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

squoog

How is your 4 yr old weight wise? Don't feel bad about your knowledge of nutrition. most people just carry on with what they know. I would say that the meal you describe has too many carbs, I would have either cous cous or sweet potato or squash and not roasted. then add green veg or salad.
being a parent to 3 young children on your own is tough, I hope that you get some support from the GP.
I have 4 children and scooters have transformed our family walks!

shellsuit

Taliahmai wrote: »

The school have been rubbish...or at least they was, they do seam to be making more of an effort now, but i think is more to do with the fact i have been threatened with court about his non attendance


Sorry im not sure how to multiquote lol...but for the person who asked what his sandwhich consists of, its usually a ham sandwhich, with butter on a brown breadbun, he sometimes has cucumber on it too

Could you switch the ham for turkey maybe? And have thin or medium bread and cut out the butter?

When I was cutting down I never used butter or spead on a sandwich, I used to 'wet' the bread with a thin scraping of low fat salad cream/salad dressing.

pigpen

What height is he? My 7 y/o cousin is almost 9 stone BUT.. she is also almost 5ft tall.. so while hugely overweight for her AGE she isn't for her height, though she is still a little overweight. Whereas my 8 y/o daughter is 117cm and 2stone 4.

Height also makes a difference on portion size.. my 8 yo couldn't possibly eat a sandwich and a sausage roll for lunch plus other stuff..

I'd ask to see the school nurse (AT SCHOOL, they do go in regularly) with him and both of you talk through the issues he is having.. take a diary of what he eats in a normal week and see what ideas she comes up with.. they can also refer to a dietician and it cuts out the GP who you said is unsympathetic to the effort you are making and your son's feelings.

he may have lost a mere 2lb BUT how much has he grown? this extra height alters the BMI (which are totally useless for a lot of people)

And I agree with faithcecilia.. so these children at school tell him he is fat don't tell him he is just 'big' or 'it's puppy fat'.. a spade is a spade.. 'yes you are overweight sweetheart but we are trying very hard to make you less so' .. maybe on the days he 'refuses' to go to school it should be made less appealing.. tv/consoles are not allowed and you and he go for a brisk walk to speed that weight loss, or swimming, a bike ride or a game of football or something in the park.. it all helps and at least he is out doing something.

Could you get a buggy board for the 4 y/o? So a walk to the park is ok but s/he can ride back with tired legs.

Keep trying, you'll get there..

shellsuit

Taliahmai wrote: »

No ive not got a wii but we do have a kinnect which he loves and we do go on as a family....he has also asked for a weightloss game for this but i have said no and we just play on the normal games

Thank you all so much for all of your replies....it really has made me sit up and think. If im honest with myself im totally clueless! I really need to educate myself on this before i can hope to help him...thank you!

Why did you say No? :huh:

He's 8, he knows he's got a problem and he's actually asking you for help, albeit through a game.

Is there no chance that maybe if he sticks to a healthy eating plan for a fortnight, that you might get it for him?

Mrs_Arcanum

Big breakfast. Medium lunch & a light dinner/tea.

Whilst not practical for school, a good thick soup is great at lunch time and keeps you feeling full. So maybe OK for the weekends.

Encourage any physical activities & suggest once he has had a few more sessions of Judo his trainer gives him some workouts he can do at home.

seafarers_wife

i wouldnt make a big deal of it, im overweight and have always been overweight as was my parents. they would think nothing of getting us a 12" pizza EACH with a couple of bags of chips to share from the takeaway. its only in the last couple of years when my mum became type 2 diabetic that she changed her eating habbits, joined the gym and to date has lost just over 6stone, but now she nags me every time we speak on the phone about loosing weight. the more she nags and makes an issue of it the worse it makes me feel and then i comfort eat even though i want to loose weight.

at that age you really do hold all the cards and his daily eating habbits arent quite there yet where they need to be.

have you ever tried anything like weight watchers or slimming world with you being overweight? if so and you have the cookbooks use them to get an idea of "healthy" meals but please dont single him out as it will make him feel worse than he does.

I would think a menu like

Breakfast: porridge with fruit or toast with a very thin scraping of butter/low fat spread

lunch: 1 sandwich with salad in it, or a pasta salad or a salad if he eats things like that, followed by some fruit for a 2nd course and maybe a yogurt every so often for a change

dinner: sounded lovely to me, id have liked to be invited for dinner and given that

have you ever considered at dinner time having the main meal in hte middle of the table and everyone helping themselves? i do that and find that i eat alot less than i would if i plated up in the kitchen?

exercise wise walking get him into racing home from school as that will get his heart rate up and burn more calories than a gentle stroll home. also the wii fit if you have one and some of the games really get you building up a sweat. also if you can get hold of the zumba dvds and you both could do them on an evening once the littles are in bed and you could both have fun learning to dance and get fit?

do go back to the docs and ask for referal to the dieticion as with the right support you will get there

good luck

Taliahmai

Food and exercise diary is a great idea!...i should of started this yesterday before i did my shopping today and bought sausage rolls, picnic eggs and pork pies...and lots of yogurts, believing they were healthier too!

The 5 a day we do sometimes struggle with i wont lie about that. He has the kind of attitude that if he hasnt tried something before, he doesnt like it! Very much so with food, ive never given them carrots and things with dips....as they say they dont like it...same as a lot of good food to be honest. I think i might have to try and be a mean mum for a while and put the food out and give them no other options....i guess if there hungry they will eat it.

My biggest set back is im far too soft, i find it really hard to be strict with them, and if he tells me he is hungry i let him eat....even if we only had dinner half hour before. I just find it really hard when he is crying at me telling me he is starving. My 4 year old is is so different compaired to him, she hardly eats anything, never eatds a full meal (i do seriously need to cut down on portion sizes) and has no fat on her at all.

Money_maker

Forgive me if I've missed it but did you confirm portion size at all? If you are also overweight then there may well be an issue there that you can address.

This is a good site to sign up with http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/change-for-life.aspx, they send out helpful information and fun ideas every so often.

ellay864

I know you said you're on your own with 3 kids and that must be so hard...I struggled at times with 2 and mine were 7 and 5 when their dad left so I didnt have a baby to deal with. Do you have any family or friends who could help you out and maybe mind the 2 younger ones while you take your lad swimming for example? Or even come with you so you could take all the kids together?
Does dad live near by? What sort of relationship do you have with him? Could he either help do something with him, or take the youngest 2 so you can do something with your lad, or him take your lad while you look after the younger 2. Are there any good parks nearby where you could take your kids and safely encourage your son and your 4yr old to be active, while you mind the youngest?
I cant really add to the really good food advice you've been given but the exercise will help him pick up his sense of fun and self esteem, and if he is suffering from depression it may help him with that...as well as doing him some good physically too of course

supermum38

Have you heard of a group called MEND? They have something to do with' change for lif'e and last year I took my 12-year-old. They spend an hour doing activities and are set a food challenge each week. The parents are given a folder with advice and the both parents and children discuss nutrition. I found it to be very light hearted and really did change the way my son feels about food and exercise. All the kids are having the same problem so they tend to open up and make friends. Do a search online or ask your GP (you may need to be referred).
It was a 10 week course and the kids got to swim for free and join sports clubs in the holidays for free too. We even went on to a healthy cooking class when it finished. I do hope it is still around as I would say it was really made a difference to my son's confidence.

Good Luck.