Health advice for my 8 year old overweight son please...

Taliahmai

rozmister wrote: »

The man I sit opposite at work has two sons around the age of your boy and they LOVE geocaching. They only started last week and all I hear atm is geocaching this and geocaching that. It's good because as well as getting them out it can involves puzzles and numbers which helps them to learn. I have looked more into this and mentioned it to my son and he sounded really excited by it, so i will definatly look into it more tonight after they are in bed

Maybe when you're bringing in food changes if you think there will be some resistance you could say to your DS that you want him to show his younger siblings how to be grown up and try new things. Make it sound like you are sure he is so grown up and mature he will try the things anyway but say you just want to be sure because he sets an example. This will make him feel valued and might mean he tries more new things.I think this is a great idea, thank you

Do you know about the proportions of each food group you should be putting on his plate? I find visualising a Diet Plate is good for this. Half the plate should be veg, a quarter should be protein and a quarter should be carbs. Carbs include sweet potato, BNS, peas, sweetcorn and parsnips so although they're one of your 5 a day you can't put them in that category! In all honesty no i don't and just to show my ignorance when it comes to all this, i just assumed the veg you listed were veg and never saw them as carbs!...i have lots to learn myslef lol

It sounds like you really want to help your son, you must be a really good Mum. Good luck! Thank you!!

mountainofdebt wrote: »

You mentioned a few posts back that your son wanted a fitness game for his xbox and you said no well.........

why not offer him a choice.

Give the treat bar a monetary value - can be the cost of the packet divided by the number of bars in the packet - and every day he forgoes the bar that money is put into a jar. When the jar contains the required amount he can buy the game. I think this is a great way of doing it, thanks for the suggestion!

Not only will you make sure that he wants the game and it isn't a passing fad (:D) he will be giving up the treat bar but feeling that he is in control

The other thing that strikes me is that whilst action is needed, you will need to have a think about how quickly these changes can be made so that they can be realistically kept to. Im very much aware its not going to be an overnight change, liek someone else said earlier, its taken 8 years for him to get to this stage. But in all fairness im not after a quick fix as such, i know we need to all make drastic permanant changed to our relationships with food

margaretclare wrote: »

Taliahmai, thanks for your response. It's a pity about his dislike of eggs. I don't know what on earth we'd do without eggs! Most mornings, breakfast is a boiled egg and wholemeal toast. An omelette is the quickest, easiest, most nutritious and healthiest meal there is. However... Im the same, both me and both my daughters love eggs, but my son just wont entertqain them.

I wonder why you're cooking sweet potato AND cous-cous or pasta? All carbohydrates - do you need so many carbs in one meal? Again this is just my ignorance, i just saw them as a veg and not as carbs

I would recommend that you look at another of the boards on Martin's site, the 'I wanna...' and look at the 'Lose Weight 32' thread. A man who posts on there named Eric Pisch is extremely knowledgeable about carbs and the fact that, in terms of our evolutionary history, we just do not need them to the extent that is considered normal now. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3018332

HTH Thank you i will definatly have a look through there later once the kids are in bed so i can get my head round it

Ellay...thank you! I really do appreciate it. I know that at the end of the day im the only one to blame for his weight, its me that guides him through life and me that feeds him and hasnt been able to say no. I just can't put that blame on anybody else....i also know its mainly me that has to change it. But before i can do that i ahve to understand it first lol. I was quite scared about posting on here as i honestly thought i would get a lot of negative replys about letting him eat crap etc. But im so glad i did, the advice i have recieved from everybody has been so helpful to me it really has. Ill be the first to admit im cluless but after what everyone has said i am begining to get an understanding. SO the long journey to healthier lifestyle for us all starts here ....and i owe everyone a huge thanks for helping me start off in the right direction!

On a lighter note we have just spent the last 2 hours walking around the ponds near us and through the woods. I managed to get my mum to watch the baby for a few hours while she had a day off work and took advantage, the kids are now shattered and in the bath warming up lol

meritaten

Taliahmai - I cannot believe how many people have posted since yesterday - its taken me nearly an hour to catch up!
You have a brilliant attitude hun - I fully expect an update next year telling us all how much wieght you and your son have lost and how you are both fitter, happier and healthier!

Most of the advice given has been excellent - except for those advocating low fat options. For yourself thats fine - you are done growing now - but your son is only eight and he needs significantly MORE fat in his diet to support his growth! apart from that I fully endorse whats been said!

If you pop down to Old Style Money Saving I am sure the posters on there would be more than happy to help out with healthy options for lunchbox or meal ideas or for treats! its one of the things they do best! and they are a lovely bunch!
I also know that there have been threads on there in the past about healthy lunch box ideas and healthy treats for kids. not to mention salad ideas to make your mouth water!

