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Helping kids lose weight


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:grouphug: its hard. we have 4 dds. what we've done has been a combination. increasing physical exercise seems to help a lot for us. also not eating out. and cooking from scratch. and serving things in serving sizes. and not having things around to snack on other than healthy things. now with our youngest, age 10, i just remind her to get on the scale each morning. she doesn't need to tell me the number, she just needs to be aware of it. and mostly, she then self-monitors. but it sure is easier when everyone is working on it, rather than just one of us!

 

hth,

ann

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This may not help, but dd is losing since we sent her to a traditional high school. The reason is probably because she walks about a mile each afternoon. She may not get as many calories either, since she's not "grazing." She doesn't care about her weight so it isn't a peer pressure thing.

 

It's good to have a reason to walk.

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Puberty.

 

I worried and worried and worried about my chubby 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old (same kid, just worried year after year).

 

I come from a family of obese people and it kept me up at night. I occasionally badgered him over his food choices (pasta, cheese). One of my biggest regrets as a parent is the way I responded to his eating. I was terrible.

 

Between the ages for 13 and 14 he's grown 5 inches and lost 10 pounds. He eats a bit better (more yogurt and fruit, less pasta) and now I worry that he isn't eating enough to fuel his growth spurt. The cellulite that I saw on his chest and tummy has been replaced with muscle and ribs sticking out! I had to give away all his Husky pants that I bought in advance.

 

I feel really stupid.

 

My friend's daughter (just a month younger than my son) has gone through the same transformation.

 

I don't have any solid advice except to model good eating habits and talk about nutrition and what your body needs. Keep healthy foods aroun.

 

Please don't worry so much about the scale. I weigh 120 and I wear a size 5 in juniors. People always think I weigh about 10 pounds less than I do. I have a friend who runs marathons and is the same height as me -- she weighs 140+ and wears a women's size 6. The scale is not a measurement of health - don't make it that.

 

Just my .02

K

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If you've ever helped your kids lose weight, would you please share how you went about doing this.

 

Thank you,

 

Alison

 

I was told not to make them go on a diet, but to give them a well-balanced diet with appropriate proportions. Then, when the child goes through a growth spurt, don't allow the number of calories to go through the roof --enough to keep him fed, but also few enough to make him grow taller and leaner.

 

It worked beautifully for my son.

 

To put a child on a diet can be asking for a life-time of struggles physically and psychologically.

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{Sigh} We've been working at this for a couple of years now. It's working for one of my dds, who's lost 45 pounds. My youngest dd, it hasn't made a difference, but there's some special circumstances there. From the start, my family has eaten very little processed foods, so that wasn't much of an issue. Here are the changes we made:

Almost no sugar, rice, potatoes, or pasta, or cereal.

Salad before dinner almost every night.

Two and sometimes three vegetables with dinner, and half the plate is filled with veggies before other food goes on.

If you're still hungry after you eat your plate of food, you can eat more veggies.

A full glass of water before meals, and another during your meal.

Breakfast is almost always eggs, fixed in a variety of ways, because the protein seems to help.

We use a food scale to measure portions of higher calorie food. We don't measure veggies.

Snacks must either be high protein, or a veggie. Fruit is rare at our house.

I gave my kids a pack of sugarless gum, and they put one piece in their pocket every day. If they're out and are tempted to eat a high-sugar food, they pop their gum in to help them resist.

We checked out the recreation department activities/sports and tried some new things.

We repaired broken bicycles so the kids could get pedaling again.

We give active gifts like volleyball sets & fun fitness dvds.

If we go on a trip or an outing, I search for fun opportunities for activity, like a hike, or playing baseball in the park, etc.

We put on music during chore time that has a faster tempo, and encourage each other to work fast, sometimes running through tasks like car washing & housecleaning.

We use smaller plates, and sometimes my girls even use teeny spoons/forks from their younger days, just for fun (though it helps remind them to eat slowly & purposefully).

We rarely weigh on the scale.

We never mention weight in relation to how someone looks, but only in terms of being "healthy", and treating your body as well as possible.

 

ETA: I try to keep cubed grilled chicken and hard-boiled eggs (my kids only like the whites) on hand for lower-calorie high-protein snacks that will keep them full for a long time. Sometimes for a snack or lunch, they have a lettuce wrap made with lunchmeat & cheese rolled in a large green lettuce leaf. They add lots of veggies to that. I also started making my tacos "without shells", better known as taco salad to the rest of the world, lol, but taco salad didn't sound as appetizing to my family as "tacos without shells". ;-)

Edited by Julie in CA
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Puberty.

 

This was exactly what our pediatrician said, and it's coming true. She's growing into her weight. We just helped her start eating better to maintain her weight. She's at the top end of her healthy range now.

 

The hard stuff: stop buying the junk food snacks like cookies just to have it sitting around, moving to flavored water instead of soda, making better choices when eating out. We still eat what we want, it's just we've started wanting different things. She loves big salads when we go out to eat, whereas she used to get chicken tenders and french fries and dessert.

