of fruit
when you got off the bus after school.