I wish you and your family all the best - hope we see you down on OS! oh and we will post recipes for meals and you can even get weekly menu ideas too.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Taliahmai wrote: »

Thank you for your honesty, i really appreciate it, im just going to ring the dr's now and try and get some help with this. Reading through this thread has shown i need as much help with this as he does, and if i dont understand what to be giving him then he has no hope....thank you

And thank you for being prepared to accept what I and others have said. You appear to genuinely want to do what's right for your kids, and once you have the information (plus a bit of encouragement to be tougher ), I am sure you will be able to turn this around.

Caroline_a

Regarding increasing the exercise, you don't need expensive gyms or equipment. I coach some quite high level athletes and our winter programme to get them lean, strong and fit involves no more equipment than a good training programme and some medicine balls. For a youngster like this I would do things like... time him on a set run, say to the bottom of the garden and back, something short. Then see if he can beat that. Have a chart up to show his times. Then maybe if you go somewhere with some stairs even home ones are ok, do the same thing. If he gets keen on it, go the whole hog and buy a stopwatch!

Then show him how to bound - this involves feet shoulder width apart, and one big jump as far as he can with both feet landing the same time. Measure the bound. Then get him to try to beat it. Make sure that you do no more than, say 4 of these in one session. Again, put distances up on the chart. Make it his own mini-Olympics. Next year is 2012, and the whole country will be Olympics mad, he can collect Olympic news, etc etc. PM me if you want any more help with this.

squoog

HI, how did you get on at the doctors today?

DKLS

Does your son have access to a bike, at his age I would have been overweight if I didnt have my bmx, I wasnt keen on team sports at school, buy loved cycling, If his dad/mates could join in all the better.

Taliahmai

Well i went to the dr's with him yesterday and i was so dissapointed. He just wasnt interested at all and just gave us a sheet of paper with with some diet advise on it and told us to follow it, dont give him sweets and let him play out more! So im considering sourcing out my own dietition....just to help me get my own head round it so i can help us all out.

I did sort his bike out yesterday so he was out with his friend on that all night, riding round and round the block....but today it is hissing it down so he is stuck inside It is judo tonight though, so im going to get him helping me spring clean and give him all the jobs that mean running up and down the stairs....and he has told me he will only help if i pay him...they learn so young lol

They are going to their dads tonight untill sunday this week, so im going to use that time to go back through this thread and read up on nutritional advise from website and try and put a plan into action....we will get there!!

He has asked me this mornign if we can plant some veg in the garden, he wants his own little spot. This is also nothing i know anything about lol so im also goign to head over to the greenfingered board and read up!

The food diary has been great too, he has pinned it up on the fridge and it has stopped him snacking on things as he doesnt want it wrote down....we also nipped into asda yesterday and i really wanted a lemon cake...it was calling to me lol....but he said i wasnt allowed and wouldnt let me buy it and instead asked for a pineapple!! So i think he is also really listening to what everyone has said (i let him read through this thread with me)

Mrs_Arcanum

Keep giving him loads of hugs and encouragement - especially when he eats well and looks like he has made an effort to exercise. If occasionally he falls by the wayside don't make a big issue of it but give extra praise when he does well.

Never understood why people serve potato AND Cottage/shepherds pie, or pizza AND chips/garlic bread. Stick to one carbohydrate per meal & things should be easier to remember. Children do still need some carbs for easy energy but not loads to fill them up.

margaretclare

Good for him - he sounds as if he's taking control for himself!

A lot of schools now are encouraging the kids to have little garden plots and grow things for themselves. There is nothing at all that tastes as good as something straight out of the earth, a carrot for example that you grew yourself, even if it comes with garden soil still attached!!!

Here's a site you might like to look at: http://www.thekidsgarden.co.uk/

Only it should be 'how does weather affect the garden' not 'effect'.....

Or try http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_with_children/

Unnecessary carbs - a burger and chips!!! People eat these things without giving it a thought. How often do McD's get the reply 'No thank you' when they routinely question 'Do you want fries with that?'

I agree with you about the GP. I have been told to lose weight by every GP I've seen over the past 20 years or more and yet not one has given any helpful advice or suggestions as to 'how'. Yet I do know of people who've been referred, given vouchers for the gym, all kinds of things.

Caroline73_2

I know it's been mentioned but I would really advise speaking to the school nurse. Just ask your school receptionist if the nurse can contact you. I used to be a school nurse and they have access to lots of resources, and may well be able to refer to a dietician (That depends on where you live). She wouldn't need to see your son if you are worried about him being singled out in school.