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Hmm, I don't know if I'm going to raise a giant or what. My 11 year old is 5'5" and weighs around 180. He really carries it well. He is now wearing a size 11 shoe. I just don't know how much more he'll jump up at puberty. I know he's self conscious without a shirt on. We do try to keep "junk" at a minimum, but I also will keep frozen pizzas on hand to use with our lunch. This child just likes to eat...and drink. So we limit him to a glass of milk a day. We don't have sodas regularly, except maybe on birthday's, or when we occasionally go out to eat. I thought we ate pretty well, but maybe not. I know we need to have more veggies in our diet..but salads get old. The kids favorite vegetable is potatoes, preferably mashed :D.

 

I'm working on my weight and it is coming very slowly. Since I'm counting calories the kids are more interested, so that helps. I want them to be aware, but I also don't want to ruin them on watching their weight. My kids are the ones that every time we go to a birthday party, they always get a 2nd piece. They just like food. I have two that are overweight, and one that is just the right size. All my natural children, but the youngest just seems to know when to stop and can say no to foods.

 

My kids aren't acive in sports either. I decided to take time out every day and have them do at least 30 minutes on Wii fit plus. I need to make it more of a priority than I have.

 

Have you seen any websites with suggestions? Maybe ideas for a picky eater, my middle one doesn't like anything healthy for her.

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

Alison

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I'm not sure how much it will help you, but I posted something similar the other day, and someone recommended Dr. Sears' Lean Kids book to me. I have it on hold at the library, so I haven't read it yet, but maybe it's worth looking into?

 

:grouphug: I hear your concerns. DH and I have both struggled with our weight our whole lives, and I always swore I would not let what happened to me happen to my kids. And yet... *sigh* I hope you find some solutions for him.

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I'm not sure how much it will help you, but I posted something similar the other day, and someone recommended Dr. Sears' Lean Kids book to me. I have it on hold at the library, so I haven't read it yet, but maybe it's worth looking into?

 

:grouphug: I hear your concerns. DH and I have both struggled with our weight our whole lives, and I always swore I would not let what happened to me happen to my kids. And yet... *sigh* I hope you find some solutions for him.

 

Yep, that's exactly the way I feel. 4/5 of my family is overweight. I'm finally tired of it and working on it, but at 40, it's coming off slowly...it's like 2 steps forward and 3 or 4 back.

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Some children are going to have more issues than others. My oldest daughter is built like me. She isn't fat, but will always be pushing those BMI numbers with the scale. I'm 5'5" and at 140# wear a size 6, but I have very broad shoulders and getting into a size 8 dress is a stretch. I see much altering in her future... hopefully she'll enjoy sewing!

 

Here is what we have done.

 

#1 -- Year round swimming. Going outside to "play" just hasn't been enough. Running around outside when it's raining, freezing, or really hot and humid isn't going to happen. "Good" fall and spring weather isn't enough. We put the kids who swim on the team. They swim 3-4x a week for about an hour. And they are really swimming.

 

#2 -- limit food choices around the house. My oldest daughter loves breads, sugars, not the healthy carbs. The kind of carbs that go straight to the stomach. So, as a general rule, we don't have chips, white bread, candy, or cookies around. I can't police food all the time (our living circumstances make it all to easy to stop by the pantry and grab & go). I *do* have to purchase some higher carb, whole grain type of snacks to have on hand because of the swimming, carrot sticks just don't do it for that...lol.

 

#3 -- make healthy eating a conversation... and model it daily. I wish I could model it perfectly, but until my teeth are fixed, carrot sticks are just too difficult for me to chew -- and lead to other problems. I have my 2nd to last surgery scheduled for Dec. 8th... my last surgery will be sometime in 2011. Once I have a full set of teeth again... raw veggies here I come!

 

#4 -- most children do best with several smaller meals. It helps level out blood sugars, and keeps hunger at bay. Making children wait long hours between meals makes them overly hungry -- then they eat ravenously and that can lead to later weight issues. (They don't learn to follow hunger cues, and just eat and eat at meals... wind up overly-full, etc.) We don't follow the 3 square meals here, we do more like 6. But not every meal has a fruit and a veggie. Sometimes, it's a fruit OR a veggie. Protein is always involved in every meal.

 

#5 -- don't let them drink their calories. This means juice. Did you know a cup of juice has almost as much sugar as a cup of soda? Same with chocolate milk. Jamie Oliver put it this way... "Did we really need a study to tell us that kids would eat more of a food if you put sugar all over it?" Duh. We cut out the chocolate milk. We cut out the juice. They get a couple of cups of milk a day, but plenty of calcium in cheese and yogurt.

