concerned about 10yr old daughters weight

Penny-Pincher!!

I would still take her to the GP as she may have a hormone imbalancement or thyroid problem.

Has she started her periods yet?

PP
xx

vik6525

Thought of something else!!!!

It JUST dawned on me!!


You say you run? Has she got a bike?

3 times a week, my son and I go to the park. I run and he cycles alongside me.
I make a HUGE deal about how wonderful he is for 'helping me out in case I cheat' and how hard I find it to run without him there

It seems to work because he thinks hes helping me out, and sees it as 'Mummys exercise time' without realising that HES getting the benefit too!

tiddly_widdly

Everyone is giving lots of suggestions so Im not going to add to it. Other than, when you make tuna mayo try making it with low fat cottage cheese instead of mayo, its delicious. the other added advantage is that its bulkier so a little goes further

callow

I am in a similar situation. My daughter is 9 and wears age 14 - 16 clothes. She has always been 2 sizes above her age, but in the last few years this has increased. My other daughter, age 11, is within the normal weight range and in the last year I have lost almost 4 stone and am now a size 10. I think most of her problems come from stealing food. I can't buy crisps because she will eat them all or find them when I have hidden them. At the worst she will take sugar from the cupboard and eat that.

As I was concerned I took to the GP and was referred onto the school nurse. They were full of promises about a twice monthly weighing and education session but it hasn't happened. It is noted at the school and she has been weighted once. Lately she has stopped stealing and has lost a bit of weight. As it is summer she is much more physical and jumps on the trampoline etc. I am just hoping that as she grows up she will even out.

Lunar_Eclipse

tori.k wrote: »

if she doesnt feel her weight is a issue at the moment dont make it into one (thats a can of worms you dont want to open)

Agree with this.

Also second the geocaching recommendation. We've done it for about 5 years now, here and overseas (all locations on same website). Ingenious way of getting young children in particular out in the fresh air. They can be in some beautiful spots.

becs

From what I'm reading it doesn't appear that diet or medical condition are the problem, it's inactivity. She's 10 of course she's going to want the treats and snacks like her brother but if these are in moderation as part of a generally healthy diet they shouldn't be a problem if she is burning off enough calories. Getting her to burn off the calories in the ways you have been suggesting to her obviously don't appeal and she finds it hard. I think you need to try and be creative about how she can burn off the calories whilst having FUN! She's a child, she shouldn't be worrying about having to go running,swimming or cycling she should be moving about doing things she would enjoy. Some of the other suggestions on here I think sound brilliant especially the treasure hunt thing! That's something you could even do yourself without any equipment if you go to a local nature reserve or something. How about dancing or roller skating, have a chat with her and see what kind of fun things she might like to try,but I think the key is to find something that isn't viewed as exercise. Good luck, you sound a fab mum but please don't get too obsessed as it could work against you. My mum is constantly on at me about my weight and I am trying really hard to lose it but I have a tumour causing a hormone imbalance which is not helping and all her constant comments and suggestions just make me feel fed up and miserable and then I want to go and "treat" myself to make me feel better! I have learned to ignore this now but it certainly doesn't inspire me and the fact she can lose the weight I find even harder, as it just makes me feel like a failure. So tread carefully.

jenando999

I'm so glad I found this thread, so many helpful tips

I've been worrying about my 14 yo daughter's weight for a while. She is 5'1" and wearing an adults size 12-14 which I know isn't huge but she is carrying it all round the middle (at one point I was terrified she might be pregnant - never been so relieved to have a teenager with her period :rotfl:)

I have tried talking to her about it but as soon as I mention weight or size she goes into a strop. I realise it's because she's paranoid about it herself, but it doesn't help if she won't talk to me about it.

