Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 18:44     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:My kid looked extra pudgy at 11 and then at 12 grew a huuuge amount. Not pudgy anymore.


Yep that part happens fast.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 18:02     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.


Ignore this poster. Many kids grow unevenly around puberty...


You provide no information, only to say "ignore the science". Hmm.


boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life.


Correct.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 18:01     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.


Ignore this poster. Many kids grow unevenly around puberty...


You provide no information, only to say "ignore the science". Hmm.


This is science?? boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 17:56     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
In middle school my son had what his doctor called an Apple Body. Weight gain in the middle before a growth spurt and weight distribution. Not all the kids get it but kids who do come out on the other side with a normal body.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 17:48     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.


Ignore this poster. Many kids grow unevenly around puberty...


You provide no information, only to say "ignore the science". Hmm.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 17:42     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.


Ignore this poster. Many kids grow unevenly around puberty...
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 17:33     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.


Thanks for this perspective. I would be 100% shocked if he were on a path to obesity--neither his dad nor I nor anyone in our families are obese or even overweight. I am sure I ate more junk as a kid than DS does, but it's still more than I'd like, but I'm trying to balance healthiness with not helicoptering him about food.

I just checked his BMI and his percentile weight-for-height and while it's gone up (thank goodness!) to 25th percentile last doc visit, that's clearly still quite small. I think I'm just not used to seeing him with a little more pudge. He was rail thin even as a little kid.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 16:31     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
My kid looked extra pudgy at 11 and then at 12 grew a huuuge amount. Not pudgy anymore.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 16:08     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Anonymous wrote:Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.


Overeating junk is probably wrecking his hormones....
Unless there is a serious metabolic issue causing it.

Metabolic disorder aside, boys are usually thin to skinny before puberty unless they have the genetics to be really obese later in life. (At least one parent would be morbidly obese with a BMI over 30 by their 40s if so.)

Once boys and girls hit puberty, they usually go from skinny boy or Olive Oil girl, to still being very lean and having six pack abs, but just adding muscle until their late teens.

Check out his hormone levels and do complete bloodwork to ruie out an issue there. If all is good, change his eating habits and quit buying him junkfood. You are currently setting him on the road to obesity and a miserable life.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 15:36     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Thanks all for sharing your experiences! -OP
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 12:44     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Totally normal. DS was skinny in elementary school. Pudgy in middle school. By HS graduation he'd shot up to 6'1" and very slim. Similar diet and exercise all the way through.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 12:42     Subject: Re:Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Normal for many boys around this age IME. If his diet is fairly reasonable, and his activity level is fairly reasonable, I would not give it another thought.

Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 12:15     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
It can be normal, as long as he isn’t medically overweight for his height (BMI >85th percentile), I would not worry at all.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 11:15     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Our pediatrician said yes. She called it a pre-puberty stall and it’s not uncommon for kids to grow out before they grow up.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2025 11:04     Subject: Weight gain in 11 year old boy - pre-puberty?
Is it normal for boys to put on weight around this time? Our oldest DS, for years way too skinny, is noticeably filling out. (Looks more like fat than muscle.) I suspect this is his body getting ready for a growth spurt but my husband is concerned he's just eating too much junk (which is true, he's got the world's biggest sweet tooth). I don't think he eats more junk food than your normal 11 year old but it is a fair bit.

He gets plenty of exercise and eats a good breakfast and dinner--school lunch is typical school-lunch stuff.

Just wondering whether a pre-puberty weight gain is normal in boys or if we should contact ped.