This seems to happen with boys 11-13. Did he just develop the belly or has he always been a bigger kid? If the latter, now is the time to really reinforce healthy eating habits and get active. If it's a recent development, I'd just make sure you're only providing healthy options for him to put in his body. Boys usually get a bit of pudge on them before they shoot up.

Our ped cautioned to watch with DS as he put on weight at age 12 because he wasn't supposed to be tall. He said kid's have problems when their body tells them to eat more to prepare for a growth spurt that either doesn't really cause them to get taller and even things out. DS defied the (short genes, from me) odds and did end up growing 4 inches. It was a constant battle of highwater pants that year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

This post is probably from the mom who got mad at her kid for spending too much money on lunch during a museum field trip. Ignore her. She's a psychotic bitch who is giving her kids a total complex over eating and their weight. Do NOT tell it like it is to your son. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. You will destroy him and you will destroy your relationship with him.

LOL. Are you referring to quinoa yogurt and avocado mom? Or is there another loony here?

PP here. I don't remember if those two posts were from the same person but I think they were. Pretty sure we do have more than one loony mom here, though.

Anonymous wrote:yes he's very overweight (might even be obese didn't weigh him recently) but it doesn't both me too much as he eats a good enough diet and exercises regularly.

it doesn't appear to bother him either as far as i can tell. but i'm just wondering if he's handling it on his own.

what we've talked about was the fact that he's not 'fit' for his age and needed to do something about it. so not focusing on his size/shape but fitness.

At 11, I was overweight enough to be 'obese' and yes it bothered me quite a bit but if my parents ever asked I just said "I don't care" or "it doesn't bother me"

Yes, other kids noticed and picked on me somewhat for it too.

Has he always been somewhat overweight? If so, it's not likely he is going to outgrow it in the coming years, its more likely that he will continue to gain.

Don't try and focus on fitness because that is just going to be a fail and make him feel worse. Being overweight means it is already harder to participate in activities and it makes you feel worse when you see others do it effortlessly and you are huffing and puffing.

Focus on diet and eating. Just start changing the kind of food you have in the house. Start by limiting sweets to one kind of sweet at a time in the house or per shopping trip. One bag of cookies for example.

when a bag of chips is finished, don't replace them with another bag of crackers or chips.

Look at your freezer. Is it full of convenience foods? Unfortunately the highly processed stuff isn't helpful for changing diet so aim to use up what's in the freezer and not replace most of it.

Be ok with full fat butter, cheese, yogurt, sour cream. These are just more flavorful and can make moving away from processed foods a bit easier.

Don't buy things like whole wheat bread or low fat foods. Both have a lot of sugar and additives, don't taste that great.

Use up any juice, juice boxes, soda and don't replace for a while.

Your DS will eat junk at school but that's better than eating junk at school and at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

This post is probably from the mom who got mad at her kid for spending too much money on lunch during a museum field trip. Ignore her. She's a psychotic bitch who is giving her kids a total complex over eating and their weight. Do NOT tell it like it is to your son. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. You will destroy him and you will destroy your relationship with him.

I agree with the top poster here. My brother grew up fatbecause he didnt eat well and exercise. My parents werecareful not to hurt his feelings, but it has really stunted his life inevery way. I wish more parents would be direct and loving in getting their kids in shape.

OP, was it your who posted that your DS is very overweight? If so, something needs to be done. If he just has a belly, then it could be the food he is eating. I believe in gaining weight right before a growth spurt, it is common occurrence and needed for a growth spurt. if he is extremely overweight and you are not a troll, then you should go see nutritionist for health reasons. Food industry is pestilence upon people and while you might think he is eating healthy, you might not even realize what is hiding in food that is not food at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

This post is probably from the mom who got mad at her kid for spending too much money on lunch during a museum field trip. Ignore her. She's a psychotic bitch who is giving her kids a total complex over eating and their weight. Do NOT tell it like it is to your son. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. You will destroy him and you will destroy your relationship with him.