I have an underactive thyroid so I do already make low calorie meals and small portions. Just wondering if I should get her thyroid checked as it does seem to run in my family, my mum and two aunts are also affected.

mspig

Just be really careful about how you approach the situation about her weight as i was an overweight child from about age 8(after i had my tonsils out as they were that inflammed i could hardley eat before having them out), my parents put it down to puppy fat(something that no-one ever mentions anymore), but when i turned 11 my mum cut down my portion sizes and stopped all sweets and chocolates, and yes i did lose weight but the more i lost the better i felt about myself until i only ate chocolate throughout the day and nothing more.
The result was that i ended up anorexic from the age of 12 until 18, i had my first son at 18 and weighed just 8st when i had him and was back to 7st within two weeks of giving birth.

Luckly i don't have an eating disorder anymore but it definelty was to do with everyone saying i was overweight and would look better without the weight, and the drastic ways my mum did it rather than cutting down over time it was done over night, and i also think it had something to do with my mum always being on a diet as far back as i can remember and at 60 years old she is still dieting and obsessed with losing pounds no matter what it takes - diet pills of the internet the lot no matter how many times you tell her about the dangers she won't listen.

Hope you can come up with a solution soon.

dizziblonde

She sounds like I was as a kid (still am and it's developed into a weight problem for me). I'd eat too much, snack like crazy (mum was busy bringing up my younger brother who was chronically ill so used to stack the fridge with things like ready meals for me to fend for myself) and I hated exercise as I was unfit so got out of breath really quickly and hated that feeling. I'd sign up for school sports clubs and quit going after a week or two when the realization that was was cr*p sank in because I desperately wanted to be good - the things I was good at were crafty stuff and books so I stuck with those.

The few sporty things I did enjoy were aikido (gave up in the end as I couldn't be bothered getting up on a Sat am) and I spent most of my teenage years hanging around the local ice rink - I did a fair bit of hanging around the edge chatting, but I did do a sizeable whack of skating as well. Neither of them were competitive in that I was revealling how rubbish I was, and the ice skating was controllable in that I could stop for a while instead of having to push through that horrible out of breath feeling I absolutely loathed as a kid (I interpreted it not as a normal result of physical activity, but as a "yep you're cr*p" signal).

My mum kept a box stocked up in the fridge with ready prepared things like carrot sticks and dips, raw cauliflower, pepper strips (but not the green ones as I still hate those - just red and yellow), radishes etc - all the nice bits of salad without the incessant lettuce and encouraged me to go pick at those when I had the munchies... was all the bits of salad I liked without the lettuce to make my jaws ache - it helped a bit in my case because I still boredom and comfort eat.

Whenever my mother forced the issue with me though I just switched off or it became a row - it's still something I won't discuss with her to this day. What she interpreted as motivational (I'll buy you new clothes if you lose weight) or being cruel to be kind (you'd be really pretty if you weren't so fat) I just switched off from - I know she meant well but it achieved nothing but hurting my self esteem - and I knew she'd crack and buy me new clothes anyway so that one was never going to work!

Just another thought - she doesn't have anything like asthma or eczema wrong with her? My younger brother was incredibly wobbly as a kid (to the extent of the docs raising alarm bells) because of steroids prescribed for his medical issues - at the age of about 16 he discovered girls, became incredibly body concious and has pretty much lived down the gym for the following 6 years... sadly his dress sense did not improve along with his physique.

stefejb

I would wait and see what the doctor says - there may be some kind of programme near you that she could get into along the lines of MEND. I have the same concerns about my 12yo but am more anxious about making an issue of it - her elder sister struggles to maintain a BMI above 17-18. I have spoken to her pe teacher who says that she participates and that her fitness is average and the doctor said to give it a little more time. I do think that she has slimmed down a fair bit in the last 6 months so it might be down to age. Like your dd mine is bookish rather than sporty but i think a wii fit would be a good idea for us - wonder if you can get one on prescription LOL. I do sympathise though - it's so difficult trying to control children's diets - dd's dad tends to give her junk and coke on Daddy weekends and any comment just results in a row.

best of luck