Does anyone know if a teenager should be on the regular or alternative plan?
I'm in week two of the program and I feel great! I want to share this with my son who is 12. His current weight is my goal weight so I know that I have passed on my bad habits. I'd like to fix that. I want him to join me on the program but I don't want to inhibit his growth. I forgot to ask my coach about it this mornning at weigh in. So if anyone knows the answer great, if not I'll ask next week.
Please don't put your son on any diet at all, without consulting both a pediatritian and a pediatric dietitian. Boys continue growing into their late teen's and sometimes even into their twenties. To answer your questions, you really need someone who is an expert in teen growth (not just an expert on the Ideal Protein diet, so you can't rely on your coach's information either).
It's generally a bad idea to put a growing child on a strict reducing diet (and Ideal Protein is a strict reducing diet, even in the alternative form). Doctors generally don't recommend weight loss diets for kids anymore. Instead, unless the child is at a weight that is higher than their ideal ADULT weight, they will focus on maintenance and let the child grow into their weight (this is also the safest route, reducing the risk of growth and other developmental problems).
And even when a child is over their adult weight, they usually want children to lose much more gradually than adults, if at all possible.
I wish my parents and pediatritian had known what we know now about child and teen dieting, I think it would have saved me a lifetime of obesity and related health problems. I don't know what the state of dietetics was during my childhood, as may parents (and pediatritian) never thought to involve a dietitian (and no doubt my parents didn't know that doctors receive virtually no education on nutrition - though perhaps they should have been suspicious when the doctor put me on 1000 calorie diet and told my mother I could eat 1000 calories in candy bars if I wanted, I just had to stick to 1000 calories).
Right now he should weigh about 20-30 lb less. At his last appointment his doctor said that as long as he doesn't gain anymore weight and just gets taller he would be fine. But I have already seen his weight increase sense then. I'm afraid that if we don't make changes now he'll be in BIG trouble later. He already has elavated cholesterol levels.
Please focus on your son't health (healthy choices, healthy eating, exercise) without introducing the weight word. I have seen boys turn from overweight 12 year olds into slender 16-17 year olds many times. At 12 he is probably 2 years away from a growth spurt, maybe even more. Get him involved in something he likes--swimming, biking, organized team sports--it will do a lot for his self-esteem and make him want to be in shape without making him self conscious about his weight. If you make it a family project to eat healthy and exercise more with no focus on him, he will more likely grow into a healthy young man who knows how to make wise food choices. I'm not trying to minimize your concern for his weight and cholesterol, but very few children should lose weight, they just need to move more and not gain more. Good luck!
Have you talked to his pediatrician about strategies to control his weight? I agree that most medical professionals would recommend focusing on fitness and healthy eating, not on weight loss, so he could gradually grow into his current weight. Most physicians do not recommend strict weight-reducing protocols for children that are still growing.
You are right to be concerned and to address this now, but I'd really suggest you work with your son's pediatrician on a moderate, healthy plan.
As a parent I completely understand the concern. Research shows that screwing up a person's metabolism permanently isn't easy. Generally when you're restricting calories your metabolism slows down and when you start eating more it speeds back up, even in people who have lost a lot of weight. The major exception to this is people who restrict calories heavily while going through puberty. The IP diet is therefore a terrible idea for a 12 year old boy.
In my opinion if you want to help your child there are two things you should do.
1) Encourage eating whole foods by getting the processed stuff out of the house.
2) Encourage activity by limiting their TV/Computer time and getting them involved in outside activities.
As a parent I completely understand the concern. Research shows that screwing up a person's metabolism permanently isn't easy. Generally when you're restricting calories your metabolism slows down and when you start eating more it speeds back up, even in people who have lost a lot of weight. The major exception to this is people who restrict calories heavily while going through puberty. The IP diet is therefore a terrible idea for a 12 year old boy.
In my opinion if you want to help your child there are two things you should do.
1) Encourage eating whole foods by getting the processed stuff out of the house.
2) Encourage activity by limiting their TV/Computer time and getting them involved in outside activities.
Great advice! I would definitely encourage better snacks, drinks, etc. In just a couple short years he is going to hit puberty and he'll probably shoot up and thin out. Teach him good eating now instead of just watching the scale.
Thanks for all the great advice!
It's just been such a strugle with him to get him to eat right (anything green) that I thought maybe the structure of the diet might help him get back in balance. I will talk with his ped about what we can do for him. I wouldn't have started him on the diet without talking to her first. In the mean time I'll try to keep the processed food in the house to a min, and get him moving!
I asked my Coach the same thing and they will tell you that this program is for people 18 or older. I was also told that its not because it is not safe for them to be on the program, but its a mentality factor. Why are they doing it? Peer pressure? Low Self Esteem? Things like that.
Like others suggested, just you changing your habits and having healthy dinners and cutting out things like pop and chips and replacing them with healthy snacks, you will see he will lose with out even being on the program!!
I disagree that the issue is primarily mental and not safety. I can see why IP representatives would say this (they don't want to imply that the diet is unsafe for anyone).
The diet is restrictive enough to inhibit growth. Although you could argue stunted-growth isn't a "safety" issue, I consider that splitting hairs.
I do have an incredibly low metabolism myself currently (and I did drasticallly restrict calories not only during all of puberty, but througout my childhood from the age of 5).
The metabolic effects didn't really become evident until my mid twenties, but I (and my doctors) suspect that the childhood dieting played a role not only in my current metabolic issues, but in my disability and immune system defects.
And I mostly dieted moderately. I did a bit of crash dieting in high school, but usually no more severe than the IP protocol.
If the body were a business, calories would be cash. When cash flow decreases, businesses cut funding, starting with the lease essential departments.
Growth and immunity are where the body starts making the budget cuts first. Hair and nails stop growing (or start falling out and breaking off), skin regenerates and heals more slowly, resistance to infection and other illness weakens...).
My immune system is a wreck, and there's a good chance that my childhood dieting contributed (if not outright caused) the immune system issues.
The calorie-restriction/immunity connection is supported by the research. Now that I've stopped drastic diet changes, and eat a more nutritious diet, my immune system has started to recover. My metabolism may rebound a bit, but I'm not holding my breath, because I can't undo the childhood dieting.
Metabolism isn't just about how many calories the body burns, it's what the body is using those calories for. And the slower your metabolism, the less your body is spending on your health overall.
If metabolic declines were just about being able to eat less, it wouldn't matter so much. It would be sad if you had to eat fewer than 1500 calories for the rest of your life to be healthy, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. However, when your health and fitness suffer because "funding" has been too drastically cut, that's a whole 'nother ball game.
The immunity and growth inhibition affects children differently and more profoundly than adults, and it's important to get the input of true professionals in the field, which is why I'd recommend a pediatric dietitian over just about any other professional. The problem is that most insurances don't pay for dietitian services except in specific cases (and obesity usually isn't one of them, at least not without other health problems).
Boys don't generally stop growing completely until they are beyond 18 (I think 19-21 is the average). I would not recommend IP for any child that still has growing to do, and definitely not without first consulting the pediatrician AND a pediatric dietitian.
Does anyone know if a teenager should be on the regular or alternative plan?
