Helping 8 yr old lose weight

[rubyblue]

Can anyone advise me on how to help DD lose weight please? She is overweight and we've cut out all snacks apart from apples/oranges and I'm trying to gently guide her to healthy choices. We cook from scratch most nights but have pizza once a week. I need help though as this isn't working and she's now very aware of her size compared to other girls. It breaks my heart as I've worried about my weight most of my adult life but was a pretty skinny kid. Her brother is fine. She asked me today if I could help her lose weight. Should I take her to the nurse to get some 'neutral' advice?

[AjasLipstick]

How overweight is she? Cutting out snacks is a good start. Could you give us an idea of some typical meals she's eating and are your portion sizes correct for her age?

[rubyblue]

She's 4 stone 13 and 125cm so the NHS thing says she's 94th centile but doesn't say how much she should weigh. I'll plug in some lower numbers to find out.
Breakfast: Malted wheats or 2 weetabix, then sometimes a slice of toast so I've said to her one or the other not both.
Lunch - hot school dinners so not sure how much but should be smallish portion?
Afternoon- snack at after school club which is toast or fruit
Dinner - tonight we had a tofu stir fry and noodles, water to drink and she had an apple. But dinner varies, sometimes it can be fish fingers, beans and oven chips depending on how busy/late we are.

[rubyblue]

I'm 'policing' things like ketchup as well. It makes me seem like the boring one and my son said that I'm always watching what they eat and meal times are no fun. My husband is too relaxed so it's been an on-going issue with him but he now accepts that if she's worried then we need to help her.

[rubyblue]

Ok, NHS BMI calculator says 4.10 is the top weight for the healthy range for age and height. 3 pounds doesn't sound like much but I guess at that age it's a lot.

[lovely36]

Encourage exercise! Go on daily walks or runs with her. Yoga, swimming.. so many fun things to get both of you active. Don't try to stress too much though because you don't want this to be the main thing on her mind. My little sister had a weight issue when she was little and she ate healthy! When she turned 13 the weight just dropped and it she stretched and became quite tall. She had become so obsessed with her weight that when she lost it she didn't see it. Even now that she's 20 she says she's fat and she's not. To think it all started from when she was about 7. Regardless of her weight the most important thing is that she knows that she is an amazing person and is beautiful.

[Dragongirl10]

I would not have any beans (loads of sugar) or chips....

Give her at least 4 steamed vegetables with every meal, and reduce pasta, potatoes and rice to reasonably small portions, make sure meat is lean ie beef or chicken or lamb, but not fish fingers or burgers. cook fish filets rather than fish fingers, more nutricious and very fast to cook.

I have a ds who is prone to being chubby, and have had to accept that other than a saturday pizza night, he has to have fresh food every evening, no processed anything..there are so many 10 minute recipes..

When he comes in and sits down for his homework, l put a plate of crudite and nuts beside him to nibble on to take the edge off his apetite. ( which is huge)

Each meal however quick, has the obligatory 4 or 5 steamed vegetables to fill him up ...... l only keep very little desserts in the cupboard, ie just one pack of biscuits so l can keep an eye on how much he has.

I don't discuss weight, just make adjustments quietly...we don't have anything except water to drink, l only buy cordial or fizzy drinks for parties and get rid of any over!

Sugar is the enemy and is in everything even bread, and M and S ready cooked chicken breasts!!l try hard to have bread free days...same for cereals, could she have porridge for breakfast with blueberries/ strawberries?