 

#6 -- don't go overboard cutting out fats -- especially in children. Growing kids need fats (olive oil, butter, etc.) for proper brain and body development. Fats also fill you up. Studies have found that people who focus on "low fat" tend to NOT be thin. Adults need fats too. It's better to have one slice of bread with butter and "feel full" than to eat two slices of bread without butter and still feel hungry 30 minutes later.

 

#6 -- try not to make it a huge issue. Do what you can. Avoid fast food. Avoid extra sugars. Avoid processed foods which are high in added sugars, sodium, and other additives. This doesn't mean you have to make everything from scratch, just read the labels.

 

#7 -- have your child do a food journal. Make this part of a health lesson. have them calculate the calories they are consuming (sugar, fiber, carbohydrates, proteins... etc.) Talk about it, but don't be judgmental. Calories in vs. Calories burned is still the #1 issue when it comes to losing weight (see recent experiment by nutritionist who lost weight only eating junk food, but still watched his calorie count).

 

That's all I've got.

 

Best wishes!

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Some children are going to have more issues than others. My oldest daughter is built like me. She isn't fat, but will always be pushing those BMI numbers with the scale. I'm 5'5" and at 140# wear a size 6, but I have very broad shoulders and getting into a size 8 dress is a stretch. I see much altering in her future... hopefully she'll enjoy sewing!

 

Here is what we have done.

 

#1 -- Year round swimming. Going outside to "play" just hasn't been enough. Running around outside when it's raining, freezing, or really hot and humid isn't going to happen. "Good" fall and spring weather isn't enough. We put the kids who swim on the team. They swim 3-4x a week for about an hour. And they are really swimming.

 

#2 -- limit food choices around the house. My oldest daughter loves breads, sugars, not the healthy carbs. The kind of carbs that go straight to the stomach. So, as a general rule, we don't have chips, white bread, candy, or cookies around. I can't police food all the time (our living circumstances make it all to easy to stop by the pantry and grab & go). I *do* have to purchase some higher carb, whole grain type of snacks to have on hand because of the swimming, carrot sticks just don't do it for that...lol.

 

#3 -- make healthy eating a conversation... and model it daily. I wish I could model it perfectly, but until my teeth are fixed, carrot sticks are just too difficult for me to chew -- and lead to other problems. I have my 2nd to last surgery scheduled for Dec. 8th... my last surgery will be sometime in 2011. Once I have a full set of teeth again... raw veggies here I come!

 

#4 -- most children do best with several smaller meals. It helps level out blood sugars, and keeps hunger at bay. Making children wait long hours between meals makes them overly hungry -- then they eat ravenously and that can lead to later weight issues. (They don't learn to follow hunger cues, and just eat and eat at meals... wind up overly-full, etc.) We don't follow the 3 square meals here, we do more like 6. But not every meal has a fruit and a veggie. Sometimes, it's a fruit OR a veggie. Protein is always involved in every meal.

 

#5 -- don't let them drink their calories. This means juice. Did you know a cup of juice has almost as much sugar as a cup of soda? Same with chocolate milk. Jamie Oliver put it this way... "Did we really need a study to tell us that kids would eat more of a food if you put sugar all over it?" Duh. We cut out the chocolate milk. We cut out the juice. They get a couple of cups of milk a day, but plenty of calcium in cheese and yogurt.

 

#6 -- don't go overboard cutting out fats -- especially in children. Growing kids need fats (olive oil, butter, etc.) for proper brain and body development. Fats also fill you up. Studies have found that people who focus on "low fat" tend to NOT be thin. Adults need fats too. It's better to have one slice of bread with butter and "feel full" than to eat two slices of bread without butter and still feel hungry 30 minutes later.

 

#6 -- try not to make it a huge issue. Do what you can. Avoid fast food. Avoid extra sugars. Avoid processed foods which are high in added sugars, sodium, and other additives. This doesn't mean you have to make everything from scratch, just read the labels.

 

#7 -- have your child do a food journal. Make this part of a health lesson. have them calculate the calories they are consuming (sugar, fiber, carbohydrates, proteins... etc.) Talk about it, but don't be judgmental. Calories in vs. Calories burned is still the #1 issue when it comes to losing weight (see recent experiment by nutritionist who lost weight only eating junk food, but still watched his calorie count).

 

That's all I've got.

 

Best wishes!

:iagree:

 

A good read is Omnivore's Dilemma (for Teens). I would make it a part of any teen's Health Class if I could.

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I was a chubby kid. I don't know what happened. I think as I came to be a teen-ager, my metabolism sped up. I know that I didn't grow AT ALL after the beginning of 7th grade.

 

Now, my ds(almost 10) is chubby. He's about 4'8 and weighs about 90 lb. He doesn't carry it well :(. I try to keep healthy things on hand and he doesn't eat tons of food, but he's pretty stationary as he loves to read. But, he's joined a basketball team through the hs group and I'm hoping with puberty hitting soon, that he'll shoot up. His is wearing a size 7-8 men's shoe, so I'm hoping his height will come soon!

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