LOL. Are you referring to quinoa yogurt and avocado mom? Or is there another loony here?

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

What kind of advice is this?

NO. You absolutely do NOT put a preteen/teen boy on a diet, unless your doctor is telling you too due to obesity. A pot belly is not an issue for a boy (or girl) of this age. A pot belly indicates the beginnings of puberty and major growth spurts.

Let the kid eat. He needs lots of calories right now. Keep him active. Don't let him spend all day on his bum.

He will shoot up and stretch out sometime in the next year or so.

Ignore the diet idiots.

He is probably a year out from his growth spurt.

My now 14 year old had that.

He was always a stringbean, then around 12-13 got very chubby. Then overnight he grew to taller than me and stretched out. He now looks like a thin and healthy young teen.

Just keep him active and don't restrict his food. Boys this age are always hungry and need a TON of calories just to sustain their growth spurts, way more than the typical middle age dcum mom.

He is probably a year out from his growth spurt.

My now 14 year old had that.

He was always a stringbean, then around 12-13 got very chubby. Then overnight he grew to taller than me and stretched out. He now looks like a thin and healthy young teen.

Just keep him active and don't restrict his food. Boys this age are always hungry and need a TON of calories just to sustain their growth spurts, way more than the typical middle age dcum mom.

Are you sure it's a belly from extra calories and not a muscle imbalance due to weak low back muscles and poor posture? Does his back look like a C from the side? Does he slouch his shoulders, round his middle back and push his lower back forward? Better posture can often improve the appearance of a belly. Conditioning/weightlifting helps, so does swimming and yoga.

Anonymous wrote:My then 11yo DS had a paunch. The now 14yo hit puberty, is doing "strength and conditioning" every day at school, and now has a little 6-pack going. Problem solved. Now I just have to keep buying him new clothes and stocking the fridge ...

Good for him! But was he heavy? If an otherwise skinny/average kid had a belly, chances are good he's going to lose it during puberty. A heavy kid with a belly is very likely to keep it into adulthood. OP's kid is probably the latter.

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

What in the wide world of sports are you thinking???

Anonymous wrote:Bullshit. Far too many people are candyasses like you and look around at all the obesity. For 99.9% of people there is no reason to be fat. You are simply eating more calories than you are using. I know you won't listen and there will be another fat ass who thinks it OK to be fat cause his mommy told him.

some people's body naturally burns more calories in their sleep then others, and i bet there're more than 0.01% of people whose body burns next to nothing in their sleep. it's no different than the same body will most likely burn fewer and fewer calories in a sleep as it ages. but please prove me wrong if you believe otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell it like it is: son, your belly is huge. It's unhealthy, unsightly. Do something about it.

First, diet. Have a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets, i.e., non gluten, etc.

This post is probably from the mom who got mad at her kid for spending too much money on lunch during a museum field trip. Ignore her. She's a psychotic bitch who is giving her kids a total complex over eating and their weight. Do NOT tell it like it is to your son. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. You will destroy him and you will destroy your relationship with him.

Bullshit. Far too many people are candyasses like you and look around at all the obesity. For 99.9% of people there is no reason to be fat. You are simply eating more calories than you are using. I know you won't listen and there will be another fat ass who thinks it OK to be fat cause his mommy told him.

Do you really, really not realize that obesity is almost always also linked to education level, income, food security, food access, and myriad other factors. Not always, no, but there is a reason that its so much more common in areas with these risk factors. Life doesn't happen in a bubble.

FWIW there are kids who are chubby, they just are, I remember in HS it seemed like every varsity team had 1 girl that remained "unsightly" despite being a varsity athlete, kicking butt, eating normally, etc.

My then 11yo DS had a paunch. The now 14yo hit puberty, is doing "strength and conditioning" every day at school, and now has a little 6-pack going. Problem solved. Now I just have to keep buying him new clothes and stocking the fridge ...