DD overweight, but what more can I do?

BitterAndTwisted

Unless your daughter is very overweight I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you're confident that she's enjoying a normal, healthy diet. They do go through a growing spurt and lots of kids that are well-covered or even a bit chubby often slim right down later on. One thing I have noticed is that an awful lot of parents underestimate how much food a small child really needs, they should be fed from a tea-plate/side-plate sized dish at that age not a dinner-plate

gingin_2

Please take no offence from this but if you are overweight and she is overweight, then somewhere, something is not going right. If she's getting enough exercise then it must be coming from the food.

What would be a typical daily food diary and what are your portion sizes like?

I wouldn't make an issue of it in front of her but if you can replace snacks for the fruit bowl and gradually reduce her portion sizes so that she doesn't notice, it should hopefully make a difference. My mother would regularly announce that "we were going on a diet" and I developed an eating disorder at an early age, most of my negative food and self esteem memories came from her. Mother/ daughter and mother/daughter/food relationships can be so difficult and so sensitive so good luck :-)

Edited to add - how come she is not getting her 5 a day and what is it being substituted with? A couple of pieces of fruit, a small glass of fruit juice and a nice couple of portions of of veggies with the evening meal should be easy enough to give to a child in a day.

chocdonuty

She's just under 120 cm below average but not greatly so and turns 8 in July, She was measured on the wii fit (not accurate but thereabouts) at 4st 10. Not on any medication,
The only thing I did wonder is if she had an allergy/intolerance as she has tummy aches quite often but thankfully that seems better recently and doctors have just dismissed it as normal in the past

gunsandbanjos

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

One thing I have noticed is that an awful lot of parents underestimate how much food a small child really needs, they should be fed from a tea-plate/side-plate sized dish at that age not a dinner-plate

Sorry to be picky, should it not be over estimate?

My daughter is 6 and has her dinner on a side plate, it is more than big enough for a child sized portion! Ive always made it clear to her that she doesnt need to eat everything on her plate, she eats til she is full and that is fine. Obviously there are no 'afters' if she doesnt eat all her dinner though. If she is hungry for a sweet after her dinner she is hungry enough to eat all her dinner. Works fine for us, she is kind of on the skinny side ( 15.5kg!) but that is health related more than anything else.

CAFCGirl

without knowing height/weight, its difficult to know if she is actually overweight or if your partner just thinks she is "bigger" than other girls her age...

I would suggest maybe writing a food diary for her, what you give her, what times, snacks, drinks etc. A lot of the time we can "think" we're eating quite well but when you look back over a week, it may solely be down to quantity.

I think its great she's doing lots of activities etc, but as with anything you have to do them with some gusto for them to burn anything off.

what exactly has her dad said that has made you paranoid about it?
If you are really concerned take her to the dr's and ask for her to be checked...

gunsandbanjos

chocdonuty wrote: »

She's just under 120 cm below average but not greatly so and turns 8 in July, She was measured on the wii fit (not accurate but thereabouts) at 4st 10. Not on any medication,
The only thing I did wonder is if she had an allergy/intolerance as she has tummy aches quite often but thankfully that seems better recently and doctors have just dismissed it as normal in the past

I know BMI isnt an accurate measurement for everyone, i put the rough details you mentioned into a BMI calculator though and got this http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx sorry for some reason that link takes you back to the home page, but if you put her details in to the calculator it will give you an idea that she may be overweight.

ailuro2

With kids you can tell by looking at them.

My DD is a bit on the heavy side for her height, has been since she was about 7yo, now she is 11 she is starting to grow up instead of out. She isn't terribly fat, just has a bit of a muffin top.

I have never put her on a diet, don't want her to wreck her metabolism like I wrecked mine, but I do encourage her to eat healthy foods. She still has most meals on a sideplate, gets plenty exercise, but still has a few treats.

The jeans issue - DD was the same but I just took up the bottoms to get the waist to fit. Now she is stretching upwards everything fits her better.

I'm glad we took the healthy route and waited for the extra fuel to run down as it were (she has been just over seven stone for over a year now, but has grown lots in the same time) she has had to grow boobs and hips from the fuel in her muffin top, poor thing.:eek:

If she looks more than a bit tubby then cut back her portion sizes just slightly, don't even mention you are doing it -and if she asks why she has less then before just tell her you made a mistake in cooking so everyone is having a bit less!;)

Good Luck, it really is a minefield. One thing we don't do is let DD read mags with pictures of airbrushed teens in them. Not many teens ever look that flawless!

Pete*G_4

chocdonuty - I've posted a couple of times but I'm going to carry on posting it... DON'T WORRY

I work with kids in the fitness industry, and deal with parents such as yourself who worry that their little Billy, Jenny, or Tobias isn't getting enough exercise or is putting on weight. 9 times out of 10 its purely through parental love that they are worrying needlessly.

At a height of 120 centimetres, and a weight of 30kg (30kg = 66lbs = 4st 10lbs) then her BMI is 20.8 which is good, no matter what their age is. Whoever reckons they calculated BMI and came out with "overweight" has made a mistake somewhere or doesn't know what they're doing.

As I said before, kids grow outward before they grow upward. Her body will be developing for the next 10-15 years so just be thankful she seems to be a child who likes to be active, and doesn't sit around indoors all day watching TV and eating junk food.

JodyBPM

Pete*G wrote: »

chocdonuty - I've posted a couple of times but I'm going to carry on posting it... DON'T WORRY

I work with kids in the fitness industry, and deal with parents such as yourself who worry that their little Billy, Jenny, or Tobias isn't getting enough exercise or is putting on weight. 9 times out of 10 its purely through parental love that they are worrying needlessly.

At a height of 120 centimetres, and a weight of 30kg (30kg = 66lbs = 4st 10lbs) then her BMI is 20.8 which is good, no matter what their age is. Whoever reckons they calculated BMI and came out with "overweight" has made a mistake somewhere or doesn't know what they're doing.

As I said before, kids grow outward before they grow upward. Her body will be developing for the next 10-15 years so just be thankful she seems to be a child who likes to be active, and doesn't sit around indoors all day watching TV and eating junk food.

Pete as you seem to know a little about BMIs etc, can I just ask why they seem to be much lower for children than for adults. I agree that 20.8 would be recognised as absolutely fine for an adult, but if you put this little girl's measurements into the NHS BMI calculator, she comes out as obese. Similarly, my 5 year old girl with a height of 112.6 and a weight of 22.8 is coming out as overweight (93rd centile). What should BMI for a child be? (and how do you calculate it?). My DD I must say, unlike what the OP said about the other little girl that we are discussing here, doesn't look overweight at all, she doesn't have any excess fat, she just seems to have quite a solid build, but still its had not to worry when you are "officially" told that your child is overweight:(

BitterAndTwisted

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Sorry to be picky, should it not be over estimate?

You're not being picky, I said the complete opposite of what I meant but I hope you and anyone else who read it realised that from the sentence which followed.

I'll get my coat...