My youngest son who is 10 going to be 11 this year is over weight and i dont know where to start i dont want to put him on a DIET and give him self esteem problems but i noticed the other day he eats alot and i think its cause hes bored (summer break) im not home during the day and i dont know where to start any advice PLEASE
thanks
Michelle
Your in charge, remove the bad food from the house so he cant eat it. Cook less at meals so he cant have seconds. Why not go for a bike ride, walk, or something together.
My sister will be 11 this year as well and she is over weight too. She is wearing some of the cloths that I wore at 16/17 (and I was over weight then too! they are bit big on her, but prob cuz she doesnt have a chest or hips yet, lol). Anyway I tried talking with her and telling her we should work at it togther simply for the fact that I need a shopping buddy but that didnt work. She is smiling down now tho, perhaps because she is growing taller. She still eats junk but mom said not as much as she used to.
Replace the bad snacks with good snacks (HEALTHY ONES) and make sure you are cooking healthy meals and that he is getting outside and playing. He shouldnt be sitting in front of the TV or computer. Can you put him in camp so that he isnt at home bored all day? I hope things get better. I would try to make imporvements in his life without telling him. It could definitely give him a complex.
hes at home with his older brother and sister and yes i just had to buy him a pair of shorts and were size 16 and snug he could barly button them , as for gettiing him active i walk everynight with him alot i do drag him out as much as i can, and dont cook alot of food??? i have to i feed a army every night and when he asks for 2nds isnt he hungry ??how can i deprive my son of food ?? i mean without hurting his feelings or breaking my heart?
sorry i really need help !!! i mean do i plan out his meals and snacks like i do mine ?? i mean what if he's still hungry? sorry im rambling but it's too the point where im scared for my sons health
He's probably old enough to stay home alone himself, and thus monitors his own food intake. Has he hit a growth spurt yet? He might shoot up in the near future and slim down. He might discover girls and that would motivate a change ... and then your worries lie elsewhere.
I'd recommend having no sugar or fatty/refined-carb snacks in the house. Don't completely eliminate them from his life, but tell him it's a family health initiative and it's easier for YOU to not have it in the house anymore. Keep plenty of healthier alternatives around (fruits, baked chips/salsa, sliced veggies) so he can still snack, but hopefully won't gain weight. Switch to non- or low-sugar breakfast cereals (with fiber), if you haven't done that already.
Riding bike, playing frisbee golf, going for walks, swimming, sports ... start incorporating exercise. I'd even say to consider getting rid of gaming consoles and encourage minimal TV watching.
Thank you i am trying and i will re-make my shopping list i was buying ALOT of boxed foods easy for him to micro i go home for lunch almost everyday so it might just work out do you have any ceral's names that are healthy with him knowing it.LOl sounds funny but if i can make those small changes i think it should help ... thank you ladies ya know i see people staring at him and it makes me so angry and my friends say well put him on a diet ...(rolling eyes) like its so easy to diet ecspecialy for a 10 year old , i mean damn im having a hard enough time with dieting
I know I might totally get crap for this one - but I started giving my son an "allowance" for running with me. He is going to be 10 in a couple of months, and he was getting a little lazy and chubby. So, I started out by taking all of the snack foods that I used to have in the house - but left in chocolate chip low fat granola bars because he doesn't know the difference, I buy butter and salt free "diet" popcorn bags and put them in an old box that says "movie theater butter". Also, I did try to teach him too. I bought tons of fruits and veggies that he could snack on whenever he wanted, and basically told him that everyone in the house had to eat healthier so that I could stay on my diet.
He already gets an allowance for doing certain chores - the way I see it, I would still hand him money for movies, going out, etc., so I might as well teach him responsibility at the same time. Well, I told him that if he ran two laps around our pond (= 1 mile) he would get a dollar...and that if he wanted to make more money he could chose to add more laps.
Well, who would have thought, he lost about 15 lbs, he loves to run now (he brags to people about how many laps he can do), I could get a workout in with him, and it gave us some alone time together to talk.
But you know, it is hard at first, just like when an adult starts to try and re-learn healthy lifestyle choices. After a couple of weeks though, I don't think he remembered it any other way.
Hi. I saw your post and had to respond as I was an overweight child myself. I agree with the ladies here, do not buy the junk food so he isn't tempted to eat it. Also getting him involved in an activity he likes I think is the key. Don't force him to do it otherwise its not going to work.
But let him experience different types of activities, there is rock climbing (a lot places have those indoor rock climbing things), hiking, canoeing, bike riding (this one was my fav. as a child), jump roping, karate (my husband took it as a child and he said he loved it and is very good exercise), skating, etc, etc. Just trying to think of things he might like to try.
Basically it boils down to just getting him excited about something that he is going to WANT to do himself. Because forcing a child is never the way to go. (not saying you have or that anybody suggested it) I am just letting you know what worked for me.
My grandpa watched me when I was a kid a lot and he would take me on long walks in his pastures (he was a farmer) and I absolutely loved that! So its like I said, get him into something he is going to enjoy.
Also allow him a treat every now and then as well...............
Have you seen the show "Honey We're Killing the Kids" on Discovery Health Channel (or TLC?)? Anyway, the premise of the show is that a family's diet, exercise, television, family activities, and activities of the mom and dad together are evaluated. Based on that evaluation, THE WHOLE FAMILY changes. The television gets turned off and moved out of the kids' rooms. The garbage food is thrown out of the house because it's not good for anyone. The family is given assignments to limit tv time (which includes video games and computer time), establish bedtime routines, do things together as a family, cook healthy foods, etc.
This sounds like what you need.
My son is 11. If I left it up to him, he'd eat refined carbs and sugar all day long. I think he's old enough to stay home, but I have him in a home daycare situation for the summer because I know he would play computer games and eat crap all day. This way he plays kickball, rides bikes and swims all day with the other kids. Last night my son asked for a second hamburger (!!!). I told him he could have an apple if he was still hungry. If he's really hungry, I want him to eat, but I want him to consume reasonable calories and indulge in more healthy foods than unhealthy.
Even if you can't change where he is during the day, you can definitely change his eating habits by only providing healthy foods for him to eat--lots of fruit, vegetables for snacks, make his lunch for him as if you were packing a lunch for him to take somewhere, and prepare low fat/lean protein/healthy grain packed dinners when you get home.
and one more thing my other 3 kids are very fit, so its not genatic
Are they "fit" or "thin"? There's a big difference. And just because you have 3 skinny kids and one chubby one, doesn't mean the chubby one didn't get the short end of the genetic stick.
HART~~ ok i died laughing at the popcorn box cause he loves the butter stuff im soo gonna try that. and the money thing good idea i will start
Sassy~~ thank you for the words of encouragement i have tried to force him into things that didnt work at all he just refused to go and i know alot of it was the other kids making they're remarks about his weight
Kateful~~ i saw the ad on tv before i got totally pissed off at my kids (for never cleaning but alway's wanting, making mess' home work not done etc) and i shut my cable off and the internet and the call waiting and 3-way HA they are sooooo suffering.LOL well anyways i so wanted to see the show but couldnt i think i'll start slowly like today and maybe replace all the bad with good by this weekend like start small one thing then another ha they propably won't evnen notice
thank you ladies
HELP my son is VERY overweight
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