Grrrrr my DS

Lotus-eater

escortg3 wrote: »

What an 11 year old should be doing is then burning those carbs off. Pleanty of active sports and he then should be able to eat pretty much anything.

Pretty much this.

I would give him healthy options and more or less let him eat what he wants off the table, as long as he got some fresh stuff.
I wouldn't give low fat anything, to any child. Apart from the fact that there is often rubbish in them, it is sort of starting to be thought, that not having the basic fats causes other cravings for junk food in the body.

One of two things.
Either he's not getting enough exercise.
Or, he's sneaking food somewhere else.

make_me_wise

I would carry on with a balanced diet and keep portion sizes sensible. Id be more interested to know what kind of excercise he is doing. Is he enjoying this side of being healthy?

When he excercises is he just walking more and going for bike rides or is he joining in with competitive games like football where his heart rate will be pumping more. Does he go swimming? This is an excellent way to get and stay fit and you can really tone up. It could be something he will enjoy and not even realise he is excercising.

I think the way you are approaching this is great but to keep him onside maybe he needs a few more options with what he eats and how he excercises.

Mupette

perhaps this is the puppy fat that will disapear when he starts to fill out, eg shoulders come out etc...

OP don't write your son off as a fatty, it's possible it's puberty and he has a bit of filling out to do,

DS had a bit of a spare tire and moobs at that age, even tho it didn't really show, within a matter of a year or so it was gone, he filled out into him manly body.

If you really do have concerns seek expert advice and ask the GP if your son needs diets or a visit to the dietitian.

Lil_Me_2

Lots of good advice on here. My only other comment would be to make sure he's drinking enough. It's easy to mistake thirst for hunger. If he's saying he's hungry then get him to have a glass of water or sugar free squash. If he's still saying he's hungry 20 mins later then give him a snack.

Another good thing to do is write a food diary including times. Across a week you might start to see patterns of when he's saying he's hungry so you can try and tackle it. Good luck!

kafkathecat

My ds put on a lot of weight at age 11, enough that family and friends were commenting on it. He then suddenly shot up in height at one point growing an inch in a month and now at 13 he is fairly slim again and taller than his dad. I would concentrate on healthy food and exercise if I were you and then let him eat as much as he needs.
Regarding the Oyster card the man in the station warned me not to put too much on ds's as children were always losing theirs. Ds hasn't yet but his friend has lost 2 so far.

rainbow81

Hi there,

I don't claim to be an expert but I have just completed an OU course in Human Nutrition and the amount of calories a growing child needs (esp as they get into their teens) astounded me. I hope you don't take this the wrong way at all but if you think he needs to go on a diet then I think maybe you should go through your gp and a qualified nutritionist. If he's hungry he will find a way to eat and as you won't be able to control what he eats when he goes back to school then he's most probably going to top his diet up with the less healthy items - exactly the ones you want to avoid. The menu you have shared would have left me hungry and I am a grown woman. People need carbs. It is the energy your brain uses to function.

Does your son take part in any sports at all? At his age I would have thought he'd be doing something like that, or skateboarding or out on his bike. If he's embarrassed by his size then I guess that's another issue too.

As to losing his oyster card...well, children do these things, can you deduct some of his pocket money to ensure he is more careful next time? If you registered it online you get to transfer the balance across don't you? I know the replacement costs £10 but then you won't have lost the whole lot.

pimento

Joining the Air Training Corps (Air Cadets) is what worked for my son. They ran him ragged and he enjoyed every minute. He also lost his moobs!

He's a little bit young, I think they only take kids from 13 but there may be something similar (scouts, perhaps?). I think the answer is more exercise rather than less food.

Nicki

Thanks for all the advice.

Yes I have been told (by the school nurse) that he is overweight and needs to lose weight. His BMI is 29, the top end of overweight. If he puts on any more weight, then he will be classified as clinically obese. We originally followed the route of ensuring he had a healthy diet and hoping he would grow into his weight. He hasn't. The discussion with the school nurse was last October.

He isn't on a low carbohydrate diet. We are following a plan designed by a dietician which is 50:30:20 as it should be. The 50% are carbs. I did do a lot of research before I decided on the meal plan, and looked at several examples online and picked the one which had meals I thought he would enjoy. On the day you are all critiquing, he had starchy carbs at breakfast and lunch, and carbs at all meals as vegetable and fruits all qualify as carbs too.

With respect, given you have no idea how big the chicken breast was or how much accompanying veg he had (answer a lot) you cannot say whether or not he was or should have been hungry. He himself said he was not, but that he enjoyed the meal and would have liked to eat more of it. Had he been actually hungry after the meal, I would have given him something else to eat, such as a yoghurt.

He does karate twice a week but this has stopped for the summer. He goes back next week. He has been away for most of the holidays visiting family, at church camp, and on holiday with us, so organised exercise this holiday has been difficult to coordinate, though we made sure he did at least 30 mins a day while he was away with us.

I appreciate everyone has their own opinions on this subject, but I personally do not think it is responsible parenting to let him cross the cusp between overweight and obese. I have researched healthy diets for children and I am following an established and well reviewed plan.

I am aware that I bear some responsibility in him getting to the size he is. However, I was following some of the advice which has been offered on this thread already to point out what a bad parent I am. I was providing healthy home cooked meals, and allowing him to regulate how much rice, pasta, potatoes he had with his meal. We rarely eat puddings and sweets up until now were limited to twice per week (one item only).

Spendless

We had a similar issue with our DS last year, also in the summer hols. Mine is the same age as yours. Increasing exercise really helped. DS started going ice-skating at least once a week. Also, things were better in term-time than hols, as they have their own school schedule, PE or games at least once a week, and breaks and lunch-times where they are running round or playing football, completely different to home where they tend to have a large amount of electronic gadgets and the fridge and cupboard nearby!

Is their some extra exercise he could do for these last weeks of the hols? Something like cycling, ice-skating, swimming etc that he could go off with a friend to do? My local football club offer sports days/weeks in the hols. Anything similar near you he could go to?

donnap83

It'll go as soon as he starts secondary school with all the sports they do, and once puberty sets in.